Happy Feet came to me by way of that co-worker who owns a gajillion movies and lends them out to people, particularly me. I told her I wanted to borrow this one because it won the Best Animated Feature Oscar, so I thought it had the potential to be really cute and kind of original and worth my time, and she thinks it's a cute movie too. I mean, the name "Happy Feet" and a cute-looking penguin on the DVD cover were extremely inviting elements to me, and I thought I'd be left with happy feet of my own.
If you recall, Happy Feet was up against Cars and Monster House in the relevant Oscar category. The feeling I'm left with is that this movie was mediocre, kind of boring, and definitely not the movie to which I would have given the Oscar, of the three available nominees. Cars and Monster House were both superior films on every level, and after viewing this movie, I can't for the life of me fathom why Oscar decided to favor the penguins. Perhaps it really was a snub on Pixar. We'll see what happens when Ratatouille gets its inevitable Oscar nomination for this category.
In this, the Oscar-winning movie, Mumble (voiced by Elijah Wood - Frodo!) is an Emperor Penguin who, unlike other Emperor Penguins, can't find his heartsong. See, apparently Emperor penguins are driven by mating calls that resemble well-known popular tunes. Who knew? Yet, I digress. Anyway, it seems his dad, Memphis (Hugh Jackman, in an obvious nod to Elvis) dropped poor Mumble during the gestation period, when the father penguins are responsible for caring for the eggs while the mother penguins are off fishing. When Mumble hatched, he found he couldn't sing a lick, but yet, he couldn't stop dancing. Tap dancing, no less, which, lo and behold, is very unpenguin-like. And while his mother Norma Jean (Nicole Kidman, in an obvious nod to Marilyn Monroe) and potential love interest Gloria (Brittany Murphy) can find it in their hearts to forgive him this quirk, Memphis and the rest of the penguin clan (including an elder voiced by Hugo Weaving) accuse him of being responsible for depleting the fish with his odd ways. So, Mumble, with the help of other penguins who are apparently Latin, and with the exception of Robin Williams and another Al Sharpton-like penguin named Lovelace, also voiced by Robin Williams, set out to win back Mumble's rightful place in his little penguin colony and find out why "aliens" are stealing the fish. Or something like that.
Do I sound kind of disdainful? Well, I kind of am. This movie had the potential to be really good, and there were some very realistic CGI renderings of penguin movement, but I was completely snoozi-fied (it deserves this made-up word) by this movie. I fought to stay awake and kept thinking that this must be animation's equivalent of Moulin Rouge, with a score and soundtrack yanked, if not stolen, from popular culture and dizzying penguin dancing and Nicole Kidman to boot. I really was very uninterested in little Mumble's plight, even though the point of the movie is really to listen to one's own heart and celebrate individuality, a worthy message if nothing else.
Little children will probably like this movie. The Latino penguins are kind of funny, and there's slapsticky penguin antics galore, but the film was short on dialogue; the dialogue used was a bit stunted; and there was nothing truly original or breathtaking about the animation.
Which prompts me to cry foul! (or fowl!) at Oscar for picking this film over the brilliantly animated Monster House or the brilliantly written Cars. What were they thinking? That penguins are cool, so they should just pick the penguins? Oscar disappoints again, not that this is a new concept or mode of behavior for the Academy. I might go start a discussion in the Oscar group (request membership!).
For now, I rate Happy Feet an undanceable 5 for utterly mediocre because that's what I'm left with. As such, it does not pass the test. I was not even a bit amused by this movie. Maybe if I had children, I would one day change my mind and buy it for them. The movie is largely unobjectionable and is probably an enjoyable family movie. Currently, I'd rather watch movies about non-dancing penguins or other movies about cars, people-eating houses, and rats. Those movies are what make me, and my feet, happy.