Film: Happy Feet
Genre: Children's/Animated
Release Date: November 17th, 2006
Distributor: Warner Bros.
MPAA Rating: PG
Running Time: 1 hr. 38 min.
Review by Sirus

Starring:
Robin Williams
Nicole Kidman
Elijah Wood

“Happy Feet” is the latest in what seems to be a massive wave of animated movies in an attempt to cash in on the success of Pixar. While most animated movies of late have paled in comparison to Pixar’s movies, “Happy Feet” manages to stand above the rest as what is for sure the only good non-Pixar animated movie in years and is up there with the best Pixar animated features.

”Happy Feet” starts out with a group of Emperor Penguins singing in the annual mating ritual. One female stands out from the rest with all the other males attempting to woo her with their music. Of all the males, one strikes a chord with her and she decides he is the one. After they make love and they have an egg for the male to take care of, she joins all the other female penguins and goes off for the winter. When spring comes, all the eggs begin to hatch with the couple’s egg lagging a little bit behind. It takes the tapping of another hatchling for the couple's chick to finally come out of his shell.

The little penguin Mumble comes out feet first and immediately starts tap dancing. The problem with this is that Mumble is born into a world where singing is life and the way you attract your mate. The cute little hatchling penguins go to penguin school where they spend all day learning to sing, which is something that little Mumble has problems with because his singing is extremely bad. The movie then fast forwards to the graduation of sorts for these penguins. During the graduation party Mumble gets separated from the group and ends up at the other end of the ice where the Adelie penguins live.

In contrast to the Emperor Penguins he grew up with, the Adelie Penguins are all about dancing and immediately welcome the outcast. Mumble meets a group of five Adelie Penguins who convince him to try to go back to his kind. When Mumble comes back still dancing, the village elders shun him because they blame him for their shortage of fish. Mumble then sets out on a journey to find the root of the shortage and save the penguins.

“Happy Feet” has some of the best animation I have ever seen and easily rivals Pixar. The massive expanses of ice and water the penguins travel is a sight to behold and the movie has quite a few high speed chases both underwater and over ice that are quite fun. “Happy Feet” succeeds with a message that is a bit different from the average children’s movie and certainly gets points for the adorable style that the penguins sport. If you thought there was nothing cuter than a choir of young children singing, try watching a choir of young penguin children singing. The music will have you moving and dancing in your seat well after the movie ends. “Happy Feet” is one of the best times I have had at an animated movie and it never gets slow even though it is almost two hours long. I highly recommend this movie to anyone who likes penguins or just likes music.

Final Score: 5/5 stars