'Wild' has been done before

It's almost the same as 'Madagascar,' but not as funny.
By ROGER MOORE
ORLANDO SENTINEL
So you sit down to "The Wild" with your 3- to-8-year-old.
It's entirely age appropriate. It's from Disney. It's a cartoon. You're both where you're supposed to be.
But here's how to tell if he or she is a movie critic in the making:
"Mommy, didn't the animals escape a New York zoo in 'Madagascar'? Weren't there funny penguins in 'Madagascar'? And a big pussycat of a lion? And a silly giraffe?
"Didn't the animals do a big dance number in 'Madagascar'? And 'Ice Age: The Meltdown'?"
Yes, dear, they did. But you still want to be a firefighter when you grow up, right? Something useful? No movie critic, you!
Same as 'Madagascar'
And you know, animated movies take years to make. "The Wild" was pretty much done on the day last spring when the Disney folks went to a theater, paid DreamWorks their $9, sat down and used that word that Daddy always uses when he bangs his finger with the hammer. That's when they realized "Madagascar" was almost, but not quite, the same movie as "The Wild."
Not that this is a great crime. The idea of pampered zoo animals breaking out of New York and taking a boat to Africa is funny, whether it's Ben Stiller doing the voice of the lion, or Kiefer Sutherland.
OK, Stiller is funnier. As is "Madagascar."
But "The Wild," about a somewhat cowardly lion (Sutherland) whose son makes a break for it to escape his shadow, and who has a group of friends help him track the kid, has a few distinct twists.
The animation is 3-D. The animals look like plush toys, if you happen to like that.
Other characters
And it has Eddie Izzard as an annoyed-at-the-whole-cuddly-thing koala.
"As a famous koala once said, 'We will fight them with peaches ...'"
There's Jim Belushi as a squirrel in love with a giraffe, and Patrick Warburton as a befuddled wildebeest. It has hilarious New York alligators in the sewers and German-accented dung beetles. It has great looking boats and jungles. And the message -- Don't lie to your kids. They'll find you out -- is better.
So what if the story, once they get to Africa, is no better than "Madagascar"? It's hard to let wild predators do wild things when those wild things involve killing the other furry friends. Except for the bit they (many screenwriters on this, many) stole from "The Lion King."
It's difficult to find genuine threats to the lion. Here, it's a deranged wildebeest who wants to change his place in the food chain, voiced by William Shatner, who is far funnier in next month's animated "Over the Hedge."
Which is the object lesson here for kids, who are going to want to see this. Not every animated film, be it from DreamWorks or Fox or Disney, is created equal.
And if the one you're lining up for is a little unoriginal or otherwise lacking, don't fret. There's always another one just a few weeks away.