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Mumble (voiced by Elijah Wood) is
a no-penguin penguin chick gifted with irrepressible tap dancing feet but cursed with a croaky voice not even his mother can love. His father Memphis (Hugh Jackman) is upset
beyond belief while his mother Norma Jean (Nicole Kidman) tries to accept Mumble as he is. They are worried that Mumble can't have his own "heart song"--that which in
penguin land is sung to find one's soul mate. He is therefore an outcast, being the only one in whole of Antarctica who can't sing. He goes off to places where he can
be alone and dance to his heart's content, and soon comes upon a bunch of Latino penguins who call themselves Adelie Amigos, led by Ramon (Robin Williams). The much smaller
Adelie Amigos take a liking for the outcast Emperor penguin Mumble and learn to tap dance from him. Feeling accepted for the first time in his life, Mumble joins the Amigos
in a series of adventures that lead to his awareness of environmental abuses.
Happy Feet has its good and bad
moments. It's beautifully animated--the ice-loving creatures look real down to the last feather, so that watching Happy Feet makes it hard for one to imagine if they
can't really and actually dance or sing. The elephant seals, too, come across as just too real. Happy Feet is delightful to watch although in the back of the viewer's
mind the credit goes to the animators, the computer wizards, those whose names roll on among the hundred other unknowns in the credits. Happy Feet
is a production meant to capture the musical ear of the movie-going public, with tunes like Somebody to Love, Kiss, Do It Again, I'll Make Love to You and You Don't Have to be
Rich being performed by the actors themselves. Brittany Murphy as Gloria, Mumble's lady love, is a discovery, a veritable "Antarctica Idol", although it's not easy to
understand why Kidman as Mumble's mother must sound like a phone sex operator--it just isn't cool for a penguin mommy.
The lesson in the story has been
told hundreds of ways before: it's not your fault that you're different, find your own giftedness, accept yourself for what you are, make a go of it and redeem yourself.
There's a conscientisizing message here about global warming and how humans have been abusing the environment but it is not as well-pronounced as the message of tolerance and
acceptance resonating throughout the whole movie. Perhaps because the penguin performers catch one's attention more than anything else. Or perhaps all that singing and
dancing with but ice in the background mesmerizes the viewer to sleep, thus missing the other vital message. Generally, Happy Feet is wholesome enough for everyone,
but cover the eyes of the small children when the elephant seals stalk Mumble--that could be pretty scary for tots.
(Date Reviewed: 24 November 2006)
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