'''Happy Feet''' is an
Academy Award-winning
Australian-produced
2006 computer-animated comedy-drama animated film, directed and co-written by
George Miller. It was released in
North America on
November 17,
2006 and produced at
Sydney-based
visual effects and
animation studio ''
Animal Logic'' for
Warner Bros. and
Village Roadshow Pictures. It is the first
animated feature film produced by
Kennedy Miller in association with
Animal Logic. Though primarily an animated film, it does incorporate live action humans in certain scenes. The film was simultaneously released in both conventional theatres and in
IMAX 2D format.
[1] The studio has hinted that a future IMAX 3D release was still a possibility.
[2] ''Happy Feet'' won the
Academy Award for Best Animated Feature after failing to win the
Annie Award for Best Animated Feature.
The animated film was dedicated to
Nick Enright,
Michael Jonson,
Robby McNeilly Green, and
Steve Irwin.
Plot
Maurice, Baby Gloria and Memphis look on as Mumble's egg hatches
Set in an
Antarctic emperor penguin colony, the film establishes that every penguin must sing a unique song (called a "Heartsong") to attract a
soul mate. This is based in fact, since emperor couples court each other and recognize one another by their unique calls. One particular female, Norma Jean, sings her Heartsong, "
Kiss", whereupon the male Memphis sings "
Heartbreak Hotel". Norma Jean chooses him as her mate. They couple and Norma Jean lays an
egg. The egg is left in Memphis' care while Norma Jean and the other females leave to
fish for several
weeks. While the males are struggling through the harsh
winter, Memphis drops the egg, briefly exposing it to the freezing Antarctic
temperatures. The resulting chick - the film's protagonist,
Mumble - has a terrible singing
voice and later discovers he has no Heartsong. However, Mumble has an astute talent for something that none of the penguins had ever seen before:
tap dancing.
This ability is frowned upon by the colony's elders, who do not tolerate deviance of any kind. As a result, Mumble is ostracized throughout his childhood, with only his mother and his friend Gloria to turn to for help. Mumble then grows to a young adult, still half-covered in
fluffy down. Through a series of mishaps - mainly a mad chase by a hungry
leopard seal - the young penguin finds himself far from his home and within the carefree colony of the
adélies - penguins small in stature, but fiercely loyal to those they call
friends. He quickly befriends a small group of bachelors who form a club of sorts called the Amigos: the leader, Ramon, the brothers Raul and Nestor, and twin brothers Rinaldo and Lombardo. The Amigos quickly embrace Mumble's dance moves and assimilate him into their misfit group.
Mumble's
joy at finding acceptance for his difference is cut short when strange "alien discoveries" occur; after his accidentally starting an
avalanche a long-frozen human
excavator tumbles out from a
glacier, and Mumble is intrigued. Driven by curiosity, he sets out to find the "aliens" responsible for the machine.
In Mumble's old home, it is mating season, and Gloria is the centre of
attention, as was Mumble's mother. However, although she is surrounded by a large horde of suitors, none of their Heartsongs interest her. At this point, Ramon stands behind a newly come Mumble and sings a Spanish version of "
My Way". Gloria likes the song, but is wary because she knows that Mumble can't sing. She pushes him forward, revealing Ramon. She turns back to the other males, and Mumble is temporarily heartbroken. He then persuades her to sing to his dancing, and surprisingly succeeds in getting Gloria to sing to his tapping rhythm. As the other penguins are equally worked up; they all begin dancing, much to Mumble's delight.
Noah, the elder, sees the lack of
fish as punishment from the Great 'Guin, their
god, regarding Mumble's dancing. Noah exiles Mumble from the colony as a result; before Mumble leaves, he vows that he will find the real cause of the famine, and travels across vast territories with the Amigos and Lovelace, a self-worshipping
rockhopper. Gloria tries to help him; Mumble, out of
fear for her
safety, does whatever it takes to get rid of her -
namely, insulting her singing talents.
The Amigos, along with Mumble and Lovelace, travel many
miles under harsh conditions. During their journey, they meet a group of
elephant seals, who warn of "Annihilators", who are presumably the same "aliens" Mumble seeks.
After narrowly escaping a few
killer whales, the birds finally come face to face with a legion of huge
trawlers, all laden with fish caught around the Antarctic coast. Mumble follows after them fearlessly, leaving his friends behind to bear testament to his legacy.
