That Werner Herzog should narrate one of those penguin movies has been a joke ever since Herzog did his own movie about Antarctica. Luckily Dreamworks has lots of money and will do anything that seems like it’s popular, which is why you can now hear Herzog playing the narrator version of himself in this new clip from Penguins of Madagascar. Is this the one where they wear rainbow wigs? I get these Dreamworks movies with “Madagascar” in the title confused. I feel like Dreamworks must choose their concepts using some sort of lottery spinner of buzzwords popular with children, which I assume is the only way you could end up with a title like “Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted.” I’m looking forward to Frozen Penguins Wig 4: Rio Surfs Madagascar.
Anyway, it’s cool they got Werner Herzog, but I’m not sure the writer actually knew anything about Werner Herzog.
“Antarctica: An inhospitable wasteland. But even here on the Earth’s frozen bottom, we find life. And not just any life, penguins. Joyous, frolicking, waddling, cute and cuddly life. Look at them: tumbling onto their chubby bom boms.”
That’s the least Werner Herzog-sounding voice over imaginable, but maybe that’s the joke. Some of Herzog’s actual voice over from Encounters At The End Of The World, perhaps his most self-parodical movie, included lines like “I hate za feeleenk uff sunlight on my schkin and on my celluloid.”
I guess you sort of have to cast him against type, since there’s no way a parody could do justice to the reality of Werner Herzog’s actual penguin interests.
“Is zair such theeng as eensanity among penguins? I try to avoid a defeeneetion of eensanity oah derangement – I don’t mean dat a penguin might beeleeve he oah she eest Leneen or Napoleon Bonapartay – but could zay just go crasee because zey are tired uff zair colony?”
—
“Vith five souzand keelometers ahead of heem, he vas headeeng towards certain death.”
There is no way you could do a parody better than Werner Herzog asking a penguin scientist whether any of the penguins think they’re Napoleon. It’s just too amazing. Though I would love to hear Parry Gripp sing a “Deranged Penguin” song.
De-ranged penguin, ain’t got no money. De-ranged penguin, ain’t got no wife. De-ranged penguin, he hates his life. De-ranged penguin, he wants to die. (*lengthy synth breakdown*)