Happy Feet (2006)

Directors:

George Miller
Warren Coleman (co-director)

Writers:

Warren Coleman (written by)
John Collee (written by)

Release Date:

17 November 2006 (USA)

Genre:

Animation | Adventure | Comedy | Family | Music

Tagline:

WARNING: May Cause Toe-Tapping.

Plot:

Into the world of the Emperor Penguins, who find their soul mates through song, a penguin is born who cannot sing. But he can tap dance something fierce!

Plot Keywords:

Penguin | Dance | Tap Dancing | True Love | Antarctica

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 12 wins & 16 nominations

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

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)

Also Known As:

Happy Feet: The IMAX Experience (USA) (IMAX version)

MPAA:

Rated PG for some mild peril and rude humor.

Runtime:

USA:108 min

Country:

Australia | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

SDDS (8 channels) | Dolby Digital EX | DTS-ES

Certification:

Ireland:PG | Singapore:PG | Philippines:G (MTRCB) | Switzerland:7 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:7 (canton of Vaud) | USA:PG (certificate #43018) | Netherlands:MG6 | UK:U | Malaysia:U | Argentina:Atp | Hong Kong:I | Peru:PT | Finland:K-7 | Australia:G | Sweden:7 | Canada:PG (Ontario) | Portugal:M/4 (Qualidade) | Portugal:M/6 (original version) | South Korea:All | Brazil:Livre | New Zealand:G | New Zealand:PG (re-rating) | New Zealand:PG | Norway:A (TV rating) | Iceland:L

Filming Locations:

Fox Studios, Moore Park, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

Company:

Kingdom Feature Productions

Trivia:

Norma Jean and Memphis are obviously named for Marilyn Monroe and Elvis Presley. Elvis lived in Memphis, Tennessee and some of Memphis's movements are like his. Norma Jean is Marilyn Monroe's birth name and Norma Jean sings like her.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When Mumble and the Amigoes are outrunning the avalanche, Mumble hangs in mid-air for a few seconds, and Ramone grabs onto Mumble from behind before they fall. Looking closely, you can clearly see that Ramone's flipper passes through Mumble's feathers right before they nose-dive down the slope.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Penguin #1: [singing] Once there was a way to get back homeward.
Penguin #2: [singing] Are the stars out tonight?
Penguin #1: [singing] Once there was a way to get back home.
Penguin #2: [singing] I only have eyes for you.
Penguin #1: [singing] Sleep, pretty darling, do not cry.
Penguin #2: [singing] For you.
Penguin #1: [singing] And I will sing a lullaby.
Penguin #3: [singing] With a song in my heart.
Penguin #4: [singing] So tell me / Tell me something good / Yeah, yeah, yeah / Tell me that you love me. / Tell me, baby. / Tell me something good.
[...]

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Happy Feet: European Premiere Special (2006) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Tell Me Something Good

Happy Film

Tap-dancing penguins could never have been pitched if the mega-hit doc Marching Penguins (2005) had not caught the imagination of every breathing human. Only this time around Happy Feet is not a doc but a high-class animation (from the director of the very humane Babe) and much more anthropomorphic than Marching Penguins because these are tap-dancing penguins.

Besides the themes of individualism and environmental destruction, Happy Feet's special effects take animation as close to 3-D as could be possible in a 2-D medium. One scene with frolicking penguins careening down a mountain has the sight and sound of rapid descent so authentic as to make me cringe at each turn for fear of flying off the snow into the sky. The colors are luminous and the long and helicopter-like shots stunning enough to make you feel you're watching IMAX.

Mumble (voice of Elijah Wood) has no singing voice, so he can't sing a "heart-song," the signature croon of a male to attract a female for life. But as Nature frequently compensates, that boy can dance. A hard-to-accept-it dad (Hugh Jackman) laments, "It just ain't penguin." The adventures of this hippity-hop outcast bring him to a band of diminutive Latinos headed by a savvy Ramon (Robin Williams), who helps him to find his inner heart-song in his feet and eventually the source of fish depletion (the "aliens" are a familiar race of buccaneers—us).

Along the way Mumble finds soulful love with Gloria (Brittney Murphy), a young lady strong in song and belief in Mumble. Speaking of song, much of the score, while replete with pop standards from the likes of the Beach Boys and Sinatra, adapts several gospel tunes to accentuate the theme of a savior being rejected by his own kind.

Happy Feet is a happy film that features cutting-edge CG while it teaches young and old about tolerance and talent. This is the season for the tuxedo crowd—shaken and stirred.