One of the most popular animated movies of the last few years has been “Madagascar”, popularity only superseded by its earnings of more than half a billion dollars worldwide. Given the success registered by the movie, it was obvious that a sequel was in order.

And that sequel will be here since next Friday, when it will open in theaters. “Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa” is ready to take over the box office as his  ancestor did three years ago.

The first movie followed Alex the Lion (King of New York), the star of the Central Park Zoo, and his friends Gloria the Hippo (Jada Pinkett Smith), Melman the Giraffe (David Schwimmer) and Marty the Zebra (Chris Rock), Alex’s unlikely best friend.

The group follows a couple of penguins and ends up in Madagascar, where Alex manages to discover his wild side, and admits that he was born in a Zoo, not the jungle. He can’t come to terms with the fact that he might eat Marty, so he becomes a vegetarian. In the second movie, they again follow the penguins and build a plane, wanting to head for New York, when in fact they will end up in the African savannah.

Jada Pinkett-Smith was more than happy to answer a couple of questions at last weekend's AIDS Foundation Dream Halloween Benefit, held in California. She and her family are huge animal lovers, currently owning three cats, two dogs and a red-tail boa constrictor.

The controversial pet was even brought up by her husband on Jay Leno’s show. The actress says she loves “Madagascar” because it’s happy and optimistic, as opposed to classics such as “Dumbo”, “Bambi” or “White Fang”.