Co-director Eric Darnell shares credit on the screenplay for this second sequel with Noah Baumbach.  As a writer-director, Baumbach has established a low-key, character-driven voice with work like The Squid and the Whale, Kicking and Screaming, Margot at the Wedding, and Greenberg.  But don't necessarily expect to see passive-aggression in table tennis; Baumbach also co-wrote Wes Anderson's stop-motion bit of loveliness Fantastic Mr. Fox.

Anyways, the clip is available in HD at Yahoo! Movies, where it premiered today.

Only just now did I realize that I'm not sure if I've ever seen either of the previous Madagascar movies.  Maybe it's just one of those animated franchises which, for anybody outside of the younger demographic, is ceases to exit the moment the movie is over, but which will also continue going on strong.  Like the Ice Age movies.

Like the Griswolds and Deuce Bigelow before them, the leads in this third installment indulge in the time-honored franchise tradition of going to Europe, where they use the circus as a cover in their attempts to get back home to New York. 

The cover's needed because the lion, zebra, hippo, and giraffe have caught the attention of a dogged, possibly psychotic animal control official voiced by Frances McDormand.  She's just one of the many familiar vocal talents in the sequel, including Jessica Chastain, Bryan Cranston, Sacha Baron Cohen, Andy Richter, Martin Short, Cedric the Entertainer, and John Di Maggio ("Who will make waffles just the way Bender likes them now?").

Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted provides a family-friendly alternative to Prometheus on June 8th.