| The
two sides of 'Happy Feet'
By Ryan Pence
November 28, 2006 | Who would have thought that a
cartoon about a penguin that wasn't quite like all the
others could have had such an environmentally charged
political agenda, with plenty of religious references
to spare.
Story. This movie is really in fact two.
The first movie is about a baby penguin Mumble that
can't sing and because of this slight set back he is
not quite like the other penguins. The reason for all
the singing is simple--each penguin has a special song
in his or her heart and as it were the song is used
to attract another penguin of the opposite sex so that
the two can fall in love and make other penguins. The
problem is that Mumble, while still in the egg, was
dropped onto the ice, and this in turn causes him not
to develop a proper singing instrument. Instead, he
can dance. And because of his difference, he is an outcast
and ostracized from the rest of the penguins. It doesn't
take very long though for him to befriend another race
of penguins who readily accept him. The first film lasts
about an hour and five minutes.
The second film comprises the next 35 minutes of the
film. This story follows Mumble and his groupies searching
for the so-called "aliens" who seem to be
the reason for an astounding shortage of food in Antarctica.
The Elders of the penguins, appalled by this line of
thinking, use their persuasive power to control the
rest of the penguins from being polluted by this mind
of thinking, but rather put the blame on the food shortage
on Mumble. It doesn't take very long before Mumble and
his rabble find the cause of the food shortage. It appears
that the food shortage is caused by huge fish vessels.
Mumble, determined to let the world know that the penguins
are starving, chases after the ships. He ends up stranded
on the coast of South America and then put into captivity.
But after a little tap dance, they let him go back to
Antarctica. The environmentalists win and the penguins'
food supply is replenished.
Technology. The animation in this movie was
wonderful--there were times when I felt like I was watching
March of the Penguins all over again. The landscapes
and the color schemes were breathtaking. The character
animation just keeps getting better and better every
time another computer animation movie is released.
One thing that I thought was very well thought out
was the melding of live action humans with the computer-generated
world. Up till now the humans in CG movies just didn't
feel real; there was always something missing, but having
the real thing helps, although the first time that you
see a human in the CG world is through a pane of glass
and looks ghostly and not quite right, but that's the
only complaint about that.
Voice Work. Elijah Wood pretty much carries
the movie on his own although his voice work just isn't
very memorable--but the real success of the movie goes
to Robin Williams whose comedic charisma positively
charges this movie forward and helps lift the movie
as it slows down. There are some other great performances
by Hugo Weaving as the spiritual/group leader Noah,
the late Steve Irwin as predatory bird Kev, Brittney
Murphy as Mumble's girlfriend Gloria, and Hugh Jackman
and Nicole Kidman as Mumble's parents.
Bottom Line. The movie is cute and is very
fun to watch, the voice acting is good and Robin Williams
is a hoot. The mixing of humans with the CG world was
a great touch. Where the movie fails is in its dramatic
shift from a movie about social acceptance to a movie
about saving the penguins from starvation. The movie
was really two movies, and both moves would be great
separately, but together they just clash.
Rating. PG, for mild peril and suggestive
themes.
RB
RB |
