Happy Feet

Penguins have really been in fashion since stealing the show in animated form in Madagascar and as real-life stars of the Oscar-winning March of the Penguins. Now they're headlining filmmaker George Miller's big computer-animated song-and-dance extravaganza Happy Feet, a visually stunning but curious sort of family film, given the fact that it's part Las Vegas spectacle and part environmental tract. The hero is Mumble, a young penguin with a talent for tap-dancing as opposed to the “heartsong” produced by others in his tribe. Mumble's inability to sing and his propensity for gyrating at inopportune moments not only makes him an outcast, but also a scapegoat, as his peculiarity is believed to be offensive to the gods, and therefore responsible for the drop in the level of fish, the tribe's dietary staple. So Mumble goes off to find the real source of the decline, falling in with a group of oddball penguins (some voiced by Robin Williams), who help him find the “aliens” who are sweeping the sea clean of fish (human beings, of course). A great deal of time, energy, and imagination have gone into making Happy Feet, but the result is an odd combination of elements that, like the penguins themselves, never really take wing, despite the amiable song and dance, awesome images, and fine voice work (which also includes Elijah Wood, Nicole Kidman, and Hugh Jackman). Easier to admire than love, this Oscar-nominated film is still a strong optional purchase. [Note: Available in either widescreen or full screen versions, DVD extras include the classic cartoon “I Love to Singa” (8 min.), a “Dance Like a Penguin: Stomp to the Beat” how-to featurette (5 min.), the bonus scenes “Mumble Meets a Blue Whale” and “A Happy Feet Moment” (4 min. total), the music videos “Hit Me Up” by Gia and “The Song of the Heart” by Prince, and trailers. Bottom line: a small extras package for this Oscar-winning animated film.] (F. Swietek)