The Penguins of Madagascar, a spin-off of the incredibly popular Madagascar movies, should provide ample entertainment for kids over the Thanksgiving Day weekend. Following the greatest and most hilarious covert birds in the global espionage business, Penguins stars Skipper, Rico and Private as they join forces with an undercover organization called The North Wind.

Penguins of MadagascarPenguins of Madagascar should take a sizeable chunk of the Thanksgiving weekend box-office

Of course, Benedict Cumberbatch has managed to get his head in, voicing the handsome and husky Agent Classified - the head of North Wind. Together the team must stop the villainous Dr Octavius Brine, voiced by John Malkovich.

"These penguins really are cute, the animation is consistently appealing, and the movie is obviously bound for megamoolah at the box office," said Joe Morgenstern of the Wall Street Journal.

More: check out our Benedict Cumberbatch and John Malkovich Penguins interview

""Penguins of Madagascar" is a passible, inoffensive addition to DreamWorks Animation's canon, even if there's a faint whiff of a North Wind spin-off sullying the contained story," said Lindsey Bahr of the Associated Press.

"Penguins of Madagascar is an injection of sugar direct to the pineal gland and woe betide any parent who tries to get their children to take a nap after seeing it," said Jordan Hoffman of the Guardian, in the UK.

Penguins of MadagascarPenguins of Madagascar will prove to be another hit for DreamWorks

"You have to respect a kids' cartoon that kicks off with a Werner Herzog joke - even one so willfully, wondrously stupid and lighthearted as Penguins of Madagascar," said Bilge Ebiri of New York Magazine/Vulture.

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 should come out on top over the weekend, probably taking $80 million over the five-day period. However, Penguins should edge out comedy Horrible Bosses for second.

"The market is going to stay healthy," said Phil Contrino, vice president and chief analyst at BoxOffice.com. "I like the combination of 'Penguins' and 'Horrible Bosses.' That's smart counter-programming."

Watch the Penguins of Madagascar trailer: