You'll be as surprised as the characters in this sequel: It's better than the original.

The story in "Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa" is a direct lift from "The Lion King," but I have to say I'd rather see a reprise of that movie than of the first "Madagascar."

Fans of the first one will recall it featured a wisecracking quartet of zoo animals who were shipped off to Madagascar. Now, they're trying to make the return trip with a stopover in Alex the lion's home savanna in Africa. Marooned there while he tries to figure out how to repair his airplane (yeah, I know), Alex (voiced by Ben Stiller) learns something we've already seen in a flashback: He was ousted from the pack when his dad and dastardly uncle feuded over being king of the jungle.

As in the first "Madagascar," there is a noticeable lack of animals devouring each other (in one particularly azoologic scene in "Escape," Alex tenderly cradles a delicious-looking dik-dik). But "Escape" is a big improvement on its predecessor.

It's gorgeous, for one thing, right up until the stunningly hand-drawn closing credits (the rest of the film is computer-animated), and the characterizations are more distinctive. I especially liked David Schwimmer as the voice of a nervous giraffe and Alec Baldwin as a leonine version of his "30 Rock" character, complete with a slicked-back pompadour.

There's even a little message about how animals deserve to be able to run free. I'll be intrigued to see how that message plays at the IMAX theater at the Minnesota Zoo, which will be showing "Madagascar 2" starting

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"MADAGASCAR: ESCAPE 2 AFRICA"

Directed by: Eric Darnell, Tom McGrath

Starring: Voices of Ben Stiller, Chris Rock, David Schwimmer, Jada Pinkett Smith, Alec Baldwin

Rated: PG, for mild language and a brief, scary moment

Should you go? 2 is better than 1. ***