After swimming and being tossed around by sea currents, Mumble ends up in a penguin exhibit at a marine park (Closely resembling the Penguin Encounter at
SeaWorld, most likely the one in
Orlando, Florida), and fervently tries to communicate with the "aliens" (humans) who surround him. When his pleas fail, Mumble nearly succumbs to madness after three months of confinement in the sterile
glass prison. When a child taps on the glass wall one day, Mumble is woken from his stupor and dances in response, whereupon the child appears to run away. He becomes disappointed until she comes back with her mother. Soon, a large crowd gathers around the exhibit, taking pictures and telling their friends of this marvel. He is released to the wild, now with fewer of his fluffy down feathers and a tracking device strapped to his back, and leads the "aliens" home to his native colony. The other penguins, formerly skeptical, are now convinced that the aliens do exist.
Soon, a
helicopter arrives, carrying
five men in orange suits. The explorers film the penguins dancing and dance along with the rhythm. They bring this footage back to the human world. Different governments debate what to make of this footage and a worldwide debate ensues. They soon realize that they are overfishing the Antarctic waters, and conclude that perhaps the penguins were trying to communicate that to them. Antarctic fishing is banned, and the fish population returns. At this, the Emperor Penguins and the Amigos dance and celebrate their triumph. A dancing baby penguin seen at the end is implied to be the child of Mumble and Gloria.
Production
The animation in ''Happy Feet'' invested heavily in
motion capture technology, with the dance scenes acted out by human dancers. The tap-dancing for Mumble in particular was provided by
Savion Glover who was also co-choreographer for the dance sequences.
[3] The dancers went through "Penguin School" to learn how to move like a penguin, and also wore head apparatus to mimic a penguin's beak.
[4]
The film took four years to make. Ben Gunsberger, Lighting Supervisor and VFX Department Supervisor, says this was partly because they needed to build new infrastructure and tools.
[5]
Miller has mentioned the possibility of a sequel. He says that he has so many ideas he can put into a follow-up, but Miller has two or three more films that he wants to produce before considering it.
[6]
Characters
Main articles: List of characters in Happy Feet
References to other films
★ Early in the pre-production, director/producer George Miller called fellow Australian filmmaker
John Weiley, of
Heliograph Productions. He asked if he could view all the rushes of Emperor penguin footage from John's 1991 IMAX film, ''Antarctica.''
[7] Miller viewed the footage in Sydney prior to announcing the production. Many of the sequences and behaviors are similar to the live action footage from the IMAX film.
★ Many sequences and plot devices in the film are similar to those in the Antarctic documentary ''
March of the Penguins'', released in 2005, because both films are mainly about Emperor penguins. (On the DVD documentary,
Robin Williams says he saw the film as ''March of the Penguins'' meets ''
Riverdance''.) Despite the similarities, both films were in production before details of either were announced. ''Happy Feet'' was partially inspired by earlier documentaries such as the
BBC's ''
Life in the Freezer''.
[8]
★ When Mumble is found by the "aliens," he is transported to a zoo, which recalls the end sequence of ''. A
magellanic penguin that talks to Mumble speaks with a voice similar to that of
Douglas Rain, the voice of
HAL, the villain of ''2001'' asking for emotions from Mumble, whom the penguin calls Dave, ''2001's protagonist. The most obvious
pastiche is the sequence that zooms out from the center of
Mumble/Dave's eye to the overhead shot of the zoo, region,
planet, and finally
universe, symbolic of Mumble's isolated, conquered state.
★ ''Happy Feet'' possesses striking similarities to the
EB White book, ''
The Trumpet of the Swan'', and its subsequent film adaptation. Mumble seems to fill the role of Louie, while Gloria represents Serena. In the movie, even Serena's father's name was Maurice. Lovelace could be compared to
Joe Mantegna's character Monty in the film, or to the original book's Boatman; while the Amigos, collectively, bear a similar role to that of Sam Beaver.
★ Another book,
Fire Bringer by
David Clement-Davies, a red deer by the name of Rannoch seems to share the hero role with
Mumble for the stag was prophecized to bring peace to his people and had to flee for freedom from his home herd when he was just a adolenscent fawn. He also has a white oak leaf mark on his forehead, whereas
Mumble had a gray bow tie mark on his breast. The red deer, calling themselves the Herla, also believed in a deity similar to the
Great 'Guin; the Celtic forest god
Herne, often mentioned as a giant golden stag with a majestic rack of antlers.
★ Several sequences of the movie are very similar in both premise and execution to scenes in
Don Bluth's 1995 animated film ''
The Pebble and the Penguin'' - wherein a misfit penguin must compete with a villainous rival for the affections of one female.
★ There is a plot similarity to ''
Jonathan Livingston Seagull'', in that both stories feature a bird who is ostracized by his elders for his persistent recourse to an atypical skill, only to learn something that will benefit his people forever.
