Happy Feet: Rompiendo el hielo

Tap-dancing penguins could never have been pitched if the mega-hit doc Marching Penguins (2005) had not caught the imagination of every breathing human. Only this time around Happy Feet is not a doc but a high-class animation (from the director of the very humane Babe) and much more anthropomorphic than Marching Penguins because these are tap-dancing penguins.

Besides the themes of individualism and environmental destruction, Happy Feet's special effects take animation as close to 3-D as could be possible in a 2-D medium. One scene with frolicking penguins careening down a mountain has the sight and sound of rapid descent so authentic as to make me cringe at each turn for fear of flying off the snow into the sky. The colors are luminous and the long and helicopter-like shots stunning enough to make you feel you're watching IMAX.

Mumble (voice of Elijah Wood) has no singing voice, so he can't sing a "heart-song," the signature croon of a male to attract a female for life. But as Nature frequently compensates, that boy can dance. A hard-to-accept-it dad (Hugh Jackman) laments, "It just ain't penguin." The adventures of this hippity-hop outcast bring him to a band of diminutive Latinos headed by a savvy Ramon (Robin Williams), who helps him to find his inner heart-song in his feet and eventually the source of fish depletion (the "aliens" are a familiar race of buccaneers—us).

Along the way Mumble finds soulful love with Gloria (Brittney Murphy), a young lady strong in song and belief in Mumble. Speaking of song, much of the score, while replete with pop standards from the likes of the Beach Boys and Sinatra, adapts several gospel tunes to accentuate the theme of a savior being rejected by his own kind.

Happy Feet is a happy film that features cutting-edge CG while it teaches young and old about tolerance and talent. This is the season for the tuxedo crowd—shaken and stirred.

If you just thought this film was about dancing penguins, you're wrong. This film is a great family film that has complex messages. It is in musical form.

When it begins we learn what happened to Mumble, that makes him tap dance and not sing. His father is ashamed of him, but his mother is not. As he grows, he looks different from the other penguins. Later, he mets Spanish - like penguins that are a hight light to the film because they add to the humor. As the story goes on, we learn there are less fish and the water is filled with garbage. Because of us humans, penguins are in danger.

The characters are all great and the animation is wonderful and very detailed. It is funny and it even has messages. It teaches us to accept who we are. It also tells us that the environment is in danger, but in a fun and entertaining way. This film beats Monster House and Cars as the best animated film of the year.

This movie set the bar at a new level for animation. This is a great companion piece to "March of the Penguins". (In fact, you should see "March of the Penguins" before seeing this one.) While the stock animated movie script still seems be 'cute-yet-quirky animals on quest', this one pulls it off better than most.

Arguably, the film makers tried to cram too many songs into the soundtrack. And the story didn't need to be as long as it was but the overall environmental message was good.

In the end, you'll look how the choices of our 'modern' lifestyles affect the rest of the world.

This movie is definitely worth the watch -- and a discussion with your kids afterward.

The previews did not prepare me for this movie what so ever. I expected a cute animated cartoon about some dancing penguins instead I got some deep philosophical story line. Don't get me wrong, the movie was well made, there were some terrific scenes that you can tell that the designers put their heart and soul into, but the plot was a little out of whack. A kid watching this movie, would probably fall asleep; it started off really cute and funny-ish but then the writers went off on a completely irrelevant curb that made the movie super long and super pointless for any kid under 10. An adult may have found this movie insightful and thought provoking, but also a little confusing and overwhelming. It's a good movie but there were too many messages and meanings that were left undone and left me wanting more for a person that just wanted to see a cute animated cartoon about some dancing penguins.

Other than the flippity-flappity of the lead lovable character it is the subtle references to the ignorant human intervention in nature's food cycle that elevates George Miller's Happy Feet into a superior film, way above the other similar films in its genre, ultimately making you tear up regardless of your eating/entertainment choices. TN.