When you star in an animated movie that makes upwards of $200 million, odds are you're either going to be asked to do a sequel or you already have it built into your contract from the first film. So when kids and adults flocked to the 2005 animated hit Madagascar to see Ben Stiller and Chris Rock play a lion and zebra from the New York City Central Zoo who escape to Madagascar along with a star studded voice cast that also includes David Schwimmer, Jada Pinkett Smith, and Sacha Baron Cohen, it had sequel potential from the first day of production.

Now Ben Stiller and Chris Rock are back for another animated trip, this time globe hopping from Madagascar to Africa in Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa. Just prior to the U.S. Election, we caught up with Stiller and Rock at the official "Escape 2 Africa" press conference where both comedians were animated in a completely different manner.

And with Thanksgiving not far on the horizon, you'll be hilariously surprised at how the Rock family celebrates the holiday.

So there’s a lot more to tell, this is the sequel you couldn’t wait to make.

BEN STILLER: Yeah, well, it was - It takes a little while to get these movies made actually, so you have to decide early on if you want to make it. So this was a few years in the making. But I think they always had the idea there could possibly be more stories to tell based on these characters.

CHRIS ROCK: I think the people demanded it. I was vacationing in Australia and I got a telegraph that America wanted this movie.

STILLER: Really? A telegraph? Wow.

ROCK: Yeah, yeah. On one of those counter things and it came out the ticker and I got word that America wanted Madagascar and I got on my ship, sailed over here, and met with Ben.

STILLER: That’s quite a world you’re living in.

ROCK: [laughs] Me and Ben hooked up and...

So on a sequel when you have animals, do they get any older? Do they age?

STILLER: Well, that’s the great thing, your voice doesn’t really age as fast as your face. So you can just be as eternally whatever age you are in the movie.

ROCK: Pretty much. I sounded like this when I was eight.

STILLER: [laughs] No, the story, I like the story of this one and the characters. The first process was such an exploratory process because we didn’t know what it was going to be like.

ROCK: The whole thing was exploratory. You gotta realize, too, the first one DreamWorks was like a new studio still, like everything was just new. And now it’s a well-oiled machine.

STILLER: It is, yeah, and you get to know the process. And having seen the first movie, you see that there’s actually a light at the end of the tunnel after you’ve seen one. It’s a real one, because when you’re doing it the first time around you just wonder, 'When is it really going to come together? What am I going to see?' And when you see the movie you’re like, ‘Wow, that actually worked.’

Since this is animation, and you don’t always get to work with all of the actors in the film, was there anybody you wish you would’ve had some time with to work on the film face-to-face?

STILLER: Well, for me, I never got a chance to work with Bernie [Mac] on the movie, except hearing his stuff. And he was just so good in the film and I felt a real connection with him. Just these scenes, when they cut them together, he just adds so much warmth and humanity to the role and to the movie. So I feel sad that I didn’t get a chance to spend any time working with him.

ROCK: I do get to work with myself a lot and I love it. You know, David [Schwimmer] and Jada [Pinkett Smith] are so funny. Sacha [Baron Cohen], I’ve never done anything with Sacha, he’s like a guy I just met like three years ago or something. He’s so funny. I would’ve loved to have gotten in there with him.

At what point does it stop being an interesting process and start being a pain in the neck? I mean, is there a point where you roll your eyes when the phone call comes?

ROCK: There was a point on the first movie where I think I was doing lines over the phone.

STILLER: Really? I did my whole role over the phone. They didn’t tell you you could do that?

ROCK: They just made it comfortable for you.

STILLER: I told them that I just work best in bed at home in the morning. No, you know, it’s a strange thing the first time around because you don’t know what it’s going to look like until you see it. And then when you see it, it’s very inspiring because you go, ‘Oh, wow. This is what it becomes.’ So that actually helped on the second one for me. It kept me sort of connected to it because I knew that it was going to eventually be this full experience.

Have you been in a situation where a kid realized that you were the zebra and went through the whole Elvis meltdown?

ROCK: It’s weird. My youngest daughter, Zara - Lola could care less - but Zara likes to brag and say, ‘My dad’s the zebra from Madagascar.’ And so inevitably at any play date or party, at some point I have to do the voice and say 'Crackalackin,' to a bunch of kids. And that’s just a drill.

STILLER: See, at least you have a catch phrase. My catch phrase is, ‘Marty!’

Ben, it was reported... that the Chicago Seven movie might be coming your way and a relationship with DreamWorks can, I guess, benefit you by being on their radar screen for things like that. Is that a direction you want to go in, something serious and dramatic like that?

STILLER: I think it’s an interesting project. It’s an interesting story. And, you know, it’s definitely the type of thing that I’d be interested in doing, for sure. I mean...

ROCK: Circling it? [laughs]

Whichever wins from a comic standpoint, who do you think would provide the best material once the election is over?

STILLER: Honestly, I don’t think we should be looking at it in terms of who provides the best material. [laughs] Who would be best to lead the country, you know? I mean, the comic material is secondary in a situation like this.

ROCK: But it does count you must admit. I think Barack would provide the best material because it would be new material where McCain would just be dusting off old Reagan jokes.

Ben, with Thanksgiving right around the corner, I was kind of wondering, since you come from an acting family, are they theatrical when they get together for the holidays?

STILLER: Well, my parents are very funny, entertaining people to hang around. I mean, just their dynamic because they’ve been married about 55 years and they’re just incredibly funny together. So it’s fun to hang out with them and the family together. We usually have Thanksgiving at our place, lately. So a lot of the family will come out to our house, which is really nice, and there are a lot of kids running around and I enjoy it. I love Thanksgiving. I love Halloween. I like the whole Autumn time.

ROCK: Yeah, we dress up like pilgrims. We kill Indians, you know? It’s just for the kids. Let them see what happened and give out small pox blankets. It’s great! It’s a great ritual at my house. [laughs] Just to remind them what happened.