Review: Happy Feet
I took my daughter to see Happy Feet on Saturday night and while a lot of the film can be described as a music video starring animated penguins, I was actually surprised by the final reel and think that maybe the quick descriptions could be a disservice.
There's really no way to accurately describe this film without providing spoilers, so there will be some in the following paragraphs.
For anyone who wants to be somewhat surprised by the cartoon, I'll say that a lot of it's non-dancing scenes follow a similar storyline as Ferngully; Brittany Murphy is an okay singer, but it'd have to be small pool for her to be the best and I feel that Anne Hathway's rendition of Queen's "Somebody to Love" in Ella Enchanted was much better. And, by the time the end was in sight, I really thought it was headed toward Bono's "One" or maybe Sting's "One World", but instead, you get some Lennon/McCartney, a reprise of Stevie Wonder's "I Wish" and it all comes together with Prince warbling about "one world united, singing a song of the heart".
As you've no doubt seen, "Mumbles" is born with the ability to dance, but he can not sing. The elder penguins feel that by being in harmony, they keep all right with their world and when a fish shortage develops, they blame the guy who is out of tune.
There's a big scene, where the film takes a turn and Mumbles is forced out of the colony. Previously, we were given an inaccurate description of bird-banding (they don't anesthetize to band) which the Hawk considered an alien abduction, plus we got a glimpse of an effect from litter and another of a manmade or "alien" machine.
After Mumbles falls in with a Latino gang, led by Robin Williams who also starred in Ferngully, he gets a stern lecture from the elders about their beliefs or religion and how everyone must subjugate their individuality for the good of the colony. At first, Mumbles mother defends him, but it was when the father argued on behalf of conformity that the young penguin decides to go prove that the aliens are stealing the fish and declares that he's going talk to them.
Later, we learn that Mumbles' father (Memphis) is actually a closeted dancer, but that just brings up a couple of other issues which a thinking person might see in the two scenes, but aren't really explored by the script.
Anyway, the hero and his gang follows the litter toward marine debris, where they also discover apparent over-fishing. Then, alone, he follows the aliens to what looks like New York City, where he's put in a zoo and because he only speaks penguin, the non-animated humans don't understand his speeches about the fish shortage and his pleas for them to stop stealing their food.
Eventually the mundanity of zoo life causes Mumbles to go mad, but when a little girl rhythmically taps on the glass, he starts to dance. This impresses everyone, so in an unseen scenes, he's slapped with a radio beacon, set free and somehow returns to the colony.
After a dramatic speech about how they all need to dance because the aliens like it and the whirlwind entrance of the humans, the whole colony starts to dance. This leads to a quick succession of a National Geographic special, leading into a UN-like body, who definitely debates and it is implied that they institute a worldwide ban on all fishing.
Cue, Lennon and McCartney's; "And in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make".
The film was honestly more than I thought it'd be.
It doesn't have the language or humor of Shrek and especially with all the dancing, you could say that it's sappier than most Pixars, but it is better than any of the recent non-Pixar, Disney cartoons and considerably deeper than Madagascar.
All in all, if you want to see some singing and dancing penguins, I don't think there will ever be a better vehicle.
There's really no way to accurately describe this film without providing spoilers, so there will be some in the following paragraphs.
For anyone who wants to be somewhat surprised by the cartoon, I'll say that a lot of it's non-dancing scenes follow a similar storyline as Ferngully; Brittany Murphy is an okay singer, but it'd have to be small pool for her to be the best and I feel that Anne Hathway's rendition of Queen's "Somebody to Love" in Ella Enchanted was much better. And, by the time the end was in sight, I really thought it was headed toward Bono's "One" or maybe Sting's "One World", but instead, you get some Lennon/McCartney, a reprise of Stevie Wonder's "I Wish" and it all comes together with Prince warbling about "one world united, singing a song of the heart".
As you've no doubt seen, "Mumbles" is born with the ability to dance, but he can not sing. The elder penguins feel that by being in harmony, they keep all right with their world and when a fish shortage develops, they blame the guy who is out of tune.
There's a big scene, where the film takes a turn and Mumbles is forced out of the colony. Previously, we were given an inaccurate description of bird-banding (they don't anesthetize to band) which the Hawk considered an alien abduction, plus we got a glimpse of an effect from litter and another of a manmade or "alien" machine.
After Mumbles falls in with a Latino gang, led by Robin Williams who also starred in Ferngully, he gets a stern lecture from the elders about their beliefs or religion and how everyone must subjugate their individuality for the good of the colony. At first, Mumbles mother defends him, but it was when the father argued on behalf of conformity that the young penguin decides to go prove that the aliens are stealing the fish and declares that he's going talk to them.
Later, we learn that Mumbles' father (Memphis) is actually a closeted dancer, but that just brings up a couple of other issues which a thinking person might see in the two scenes, but aren't really explored by the script.
Anyway, the hero and his gang follows the litter toward marine debris, where they also discover apparent over-fishing. Then, alone, he follows the aliens to what looks like New York City, where he's put in a zoo and because he only speaks penguin, the non-animated humans don't understand his speeches about the fish shortage and his pleas for them to stop stealing their food.
Eventually the mundanity of zoo life causes Mumbles to go mad, but when a little girl rhythmically taps on the glass, he starts to dance. This impresses everyone, so in an unseen scenes, he's slapped with a radio beacon, set free and somehow returns to the colony.
After a dramatic speech about how they all need to dance because the aliens like it and the whirlwind entrance of the humans, the whole colony starts to dance. This leads to a quick succession of a National Geographic special, leading into a UN-like body, who definitely debates and it is implied that they institute a worldwide ban on all fishing.
Cue, Lennon and McCartney's; "And in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make".
The film was honestly more than I thought it'd be.
It doesn't have the language or humor of Shrek and especially with all the dancing, you could say that it's sappier than most Pixars, but it is better than any of the recent non-Pixar, Disney cartoons and considerably deeper than Madagascar.
All in all, if you want to see some singing and dancing penguins, I don't think there will ever be a better vehicle.