'Madagascar' (PG)(out of four)

There is no real memorable story in "Madagascar," nor memorable emotions or moral lessons. This is a comedy, through and through, and directors Eric Darnell ("Antz") and Tom McGrath stop at nothing in steering this most delightful ensemble of quirky characters in that direction.

Much as "Shrek" was hardly about an ogre, but more about the systematic flipping of fairy tales upside down, and even as "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" was hardly about a group of knights or a holy treasure, but rather about the political rants and slapstick setups afforded by that formula, "Madagascar" is more skit comedy than anything else.

And along those lines it succeeds, time and time again.

This is a light and limber comedy, keenly aware of its material and limitations. It never once grows old, stale or predictable, but keeps up a momentum that moves things rapidly through new situations, characters and setups, and ends at a high note rather than overstaying its welcome.

The core four characters who serve as the clowns of this three-ring circus include Alex the Lion (Ben Stiller), Melman the Giraffe (David Schwimmer), Marty the Zebra (Chris Rock) and Gloria the Hippo (Jada Pinkett Smith). Unlike so many animated comedies that have become derivative retreads of buddy films, keeping a tight focus on only a few characters, "Madagascar" boasts real chemistry between a wide array of voices with a wide array of quirks and characteristics.

This is not an isolated series of dialogues, but an entirely new world to savor and take in.

Early on it's already obvious that "Madagascar" will put laughs first and all else second. Given the title of the film, one would assume the films' opening sequence in New York City's central park would move quickly, taking things from the asphalt jungle to the African jungle.

But no, the film lingers in the Big Apple because the writers find good comedic material and creative jokes. Alex loves being the celebrity to the awestruck tourists, while the nervous hypochondriac Melman enjoys the security of city life. Marty, on the other hand, feels trapped and confined by the skyscrapers, and breaks out of the zoo to find something more adventurous that will satisfy his animal urges.

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Preview: 'Madagascar'

The skits then shift from the city streets to a cargo ship, a mysterious beach, and then beneath the jungle canopy on the island off Africa's east coast. There, they encounter a land of exotic, miniature creatures, whose eccentric leader (Sacha Baron Cohen) befriends the foreigners for political reasons.

It says something about the state of animation that many will likely dismiss "Madagascar" as trivial. The bar has been raised, thanks mostly to the works created through the partnership of Disney and Pixar Animation, in which flawless collages of visuals, characters, stories and moral lessons have taken the medium to a new level.

But even in recent years, from the likes of "Finding Nemo" to "Monsters Inc.," the creativity has started to drift toward formula, and this formula has lost some of the edge that it had in "Toy Story."

Standing against this trend is Dreamworks' genuinely hilarious "Madagascar," which refuses to be an inferior imitation of those works, but a concept all its own with a different mission and different payoffs. When Melman opens a saloon on the Madagascar beach, and uses salt water because the "plumbing" isn't done, the payoff is funny. When Marty the Zebra debates his race, wondering if he's white with black stripes, or black with white stripes, it plays out in a creative way.

And the world of supporting characters is equally ingenious. An entire essay could be written about the shrewd, scheming and strategic penguins that start off as bit side characters, but later become integral to the larger story.

The very construction of the film's aesthetics is also conceived with laughs in mind. The casting of these primary voices seems initially random, but as the film goes on they have a most unlikely chemistry. Schwimmer, as the obsessive-compulsive worrier and Stiller as the hedonistic celebrity-type, are by far the best. Furthermore, the animated characters are not depicted realistically, but are stretched and morphed in the style of Chuck Jones to give them not just vocal, but visual personalities.

And although the realistic urban, ocean and jungle backdrops are as visually captivating as anything to be found in a Pixar film, Darnell and McGrath are liberated to have fun with the characters and action sequences to make things livelier. This is not a replica of the real world, but a more exaggerated, cartoon-based world of surrealism.

Its final triumph is one of pacing -- something rarely achieved by today's comedies. Most animated films suffer from poor pacing as well, overstaying their welcome and running out of steam. But not here. The film, much like its individual jokes and scenes, ends at its peak, and leave us wanting more.

Although "Madagascar" is not about family, or nostalgia, isn't this enough for an animated comedy: creative characters, in witty situations, depicted in an engaging way?

If the jokes were boring, the characters bland or the adventure tiresome, the film would be a waste. But they aren't, and it's not. "Madagascar" sets its goals, achieves those goals, and is a surprisingly filling treat for those looking for a good time -- and nothing more.