Gasikara Kolotora sy Kolontsaina

Did you ever look at zoo animals and wonder if, despite their carefree living conditions, they really wanted to escape to the wilds? Celebrating his 10th birthday, Marty the zebra finds the daily performances at New York's Central Park Zoo tiresome and craves the excitement beyond the gates, from Manhattan to the island of Madagascar. He persuades his friends – Alex the lion, Melman the giraffe, Gloria the hippo and some crafty penguins – to get outta there with him. Their antics and escapades, depicted in the currently showing Dreamworks movie of the same name, come to life in this wacky and well-done piece of software. Although the minimum age for players is given as three, the company meant this as a sign that it has no violence. The level of English is high and would not be comprehensible to a three-year-old English speaker, certainly not to a Hebrew speaker twice his age. Yet even without understanding the dialogue, Israeli schoolkids can play the game, which begins with a lov...

A SMALL but connected community is always a good thing. The inaugural London Malay Festival might not be high on the list of summer festivals in Britain, but the one-day community-based project represents a stepping-stone for the Malay diaspora. The event set to run at the Lawrence Hall, Royal Horticultural Halls in London on Aug 27 seeks to readdress the lack of a Malay cultural presence on the international stage. “The London Malay Festival is basically a ‘regathering’ of tribes – to assemble a festival that can reflect the wide array of cultures that have a distinct Malay lineage. The Malay diaspora is wide and you cannot just think Malaysia, Indonesia or Singapore in this context. “It’s amazing to see Malay roots stretching from the Philippines and Australia’s Cocos Islands straight through Madagascar and South Africa,” said Art Fazil, the artistic director of the London Malay Festival in an interview in London earlier this month. At the London Malay Festival, the music slot is ...

I am feeding a banana to a wild cat. I know this is a bad thing to do in a national park but the damage has already been done. Each day at dusk, the cat and its companion, a brave little mouse lemur, step out of the rainforest shadows to delight a score of visitors who have spent the day traipsing along muddy paths in the elusive search for wild lemurs. Today we are doubly fortunate; a real glamourpuss puts in an appearance. The rare red-bellied lemur flings her long tail around her neck like a fur stole and poses round-eyed for our lenses, coping with the whirrs and flashes like an old pro. Bananas are accepted with dignity by hands that look almost human. Hollywood's new blockbuster animated film, Madagascar, stars a mouse lemur named Mort who punches well beyond his weight and charms his way into the hearts of a group of New York zoo animals searching for a wild life on this island 250 miles off the coast of East Africa. "He's the sweetest little thing," says Mort...

The Malagasy tourism industry is patiently awaiting an expected boom in visitors to the Indian Ocean island nation driven by the animated box-office hit Madagascar, officials said on Wednesday. Though tourist arrivals have yet to register any significant jump from the film that was released in May, they said medium- and long-term prospects are bright and noted the island's hospitality industry cannot cope with an immediate surge anyway. "It will be two years before we feel the effects of the movie," said Clement Ravalisaona, president of Madagascar's Professional Tour Operators' Association (TOP), opining that United States and European tourists whom the film might influence plan holidays well in advance. "Americans and Europeans prepare two years ahead of their vacations," he said, adding that bookings for the island's 9 300 hotel rooms are now beginning to climb for the period ending next October. "We are already having difficulty in hotel res...

The two-week deal will run across ATM:ad’s network of cashpoints in Asda stores throughout the UK until shortly after the film hits the movie screens on 15 July. The campaign will feature activity on receipts issued by the machine and through the on-screen transactions. Planning and buying for the campaign was carried out by ZenithOptimedia and Meridian Outdoor. Alastair Patrick, outdoor planner at Meridian Outdoor, said: “Madagascar is a fun, family oriented movie which will appeal to parents and kids of all ages. “We have used ATM:ad at Asda before very successfully so we knew that it would be the right medium for our target market. “We had no hesitation in making this campaign an integral part of UIP’s overall promotional plan for the launch of the film.” By Kevin May ATM:ad has been selected by United International Pictures to help promote the forthcoming release of Madagascar, the new animated adventure from DreamWorks.