Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa brings the wacky animal cast back together again for more wild and crazy antics, this time on the mysterious continent of Africa. When we last left our heroes, they were living it up on the island of Madagascar, under the rule of the selfish but hysterical King Julien (Sacha Baron Cohen) and his minions, Maurice (Cedric the Entertainer) and the ever-silly Mort (Andy Richter). The group, including Alex the Lion (Ben Stiller), Melman the Giraffe (David Schwimmer), Gloria the Hippo (Jada Pinkett Smith) and Marty the Zebra (Chris Rock), plus those crazy penguins, decide to try to make it back home to New York via the "repaired" crashed plane on the island. Naturally, King Julien, Maurice and even Mort want to come along. However, the plane trip doesn't go quite as planned and they crash-land in Africa.

As it turns out, Alex experiences a bit of déjà vu as they encounter the various animals in the preserve. It turns out this was his home once upon a time, but his reunion with his mother (Sherri Shepherd) and father (Bernie Mac) turns bittersweet as it comes to light that he must be banished from the pride since he never went through his right of passage. Instigating all of this is Makunga (Alec Baldwin), who has always wanted to be the alpha male, but was always put in his place by Zuba, Alex's father. When Makunga tricks Alex into failing his right of passage and subsequently becomes head of the pride, all of the animals fall on hard times when their water supply dries up and Makunga isn't a strong enough leader to solve the problem. Leave it up to Alex, Marty, Gloria and Melman to save the day.

Introducing new characters like the smooth-talking Moto Moto (will.i.am, ) as Gloria's hefty love interest really spiced things up, but they didn't forget to bring back all of your favorites from the first film, even the tough old lady from the subway! In fact, I can easily say that I enjoyed Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa even more than the first Madagascar, and I really liked the first one. Its rare for a sequel to supersede an original film, but this movie does just that.

The Blu-ray not only looks super sharp and sounds terrific, but it comes jam-packed with special features. There's a sizeable making-of featurette, plus one on the cast which talked about the actors' children who had voice roles, but the part that brought tears to my eyes was the cast talking about the late Bernie Mac. It was truly touching. There's a featurette about how they scripted the famous crash landing, one on filming in Africa and getting things just right, one on the Swahili language (great for kids who want to learn some words and catch phrases to impress their friends) and one on the Bronx Zoo itself and its Madagascar exhibit. There's also Alex's Dance Off where kids can learns Alex's crazy dance moves, plus a wacky game where you snag the right doodad flying alongside of the plane to make the necessary repairs. Finally, for those who just can't get enough "Move It, Move It," you'll find 4 music videos, plus the Dreamworks Video Jukebox (which has become standard) and finally, two 12-minute cartoons starring those crazy penguins, both of which were really good. Exclusive to Blu-ray (besides that exquisite picture) are the Animator's Corner and Trivia Track, which is commentary and trivia which can be experience while watching the movie.

If you liked the first Madagascar, this one is a no-brainer. Don't even rent it, just buy it. There are plenty of special features for grown-ups interested in the background of how things got created, plus a ton for kids who just want to have fun. This is one you'll watch several times over and not grow tired of it. Get on over to the store and pick this one up. Move it, move it!