open/close all folders
Main Characters
Samson the Lion
Voiced by: Kiefer Sutherland
A lion who acts as the leader of the zoo, and Ryan's father. He tells stories about his time in the wild, but it becomes apparent that he's not being entirely truthful.
- Becoming the Boast: Samson tells stories about being from the wild and taking down hordes of wildebeest with his Mighty Roar. It's all a lie, but he does manage to defeat Kazar, a wildebeest, by the end of the movie.
- Big Guy, Little Guy: He and Benny, serves as this. Justified in that Samson is a lion and Benny is a squirrel.
- Dark Secret: Samson has a dark secret that no one except Benny knows. He never actually came from the wild, but a circus, and he was so ashamed of that fact that he made up his stories about his time in the wild to hide it.
- Heterosexual Life-Partners: With Benny. They're almost never seen apart.
- Ironic Name: Samson's name appears to be a reference to the titular character of Samson and Delilah. Considering the real Samson was a highly powerful figure whose most well-known feat involved slaying a lion, it's an extremely ironic name for this Samson, who is a lion who tells stories to make himself look like a hero.
- Mighty Roar: Being a lion, he naturally has a very powerful roar.
- Miles Gloriosus: Samson tells stories about fighting hordes of wildebeest in the wild, but it quickly becomes apparent that he's out of his depth the instant he goes outside the zoo. He runs from rabid dogs even though he could easily maul or roar at them, he refuses to eat a rude hyrax despite his friends' urgings, and he refuses to fight the wildebeest when he and Ryan end up in the wild.
- Papa Wolf: Threaten Ryan at your own peril. When Ryan gets taken away to the wild, Samson goes out of his way to get him back. When Kazar threatens to eat Ryan, Samson roars at him and attacks.Kazar: Let's eat the brat first.
Samson: Over my dead body! [roars] - Raised in Captivity: He was born in a circus and never actually set foot in the wild before the events of the movie. He was so ashamed of where he came from and his initial inability to roar that he pretended he came from the wild instead.
- Was Too Hard on Him: He became worried when he drove his son away by scolding him for not being able to roar and endangering everyone in the zoo with a stampede.
- What the Hell, Hero?: He calls Ryan out on endangering everyone in the zoo with the stampede. But, however, he went too far, and Ryan gives him the You're Not My Father speech.
Benny the Squirrel
Voiced by: James Belushi
The best friend of Samson, who has a crush on Bridget the Giraffe.
- Big Guy, Little Guy: He and Samson, serves as this. Justified in that Samson is a lion and Benny is a squirrel.
- Butt-Monkey: Over the course of the movie, he gets swung around by a little girl and smacked with a handbag into Samson's nose, crushed by Bridget, knocked off a garbage truck, and rolled around by dung beetles (who mistook him for a dung ball).
- Heterosexual Life-Partners: With Samson. They're willing to go to great lengths for each other.
- Secret-Keeper: Earlier in the film, He was the only one who knows Samson's deep dark secret.
- Undying Loyalty: He remains loyal to Samson even after the latter's secret comes out.
Nigel the Koala
Voiced by: Suzy Eddie Izzard
A koala who serves as the mascot of the zoo.
- Aside Glance: Does this during "I'm Having a Really Nice Day!", where he turns to the audience saying that the wildebeests are not bad dancers.
- Butt-Monkey: Suffering a Groin Attack and then getting mobbed by flamingos.
- Breaking the Fourth Wall: Does this at the end of the film, where he interacts with the audience.
Bridget the Giraffe
Voiced by: Janeane Garofalo
A giraffe who is the Love Interest of Benny.
- Genial Giraffe: She's a bit of a Deadpan Snarker, but otherwise pretty friendly.
- Love Interest: Serves this to Benny.
- Statuesque Stunner: An extreme example; Benny finds Bridget so attractive because of how she towers over him.
Larry the Anaconda
Voiced by: Richard Kind
A dim-witted but friendly anaconda.
- Dumbass Has a Point: He is normally silly and aloof, but his stroke of brilliance comes when he suggests that they use their "secret plan" from curling to beat the wildebeests.
- Feather Boa Constrictor: While Bridget does not actually use him as a fashion accessory, Larry still brings this trope to mind when being carried on Bridget by rapping around her neck.
- Token Minority: He is the only reptile in Samson’s friend group and the only non-mammal main character.
Ryan
Voiced by: Greg Cipes
Ryan's son, an 11-year-old lion cub who wants to find his roar in the wild.
- Distressed Dude: He accidentally gets taken away to the wild after stowing away in a shipping container, forcing Samson and the others to save him.