★ There are many similarities to the 1984 film ''
Footloose'', where a town has banned dancing. Noah the Elder, much like Reverend Shaw Moore, forbids the penguins from dancing because it would only bring about great "evil" - as Noah blames the food shortage on Mumble's dancing.
Music
Main articles: Happy Feet (soundtracks)
''Happy Feet'' is a
jukebox musical, taking previously recorded songs and working them into the film's soundtrack to fit with the mood of the scene or character. Two soundtrack albums were released for the film; one containing songs from and inspired by the film, and another featuring
John Powell's instrumental score. They were released on
October 31,
2006 and
December 19,
2006, respectively.
Awards
Won
'
Academy Awards'
★
Best Animated Feature
'
60th British Academy Film Awards'
★ Best Animated Feature Film
'
Golden Globes'
★
Best Original Song - "
Song of the Heart" by
Prince
'
American Film Institute Awards 2006'
★ Honored as one of the Top Ten Best Films of the Year
'
Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards'
★ Best Animation
'
New York Film Critics Circle Awards'
★ Best Animated Film
'Golden Trailer Awards'
[9]
★ Best Music
'
Heartland Awards'
★ The Truly Moving Picture Award
'
Kids' Choice Awards'
★ Best Animated Film
Nominations
'
Golden Globe Award'
★ Best Animated Feature
'
Annie Awards'
★ Best Animated Feature
★ Best Writing in an Animated Feature Production
'
Satellite Awards'
★ Nominated for Best Motion Picture, Animated or Mixed Media
Home video
''Happy Feet'' Fullscreen DVD disc
''Happy Feet'' was released on
March 27,
2007[10] in the United States in three formats; DVD (in separate
widescreen and
pan and scan editions),
Blu-ray Disc, and an
HD-DVD/DVD combo disc.
[11]
Among the DVD's special features is a scene that was cut from the film where Mumble meets a blue whale and an albatross. The albatross was Steve Irwin's first voice role in the film before he voiced the elephant seal in the final cut. The scene was finished and included on the DVD in memory of Steve Irwin. This scene is done in Steve's classic documentary style, with the albatross telling the viewer all about the other characters in the scene, and the impact people are having on their environment.
Video games
''
Main articles: Happy Feet (video game)''
A video game based on the film was developed by
A2M and published by
Midway Games. It has the same main cast as the film. It was released for the following platforms:
PC,
PlayStation 2,
GameCube,
GBA,
NDS, and
Wii.
[12] Screenshots and demo clips of the various versions of the ''Happy Feet'' game can be seen at the
official website.
Artificial Life, Inc. has also developed a Happy Feet mobile game for the Japan market.
[13]
Reception
Box office
| Weekend | Gross | Rank | Total |
|---|
| 1 | $41,533,432 | '1' | $41,533,432 |
| 2 | $37,038,046 | '1' | $99,256,766 |
| 3 | $17,545,418 | '1' | $121,501,018 |
| 4 | $12,904,413 | 2 | $137,932,841 |
| 5 | $8,358,421 | 4 | $149,244,791 |
| 6 | $5,163,474 | 8 | $160,521,910 |
| 7 | $7,650,181 | 9 | $179,152,000 |
| 8 | $4,004,462 | 13 | $185,414,182 |
The film opened at number one in the
United States on its first weekend of release (
November 17-
November 19) grossing $41.6M and beating ''
Casino Royale'' for the top spot.
[14] It remained number one for the Thanksgiving weekend, making $51.6 million over the five-day period. In total, the film was the top grosser for three weeks, a 2006 box office feat matched only by ''. As of
March 8,
2007, ''Happy Feet'' has grossed $194.9 million in the U.S. and $172.1 million overseas, making about $384 million dollars worldwide. The film has been released in about 35 international territories at the close of 2006.
[15][16][17]
The production budget was $100 million.
[18]
Critical reviews
''Happy Feet'' has received better than average reviews from
film critics, and received a 75% "fresh" approval in the
Rotten Tomatoes movie review aggregate site.
[19]
★
Kirk Honeycutt said that ''Happy Feet'' "astonishes," it has brilliant choreography and orchestration, and is entertaining for younger viewers. Honeycutt also said that, "[George] Miller boldly reaches for spiritual themes," and "happily, it all works."
[20]
★
Gene Seymour described ''Happy Feet'' as "a rich, absorbing story that isn't content to dazzle you with effects, but rouse your spirits." Seymour adds "nothing prepares you for its sweeping visual design and its conceptual energy."
[21]
★
Lou Lumenick praised ''Happy Feet'' for its "stunning visuals," calling the film "inspired" and "uplifting." Lumenick further added that "It's ''
Dumbo'' meets ''
Footloose''," and "''Happy Feet'' is not only the year's best animated movie, it's one of the year's best movies, period. Go."
