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Happy Feet (2006)
 
© Warner Bros. (2006)
SFC Reviewer's Opinion:
Limited Recommendation

Genre
Animation / Adventure / Comedy / Family / Musical
   
Synopsis

In the great nation of Emperor Penguins, deep in Antarctica, you're nobody unless you can sing-which is unfortunate for Mumble (Elijah Wood), who is the worst singer in the world. He is born dancing to his own tune...tap dancing. Though Mumble's mum, Norma Jean (Nicole Kidman), thinks this little habit is cute, his dad, Memphis (Hugh Jackman), says it 'just ain't penguin.' Besides, they both know that, without a Heartsong, Mumble may never find true love. As fate would have it, his one friend, Gloria (Brittany Murphy), happens to be the best singer around. Mumble and Gloria have a connection from the moment they hatch, but she struggles with his strange 'hippity- hoppity' ways. Mumble is just too different-especially for Noah the Elder (Hugo Weaving), the stern leader of Emperor Land, who ultimately casts him out of the community. Away from home for the first time, Mumble meets a posse of decidedly un-Emperor-like penguins-the Adelie Amigos. Led by Ramon (Robin Williams), the Adelies instantly embrace Mumble's cool dance moves and invite him to party with them. In Adelie Land, Mumble seeks the counsel of Lovelace the Guru (also voiced by Robin Williams), a crazy-feathered Rockhopper penguin who will answer any of life's questions for the price of a pebble. Together with Lovelace and the Amigos, Mumble sets out across vast landscapes and, after some epic encounters, proves that by being true to yourself, you can make all the difference in the world.

   
Directed by  
George Miller; Warren Coleman (co-director); Judy Morris (co-director).
   
Written by  
Warren Coleman (writer); John Collee (writer); George Miller (writer); Judy Morris (writer).
   
Starring  
Carlos Alazraqui (Nestor (voice)); Lombardo Boyar (Raul (voice)); Jeffrey Garcia (Rinaldo (voice) (as Jeff Garcia)); Johnny A. Sanchez (Lombardo (voice) (as Johnny Sanchez III)); Robin Williams (Ramon / Lovelace (voice)); Elijah Wood (Mumble (voice)); Brittany Murphy (Gloria (voice)); Hugh Jackman (Memphis (voice)); Nicole Kidman (Norma Jean (voice)); Hugo Weaving (Noah the Elder (voice)); Elizabeth Daily (Baby Mumble (voice) (as E.G. Daily)); Magda Szubanski (Miss Viola (voice)); Miriam Margolyes (Mrs. Astrakhan (voice)); Fat Joe (Seymour (voice)); Alyssa Shafer (Baby Gloria (voice)). Please contact SFC to add other cast members and characters.
 

Length (mins):
109
Ratings:
PG (U)
Language:
ENG

Big 3 Oscar Wins:
1
Big 3 Oscar Noms:
1
IMDB page:
Link

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Important: the following essays and comments are authored by Soul Food Cinema readers. Whilst the Editor prays for the spiritual integrity of all content of this site, it should be noted that these represent personal opinions and carry no official endorsement. If you consider any content to be a misrepresentation of Catholic teaching, please contact SFC. May God bless you and enlighten you in your reading.
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Readers' Comments and Opinions
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Click the link to comment on this film. You may like to copy the film title and year (as given above) to your clipboard now for pasting into the following form.
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  Two Feet Dancing in Different Directions  
  Mark Banks (United Kingdom)  
  Opinion: Limited Recommendation  

'Happy Feet' has all of the hallmarks of a Hollywood made-to-order children's animation film... I won't list these individually, but the net result is somewhat of a confused film with two story lines running in parallel with one another. The first is Mumble's search for his true place in the world - if the writers had focussed upon this a little more, Happy Feet could've imparted a good and clear message with respect to being comfortable with oneself. The second is the tangent the film takes when it goes off on a mission to save the environment - nothing wrong with that, but please make up your mind what the focus of the film is to be! Along with those two plot lines we have a hotchpotch of contemporary musical numbers, with each song written by a different person to create a strange lack of consistency and flow to the production. And to top it all off there is a double dose of Robin Williams being - Robin Williams. On the plus side, the visuals are stunning and although the double story line was a little off-putting, both plot strands had something of a good moral to impart to the audience. I think my biggest concern with average films like this is that children will see so many of them that they will never come to fully appreciate good filmmaking; especially with respect to the absence of screen writing with any true level of depth.


 

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Soul Food Cinema - Movie/Film Reviews and Discussion from the World's Catholic-Christian Community
Images in the header are from: Antwone Fisher (© Fox Searchlight, 2002); Stand by Me (© Columbia Pictures, 1986); Jesus of Nazareth (© ITV (1977); The Passion of The Christ (© Newmarket Films, 2004); Rabbit-proof Fence (© Buena Vista, 2002); Amazing Grace (© Bristol Bay Productions, 2006) and Il Postino (© Cecchi Gori Group, 1994).