- Everyone's Baby Sister: Benny, Bridget, Nigel and Larry all view him as a little brother, and go out of their way to rescue him when he gets taken to the wild.
Antagonists
Kazar
Voiced by: William Shatner
A deranged wildebeest who wants to become a predator by eating a lion.
- Ascended to Carnivorism: His plan is for wildebeest to become predators. To accomplish this feat, he intends to eat a lion, which will (somehow) cause a cosmic shift that will turn wildebeest into predators and lions into prey.
- Ax-Crazy: Kazar is clearly not mentally stable at all. Not only does he show an enjoyment for violence and killing, he actually wants to eat meat to become a predator, and his end goal is one that makes absolutely no sense whatsoever.
- Bad Boss: Is this towards Blag and the wildebeests; he regularly belittles them and at one point kicks Blag.
- Death by Looking Up: Towards the end of the movie, he gets crushed to death by the rocks as the volcano erupts.
- Handicapped Badass: Samson knocks one of his horns off during the final battle. This doesn't slow Kazar down at all, and just seems to make him even angrier as he almost kills Samson several times during their confrontation. Not even Kazar’s blind eye hinders him.
- Plot-Irrelevant Villain: He has nothing to do with the main conflict of Ryan being accidentally sent to the wild, and doesn't even enter the plot until about halfway through. He's mainly there to make the goal of getting Ryan back home harder and provide a conclusion to Samson's character arc.
- Scary Teeth: Unusually for a herbivorous animal character, his teeth are really misshapen and rotten looking.
- Serious Business: He takes his dance numbers with the other wildebeest quite seriously. He even chews out Blag for screwing it up when he tripped earlier in the film.
- Would Hurt a Child: He has no qualms about eating Ryan, a young lion cub.Kazar: I don't think we need dessert... BEFORE THE MAIN COURSE!!! [tries to bite Ryan]
Blag
Voiced by: Patrick Warburton
Kazar's second-in-command, Blag is a wildebeest who loves dancing.
- The Dragon: To Kazar. Until he, along with the wildebeests, betrays him.
- Heel–Face Turn: He, along with the wildebeests, help Samson and Ryan, while standing up to Kazar.
- Hidden Depths: While Kazar calls Blag a klutz who screwed up his dance number, the Dance Party Ending shows that Blag can actually be a really good dancer when he pulls off some impressive breakdancing skills.
- Hidden Disdain Reveal: He changes sides when he and the other wildebeest tell their Kazar that they are tired of his leadership and tired of being something they are not. He also admits that he thought Kazar’s dancing choreography was outdated.
Wildebeests
Kazar's minions, led by him to become predators.
- Animals Not to Scale: The wildebeests, including Kazan and Blag, are much bigger and way more beefier than any real wildebeest, which makes them more comparable in size to buffalo.
- Heel–Face Turn: They, along with Blag, help Samson and Ryan, while standing up to Kazar.
Scab and Scaw
Two vultures who work for Kazar to find potential prey.
- All There in the Script: Their names are never said out loud in the film.
- Terrible Trio: Scab and Scaw form one with another unnamed vulture when they go out to search for Ryan.
- Vile Vulture: They are vultures who work for Kazar by acting as his eyes and ears.
Others
Hyrax
Voiced by: Colin Cunningham
A rude, short-tempered British hyrax the group encounters in Africa.
- Aren't You Going to Ravish Me?: Or "eat me" in this case. He's shocked, and even offended that Samson won't eat him despite being a lion.
- Bullying a Dragon: He repeatedly mocks and insults Samson, a lion who could easily eat him in one bite, and actually gets angry when Samson refuses to eat him.
- Gasshole: He constantly farts, to the point where Bridget calls him an "olfactory insult". At one point, he farts every time he takes a step.
- Jerkass: In his one scene, the hyrax is shown to be an extremely unpleasant character who repeatedly insults Samson and his friends with no real redeeming qualities.
Samson's Father
Voiced by: Kevin Michael Richardson
The father of Samson, and the grandfather of Ryan.
- Abusive Parents: He is this towards Samson. As when the latter gets taken away, he doesn't show any concern for him.
- Hate Sink: There is a lot of reasons for the viewers to hate this lion. He forces his son to roar at a mechanical wildebeest, showing zero support when the poor cub is nervous, and when he is unable to, he gets put in a cage. He is also fine with Samson getting taken away to the zoo with zero remorse. All these make that lion even more despicable than Kazar.
- Karma Houdini: Emotionally abused his son and faces no consequences afterwards.
Galena
- Missing Mom: She was never even mentioned onscreen and it is thought she died. But she appeared in a deleted scene, where she's worried that her husband and son are in danger and relies on Benny to look out for them both.
