George Miller, at the age of sixty-one, does not have many films under his belt but rather a small interesting collection. If you anyone can recall, George Miller directed the Mad Max films, but after that it appears that a much softer side of him came out… In 1995 he wrote the screenplay to perhaps the cutest story ever told, Babe, and in 1998 he took the helm as director of its sequel. I can actually recall seeing Babe and Babe: Pig in the City in theaters and I still attempt to catch them if they are ever on T.V., its one of my (and my Dad’s) favorite kids’ films of all time. Perhaps it was the magic of being a child that everyone experiences at a young age, but I still love the film for its charm and its positive messages to all audiences.

In Miller’s new film, he grasps the amazing journey depicted by the creatures in March of The Penguins and puts a Babe spin on it. If that doesn’t already capture your imagination, it’s a musical. I myself have been waiting years to see a C.G.I. musical and when I first saw the trailer for Happy Feet over a year ago, I was like a child on Christmas morning. The film revolves around the story of a young Emperor Penguin named Bumble (Elijah Wood) who was born to parents Memphis (Hugh Jackman), the Elvis of Antarctica, and Norma-Jean (Nicole Kidman). There in Antarctica, rather than the traditional “March”, the Emperor Penguins sing to each other with their “heart song” and mate in harmony. Unfortunately, things aren’t so happy for Bumble in his winter home considering he can’t sing but was actually born with a tap-dancing birth-…blessing. Besides Bumble’s differences, a shortage of fish threatens the colony. While young, he is attacked by some artic hawks, one of which wears a yellow band claiming he was abducted by aliens. As he grows, he begins to have feelings for another penguin with an absolutely beautiful voice, Gloria (Brittany Murphy).

When things go cold (no pun intended) between Bumble and the other penguins because he can’t sing, he is exiled, but also uses the opportunity to search out the “aliens” that may be the reason why there is a shortage of fish. He is chased, I suppose you could say “south of the border’ by a Leopard Seal into another Antarctic world. While in this foreign land he encounters a group of hilarious misfit Adelie Penguins, led by Ramon (Robin Williams), who bring them into their Hispanic society where they build nests of pebbles, make wise-cracking remarks, but are amazed by Bumble’s toe-tapping ability. While in the colony, the group seeks out the self-proclaimed oracle, Lovelace (Robin Williams), a Rockhopper Penguin, for his wisdom about finding the aliens. And so the search begins…

Even I did not expect my own reaction as the film started and I saw a penguin singing for the first time. Considering penguins don’t even have lips, there’s a lot of tongue flicking going on inside their beaks, think for a moment about the image of a dog with peanut butter on the roof of its mouth. It’s not that I found it disgusting, but just funny to watch, but you forget about it after around the first five minutes or so. However, most of the songs are wonderful, especially with tap-dancing from Mumble as he gets many of the other penguins to waddle in step. The film is a jukebox musical meaning most of the songs were previously written but some were jumbled, modified, and changed to better suit the plot and setting. However, I do think the jukebox approach was better considering the songs were very recognizable which made the film very easy to enjoy, for people of most ages.

Considering the plot at the moment, the writers, George Miller, John Collee, Waren Coleman, and Judy Morris have really managed to piece together a respectable storyline. Of course, from seeing March of The Penguins I was expecting a singing march and standing around in a blizzard for a little while, I was very wrong. As do many of George Miller’s films, Happy Feet carries a few mixed messages such as accepting foreigners and others who are different, being yourself, and also that over fishing is a problem in our world. There are many scary events in the story as the penguins encounter many different creatures from hungry Leopard Seals, Killer Whales, to even people.

The look of the C.G.I. is absolutely flawless as are most of them these days, but to take some news steps; George Miller and the effects department of Kingdom Feature Productions combine many shots of C.G.I. and actual reality as well as people. The landscapes of Antarctica are beautiful, the ice valley the Emperors live in contains an enormous glacier that sort of acts like a gateway and really helps to inform folks that Antarctica isn’t the cold wasteland most people believe it to be.

To conclude, I haven’t seen any film like Happy Feet in a long time. There is a special magic George Miller brings to the screen when he thinks of himself as a filmmaker for children. He did it with the Babe films and now he’s done it again with Happy Feet. Well done.

Rated PG for some mild peril and rude humor.
Running time 109 minutes.