Once a professional ring jumper who used to leap through incrementally smaller hoops to excite crowds and was always pushing himself to the limit, his attempt at an impossible jump through a flaming pinkie ring ended in disaster when he burned his fur, which he had coated in extra virgin olive oil in order to slip through the narrow opening, destroying his confidence in his talent and the whole circus suffered by his example.
Stefano soon reveals to Alex that Vitaly was once their inspiration.
En route to London, the zoo gang is in despair of having wasted their money on the failing circus and not any closer to getting home. Unfortunately, to the zoo animals' horror, the circus proves to be so terrible, the angered audience demands refunds, right to going to the point of chasing the circus to the departing train to London. Meanwhile the others prepare for the performance at the Colosseum. He accidentally breaks her tricycle, and buys her a motorcycle with the stolen coronation ring of the Pope. Meanwhile, King Julien (Sacha Baron Cohen) falls in love with Sonya the bear (Frank Welker) and goes on a city tour across Rome. Before the zoo animals' claim is discredited, the penguins suddenly appear with a deal to purchase the circus themselves, resulting in the pleased departure of all the humans. The animals soon learn from Stefano that they are performing in Rome and London, where they plan to impress a promoter to get them on their first American tour. Seeing their only chance of escape is on the circus train, the four larger animals desperately claim that they are circus animals themselves, which convinces Stefano the sea lion (Martin Short) and Gia to let them in despite the protests of Vitaly the tiger (Bryan Cranston). Gia, a jaguar (Jessica Chastain), sees the four zoo animals and Alex is smitten with her upon first sight of her. They come across a circus train and bang on it, desperately trying to get in. In the skies of France, the plane's engines fail and the plane crashes into a suburban rail yard as the authorities close in. The group departs on the plane, just barely escaping DuBois. A high-speed chase ensues between the relentless DuBois and the animals in a truck driven by the penguins to reach their aircraft that was from the second film. But rather than capture them alive, DuBois desires their heads, mainly Alex's, as trophies. The hotel security calls Monaco Animal Control officer Captain Chantel DuBois (Frances McDormand) to deal with the animals. In Monte Carlo, the penguins and the two chimpanzees, Mason and Phil, disguised as the King of Versailles, keep winning in gambling until Alex's gang's attempt to reach them blunders and sparks chaos in the Hotel De Paris. Alex suggests to Marty (Chris Rock), Melman (David Schwimmer), and Gloria (Jada Pinkett Smith) that they should go to Monte Carlo to get the penguins to fly them back to New York City, which they agree to. He then wakes from his dream on his birthday, and the animals present him with a miniature model of New York City. Alex (Ben Stiller) has a nightmare about himself and his friends still stranded in Africa and finding they have all gotten old.