In the story (which takes place before the events of the original Madagascar film), the animals of the New York Zoo are all celebrating on Christmas Eve, except for the lonely polar bear, Ted. Private, seeing how sad Ted is, asks Skipper if they can go give Ted a present, but Kowalski says they do not have one. In spite of this, Private slips out of the zoo on Christmas Eve to find a present for Ted. About half an hour later, the other three Penguins notice that Private is missing and go looking for him.