Happy Feet

HAPPY FEET
WB
RELEASED 8 December 2006
In the ever-increasingly formulaic world of kids animation (I’m looking at you ‘Open Season’, ‘Ice Age 2’, and ‘Barnyard’), ‘Happy Feet’ stands out like a shining beacon of originality, and even if it wasn’t funny and brilliantly designed, that would be something to shout about in itself.
Penguins Norma Jean (voiced by Nicole Kidman) and Memphis (voiced by an Elvis-alike Hugh Jackman) name their newborn fluffy bundle of joy Mumble (who has Elijah Wood’s voice, and blue eyes too). Norma Jean and Memphis are two of the best singers in the penguin community, which is important to penguins as they use their ‘Heartsong’ to find a mate. Unfortunately, Mumble happens to be the worst singer in the world. But he has been born with a different natural skill – tap dancing. After upsetting the tribe with his terrible screechings and strange “hippity-hoppity” ways, Mumble is cast out of the penguin community.
Mumble’s misfortune soon turns to adventure as he meets five un-Emperor-like penguins – the short and squat Adelie Amigos, led by Ramon (voiced by Robin Williams). They lead him to Lovelace the Guru (kind of like Barry White, and also voiced by Robin Williams), a crazy-feathered Rockhopper penguin, and together they all venture where no penguin has gone before.
‘Happy Feet’ is very funny, and much of this is down to the wonderful voice talents of Robin Williams, who is left to improvise much like he did to great effect as the genie of the lamp in Disney’s ‘Aladdin’. There are some nice adult jokes, including an ‘alien’ abduction story, and a movie reference to ‘2001’. Much of the film includes musical numbers which include well-known numbers such as Prince’s ‘Kiss’ and disco classic ‘Boogie Wonderland’. The penguins like nothing better than to get together for big karaoke sessions! The animation of both the assorted wildlife (including seals and killer whales) and the Antarctic landscape is truely phenonemal. Sometimes you’d be hard-pushed to tell the difference between this and the real thing. There is some very clever mixing of animation and real-life towards the end which doesn’t look out of place at all.
‘Happy Feet’ is excellent fun for all ages and the perfect Xmas treat.
FOUR OUT OF FIVE