Always the scene-stealers in the original Madagascar movies, it is finally the penguins time to shine in their own movie and the creators always knew they wanted to allow these characters to have their own solo movie.

New 'Penguins of Madagascar' Trailer Puts The Spies Into A New International Adventure

Speaking at Comic-Con, voice actor Tom McGrath, who voices Skipper, talked about the origins of his character and working with new actors on the solo movie. "We wanted Robert Stack to play Skipper," McGrath recalled. "He had that momentous straight man voice."

As for the new movie, McGrath said he was excited to work with the likes of Benedict Cumberbatch and John Malkovich. "I got to make a movie with Benedict Cumberbatch and John Malkovich," McGrath said. He described Malkovich's character as a "renowned geneticist, cheese enthusiast and frequent NPR pledge drive contributor."

"When they presented this to me, it was three-and-a-half years ago. It was such a funny idea to have my voice be the voice of an octopus. It seemed like a no-brainer," Malkovich said of his character Dave. He revealed a little of Brine's motivation, saying the character "feels he had his life ruined in every zoo or aquatic park because the penguins were cute and he got no attention."

Cumberbatch described his character, Classfied, as an all-action wolf. "They look after animal welfare," he explained. "He's after Octavius Brine and gets the penguins to learn as much about him as they can so he can do the 'professional' work."

Penguins of Madagascar opens in theaters on November 14.

Tags
Movies