Sometimes we as movie viewers have that one special animated movie that may have not aged well in some aspects but still comes across as so charming and sweet that it’s hard not to crack a smile every once and a while. For me, Happy Feet is one of those movies that was impressive for its time, yet it also is rather dated in its visual style and some of its storytelling. With an Oscar win in 2007 and an impressive cast up its sleeve Does this does the story of Mubble the penguin hold up after 15 years?
Norma Jean and Memphis are two emperor penguins who found their love for each other through their heart song and when Norma jean leaves Memphis to look after the egg, Memphis accidentally drops the egg and it almost gets away. The next day the egg hatches and out pops out baby Mumble who is found dancing with his feet at a very young age. The parents later find that mumble has no heart song as he can’t sing but he can dance which concerns the parents in regards to mumbles future. Mumble finds himself ridiculed by the other penguins and when he becomes a young man he has a hard time connecting with his peers especially with his school crush Gloria. Mumble’s luck changes when he meets the small fun-loving Adelie Amigos as they welcome him into the group and along the way Mumble discovers that there are forces beyond their understanding taking their fish away from their land. Mumble will set forth to prove himself and his beliefs even if it means going to extreme lengths to prove his points.
The story is basic and could have been easily too juvenile, but they tell it with the right balance of humor and drama even if sometimes the movie can go overboard on any of those fronts. The main story focuses on Mumble as he tries to fit in with the other emperor penguins and the secondary story revolves around these alien-like creatures possibly being responsible for taking the penguin’s fish away from their land. I give the movie credit for juggling many ideas but sometimes the two stories they tell don’t always mesh very well from time to time. I like the main story which is relatable and sometimes heartfelt and the secondary story has a good amount of adventure and fun even though it’s not hard to guess the twist in the narrative. All the characters are understandable and most of them do have a purpose in serving the movie. Elijah Wood as Adult Mumble is so fitting and it’s easy to feel sympathy for his character and the limitations he’s faced with. The late Robin Willams also voices a few characters in this movie and I give the movie credit that they use his improve talents to the film’s advantage. However, I found that over time the humor of his characters does start to grow old and I wish they could have given him some more serious material to work with. In fact, i kinda wish the amigo characters could have a better transition in the narrative when Mumble meets them for the first time.
The animation is interesting to talk about as it is quite unique in the way it presents itself. The style of the movie goes for a more semi-realistic approach and the character designs are mostly realistic with some cartoonish creative liberties. Most of the actual movements of the animals they are animating look convincing and the pacing of the character’s actions are swift and bouncy. Knowing this movie, It could have been so easy to make it too uncanny to look at but the movie finds a great balance of realism and cartoonish antics. The backgrounds are beautiful and they capture the spirit of being in Antarctica as well as the life of a penguin. The shots of the frozen wasteland are particularly breathtaking and still enchant me to this very day. The movie could be described as a jukebox musical because there are many familiar tunes that are inserted in the film’s soundtrack. Unlike something like Trolls where the songs are just there to mostly sell the soundtrack, Happy Feet actually makes good use of the added songs by using them to move the story forward instead of completely halting it.
While some of my viewpoints of Happy Feet have changed with time, I’ll still have a huge soft spot for this film as it is one of my childhood favorites and there were a lot of things to be impressed by back then and it did do a lot of things right from a narrative point of view. The story is simple and sweet with a good sense of adventure, Most of the characters still hold up even when some of them can be a little annoying, the realistic-looking animation is showing its wear and tear but is still lovely to look at regardless, and the added copyrighted songs are implemented well in the story. It’s still worth viewing if you’re a fan of George Millers’ other works or if you’re looking for a good old fashion ugly duckling-like story with penguins.
(Final Grade: B)