Hello, DreamWorks? King Julien Calling.

King Julien and Friend

I spent some time with lemurs in Madagascar a few years ago. So the idea that they may disappear from the Earth has gotten stuck in my head this morning.  So let’s take another look at those numbers.

Saving the northern sportive lemur will cost just $25,000 a year, to put full-times guards in the field. Overall, the IUCN figures that the program to get all 104 lemur species through the next three years will cost $7.6 million.

To put that number in perspective, the three “Madagascar” animated movies released by DreamWorks Animation since 2005 have so far earned about $1.9 billion worldwide, with another sequel now in development.

Also by way of perspective, DreamWorks founders Stephen Spielberg, Jeffrey Katzenberg, and David Geffen recently donated $90 million … to support elderly members of the entertainment industry.

It is of course a wonderful thing to help those who helped get you where you are. And this reminds me of King Julien, the colorful lemur on whose charm DreamWorks has developed one of the most lucrative franchises in the history of entertainment.

If readers agree with me that DreamWorks, together with Spielberg, Katzenberg, and Geffen (who is no longer associated with the company), could together go a long way toward saving the colorful tribe of lemur species, why don’t we let them know right now.

You can contact the DreamWorks board at this address. Or go to Twitter and post this message: Save King Julien and his tribe of lemur species #dreamworks #savethelemurs http://www.takepart.com/article/2013/07/22/northern-sportive-lemur-extinct

Stephen? Jeffrey? David? King Julien wants to know: Isn’t it time the lemurs got a little payback, too?