The Penguins of Madagascar is a spin-off of the Madagascar films, which takes place after the second movie. The series follows the adventures of four penguins: Skipper, Kowalski, Private and Rico, who perform various missions to protect their home in the Central Park Zoo. The penguins are constantly opposed by a trio of lemurs, Julien, Mort and Maurice, who believe that Julien is the rightful ruler of the zoo.
Maurice is having trouble with his stingy king, and goes missing after fighting over a camera with Julien. Maurice disappears, but since his picture is showing on the camera, Julien thinks he's stuck in the camera, which he believes is a magic gift from the sky spirits, but the penguins think otherwise. The penguins find him in the junkyard and bring him home to Julien's kingdom where he decides to accept Julien over "those crazy penguins".