Madagascar: A Little Wild (also known as A Little Wild) is an American animated television series produced by DreamWorks Animation Television and animated by Mainframe Studios. The series, which is a prequel to the 2005 film, features Alex the Lion, Marty the Zebra, Gloria the Hippo, and Melman the Giraffe residing in a rescue habitat at the Central Park Zoo as children. The series premiered on Hulu and Peacock on September 7, 2020.
Unlike The Penguins of Madagascar and All Hail King Julien, the series features all four zoo animals (here called the Zoosters) in main roles (both prior series had only Alex appear in guest roles), and does not feature an appearance in any form from either the Penguins, the Lemurs, or the Chimps.
Contents
Characters
Main
Alex (voiced by Tucker Chandler) is a lion cub and is the leader of the Zoosters. He loves performing for big crowds and is always excited about going on big adventures with his friends.
Marty (voiced by Amir O'Neil) is a zebra foal and is Alex's best friend. He's very well-organized and is very strict about safety and following the rules. He dreams of being a ranger horse someday.
Melman (voiced by Luke Lowe) is a giraffe calf. Unlike the rest of his friends, he tends to be in his own little world and tends to get the most enjoyment out of things that other Zoosters may find boring. He tends to love Kate the most as he appreciates everything she does to take care of him. He also has a fear of butterflies.
Gloria (voiced by Shaylin Becton) is a hippopotamus calf and is the only female Zooster. Like Alex, she loves to perform, which is mostly dancing and swimming. She is very kind and caring and also serves as the muscle of the Zoosters, though she often gets distracted by other things that interest her.
Supporting
Ant'ney (voiced by Eric Petersen) is a street-wise adult pigeon who is friends with the Zoosters. He delivers any big news to the Zoosters that he hears on the streets of New York City and sometimes helps them out on their adventures. His favorite activity is finding food laying on the ground and eating it.
Pickles and Dave (both voiced by Candace Kozak) are brother and sister chimpanzees who live in the trees in the same habitat as the Zoosters. Pickles is a very tomboyish monkey, while her brother, Dave, is deaf and communicates through American Sign Language. They have a secret lever in their tree that they use to open a secret tunnel allowing the Zoosters to go out into the city, but only after the Zoosters pay them a toll. They are based on Phil and Mason from the movies.
Kate (voiced by Jasmine Gatewood) is the Zookeeper of the New York Zoo. It's her duty to take care of all the animals at the zoo as best she can. Alex, Marty, Melman and Gloria are her favorites with Melman being the one who loves her back the most.
Recurring
Carlos (voiced by Eric Lopez) is another employee in the zoo who often acts as Kate's second-in-command, but oftentimes, he doesn't know what he's doing.
Ranger Hoof (voiced by Da'Vine Joy Randolph) is a military horse who often visits the New York Zoo. Marty idolizes her and dreams of being a ranger horse just like her.
Lucia (voiced by Myrna Velasco) is a sloth who was introduced in Season 3 of the show. She's very excitable and loves to teach the Zoosters about things she learned in her homeland, but she also loves to learn new things as well.
Lala (voiced by Grace Lu) is a Chinese litter frog tadpole who was introduced in Season 3. She is very optimistic about having new experiences and ends up becoming Gloria's best friend, but Gloria is a bit obsessed and overprotective with her.
Murray (voiced by Charlie Adler) and Millie (voiced by Johanna Stein) are an old married couple who live around the city. Murray is the only human in New York City who notices the Zoosters whenever they're out on the town, but his wife, Millie, doesn't ever believe him.
Episodes
Production
The series was first announced for Hulu and Peacock on January 17, 2020.
Broadcast
Outside of the United States, it aired on Family Jr. in Canada on January 9, 2021 and on TiJi in France on September 3, 2022. The series aired on DreamWorks Channel Asia as part of the DW Jr. block in 2022. The series is available for Latin America, on HBO Max. The series is available for Australia, on Stan. It started airing on Cartoon network on October 4, 2022 in the Cartoonito generation in Turkey. The show aired on TV2 in Malaysia in 2023, however after its 4th season aired it got replaced with the show “Adventurous Fins.” And later in October the show came back.
