Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa is a 2008 American computer-animated comedy film produced by DreamWorks Animation and distributed by Paramount Pictures. It is the second installment in the franchise, following Madagascar (2005). It was directed by Eric Darnell and Tom McGrath, with a screenplay written by Etan Cohen, Darnell, and McGrath, and features Ben Stiller, Chris Rock, David Schwimmer, Jada Pinkett Smith, Sacha Baron Cohen, Cedric the Entertainer, Andy Richter, Elisa Gabrielli, McGrath, Chris Miller, Christopher Knights, and Conrad Vernon reprising their voice acting roles from the first film, joined by new cast members Bernie Mac (who died before the film's release), Alec Baldwin, Sherri Shepherd, and will.i.am, while John DiMaggio also joins the cast as the new voice of Rico. In the film, the main characters—a party of animals from the Central Park Zoo whose adventures have taken them to Madagascar—find themselves in Africa, where they meet others of their species and where Alex the lion reunites with his parents.