The dangerous life in Madagascar doesn't live up to the expectations of the animals accustomed to the comforts of the New York Zoo—Alex the lion, Marty the zebra, Melman the giraffe, and Gloria the hippopotamus—so the friends decide to escape the island. By chance, the entire group ends up in Africa, where Alex reunites with his family, from whom he was separated as a child. Alex unexpectedly realizes that after living in the zoo, he has much less in common with his relatives than he would have liked.