[22]
★
Ebert & Roeper gave it two thumbs up.
A. O. Scott,
Roger Ebert's temporary replacement, is quoted as saying "''Happy Feet'' was made with enough skill, and enough heart, to get a thumbs up from me."
Richard Roeper agreed, saying "I think kids will love it, because
penguins are cute."
[23]
★
Jordan Harper of ''
The Village Voice'' was quoted as saying "If anything could tempt an adult to go see a dancing-penguin movie, it's the phrase 'from the guy who brought you Babe.' That movie got everything right about talking animals, but alas, George Miller does not live up to his earlier work here. Even the wee ones may start to notice something's amiss when the movie's theme goes from 'be yourself' to 'we must regulate the overfishing of the Antarctic oceans.' No, for real."
[24]
Environmental message
The movie contains a strong environmental message but much of the film consists of a fairly standard story of a misfit struggling to find acceptance, the film's denouement shows a group of researchers taking video of the colony of dancing emperor penguins, and the footage is broadcasted globally. This precipitates a resolution to stop
global warming. In addition, one sequence consists of the penguins encountering debris, such as plastic six-pack rings, floating in the sea; they wonder out loud, "They [the humans] have got to be around here somewhere - why would they leave all this behind?" In another scene, Mumble is rescued from an urban coastline and brought to a marine park, where he slowly loses his mind within the glass confines of a penguin exhibit. The bird slips into despair; when he incidentally dances one day, he attracts a crowd of astounded people. This leads to Mumble's freedom and eventual return to Antarctica. There, he dances again, encouraging most of his colony to join him. The humans see this, and the message is made clear after long, heated arguments.
Another (or possibly the same) message involves
overfishing in the Antartic. During Mumble's life, the supply of fish is running low. Mumble is banished due to the elders' thinking that his dancing offends "The Great Guin," and that the offense is the cause of the food shortage but he eventually finds "aliens" (humans) using a large net to capture fish. In the exhibit, all the penguins are well-fed as witnessed when Mumble returns to Emperor Land. Among the arguments made by humans involve that they are "messing with their food chain". At first, the officials of the world refuse to do anything but after protests by people who saw the dancing penguins, they eventually declare "No Fishing" in Antartica and eventually, everyone in Emperor Land (and everywhere else in Antartica, possibly) is well-fed and the shortage is gone.
According to the director, George Miller, the environmental message was not a major part of the original script, but "In
Australia, we're very, very aware of the ozone hole," he said, "and Antarctica is literally the canary in the coal mine for this stuff. So it sort of had to go in that direction." This influence lead to a film with a more environmental tone. Miller said, "You can't tell a story about Antarctica and the penguins without giving that dimension."
[25]
See also
★
List of animated feature-length films
★
List of computer-animated films
References
1. Happy Feet: The IMAX Experience
2. Happy Feet Won’t Debut in IMAX 3-D
3.
4.
5. UNSWorld (2007) 'Bring on the dancing penguins' in UNSWorld, Issue 6, May 2007, pp. 14-15
6. .http://www.cinemablend.com/new/Miller-May-Make-Happy-Feet-2-4349.html
7. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0101357/
8. http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,19990883-16947,00.html
9. http://www.goldentrailer.com/gta7.html
10. http://videoeta.com/movie.html?via=form&id=78865
11. http://www.highdefdigest.com/news/show/432
12. http://www.midway.com/rxpage/Game_HappyFeet.html
13. Parthajit; "Happy Feet Goes Mobile"; Softpedia; April 24, 2007
14. http://www.boxofficemojo.com/weekend/chart/?yr=2006&wknd=46&p=.htm
15. http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?page=weekend&id=happyfeet.htm
16. http://www.imdb.com/chart/
17. http://www.boxofficemojo.com/weekend/chart/
18. http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=happyfeet.htm
19. http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/happy_feet/
20. http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/film/reviews/article_display.jsp?&rid=8229
21. http://www.newsday.com/features/printedition/ny-etmov24977684nov17,0,3326485.story
22. http://www.nypost.com/seven/11172006/entertainment/movies/ice_ice__baby__movies_lou_lumenick.htm
23. http://tvplex.go.com/buenavista/ebertandroeper/061120.html
24. http://www.villagevoice.com/film/0646,harper,75042,20.html
25. The New Animated Film 'Happy Feet' Doesn't Dance Around Serious Issues Kelly, Kate
External links
★
Official website
★
★
★
''Happy Feet'' at
Metacritic
★
Happy Feet - Review
العربية
中国
Français
Deutsch
Ελληνική
हिन्दी
Italiano
日本語
Português
Русский
Español
