Happy Feet (DVD)

March Of The Penguins meets 'The X Factor' in this computer animated family film with a strong ecological message. Happy Feet marks a break from the prevalent style of the computer animated, talking animals family film. The overload of pop culture references, sly subversion and sass worked by Shrek, its sequel and its imitators is pared back for a vision of realistically rendered Antarctic glaciers and anatomically-accurate animals. This colony of Emperor penguins waddles toward the realism of a nature documentary - albeit a nature documentary in which the mating rituals involve the penguins mashing-up contemporary and classic pop. These are the heart songs of the penguins, their individual souls expressed in karaoke. Their great choirs and solos make you wonder if all pop videos could benefit from the casting of some talented animals. Skating over the issue of choreographed penguin action, Happy Feet operates broadly within the laws of nature, and this is its triumph, sparing us the anything-goes marketing executive surrealism of the likes of Chicken Little, the nadir of post-Shrek animated family films.

We open with the courtship of Memphis (Jackman) and Norma Jean (Kidman). He sings Elvis, she trills Prince's 'Kiss', and soon they make beautiful music together. An egg results. As we know from March Of The Penguins, Norma Jean must undertake the exodus across the glaciers for food while Memphis stays behind to protect the egg against the long, dark, howling winter. The fathers huddle together upon this inhospitable landscape, taking their turn to be on the outside of this scrum for body heat. It is rare for contemporary children's films to show such a positive role for dads, as modern mores dictate that fathers should be either dead, evil, or ineffectual.

A feel good musical CGI film. Incredible animation mixed with foot tapping pop songs.

Probably aimed more at the younger audience, though am sure many adults will enjoy this as well.

Not in the league of Toy Story or Shrek but definitely one to watch

Plot Summary:

Mumble (Voiced by Elijah Wood) is made an outcast from his tribe of Emperor Penguins because he can’t sing as he has no ‘Heartsong’.

March Of The Penguins meets 'The X Factor' in this computer animated family film with a strong ecological message
Happy Feet marks a break from the prevalent style of the computer animated, talking animals family film. The overload of pop culture references, sly subversion and sass worked by Shrek, its sequel and its imitators is pared back for a vision of realistically rendered Antarctic glaciers and anatomically-accurate animals. This colony of Emperor penguins waddles toward the realism of a nature documentary - albeit a nature documentary in which the mating rituals involve the penguins mashing-up contemporary and classic pop.

These are the heart songs of the penguins, their individual souls expressed in karaoke. Their great choirs and solos make you wonder if all pop videos could benefit from the casting of some talented animals. Skating over the issue of choreographed penguin action, Happy Feet operates broadly within the laws of nature, and this is its triumph, sparing us the anything-goes marketing executive surrealism of the likes of Chicken Little, the nadir of post-Shrek animated family films.

We open with the courtship of Memphis (Jackman) and Norma Jean (Kidman). He sings Elvis, she trills Prince's 'Kiss', and soon they make beautiful music together. An egg results. As we know from March Of The Penguins, Norma Jean must undertake the exodus across the glaciers for food while Memphis stays behind to protect the egg against the long, dark, howling winter. The fathers huddle together upon this inhospitable landscape, taking their turn to be on the outside of this scrum for body heat. It is rare for contemporary children's films to show such a positive role for dads, as modern mores dictate that fathers should be either dead, evil, or ineffectual.

Unfortunately Memphis lets the egg roll out onto the ice, and this exposure is enough to ensure that the young 'un is born a wrong 'un. Little Mumble (Wood) can't sing. But he can tap-dance. In fact, much like Nicole Kidman in the notorious Chanel advert, he "loves to dance". But this cuts no ice with the stern religious leaders of the penguin community, nor does it help Mumble woo his beloved under the aurora borealis, so he sets off on a quest. He meets a gang of Rockhopper penguins, diminutive South Atlantic hornbags presided over by a lugubrious Barry White-inspired leader, Lovelace (Williams).

There is no traditional villain here. In rollercoaster action sequences, they flee leopard seals and killer whales, their natural predators, but in place of a Prince Farquad or the Wicked Witch, the force for evil, the real monster is man, as classic episodes of 'The Twilight Zone' often attested.

Verdict
Puts heart and soul back into the good old computer animated, talking animals family film.

Achieving on computer what it took the makers of March Of The Penguins a year of frostbite to capture in reality, George Miller’s Oscar-nabbing animated ‘toon is eye-saucering proof that Pixar doesn’t have the monopoly on this fast-evolving artform. And while it’s not exactly the “new phase in cinema” that voice artiste Brittany Murphy would have us believe, this jolly tale of a tap-dancing Pingu – the lonely Mumble, voiced by Elijah Wood – who sets out to save the Antarctic has a plot and soundtrack robust enough to compensate for the inevitable tedious eco-message. One for Al Gore then, though he’d be disappointed by a substandard selection of extras that places undue emphasis on Savion Glover’s motion-cap hoofing as the source for Mumble’s skills. Still, a deleted scene featuring Steve Irwin as an albatross telling Mumble to “enjoy life while you can” comes with a prophetic resonance, while Murphy’s rendition of Queen’s ‘Somebody To Love’ does Freddie Mercury proud.

Oscar loves penguins. And by Oscar I mean the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. For 2005, penguins won the best documentary Academy Award, with "March of the Penguins." And the flightless fowl did it again in 2006 with "Happy Feet" taking home the Oscar for best animated film.

It's hard to believe "Happy Feet" was brought to us by the makers of the gritty post-apocalyptic action flick, "Mad Max" (Kennedy-Miller Productions, specifically director/producer George Miller), but apparently Mr. Miller has mellowed a bit over time. He also directed the tear-jerker dedicated-mom-in-search-of-a-cure piece, "Lorenzo's Oil." If nothing else, Mr. Miller is surely versatile.

It seems you can't have an animated film without a message these days. For "Cars," the message was to stop and smell the roses - enjoy life for the journey, not the destination. For "Happy Feet," it is to dare to be different - embrace your natural gifts and talents no matter how strange they may seem to your peers, your family, and your community leaders.

For Mumble (voiced by Elijah Wood), the happy-go-lucky blue-eyed "star" of Happy Feet, this gift entails an uncontrollable desire to dance, dance, dance, all night long. You see the standard Emperor Penguin mode of expression is the penguin song. Each penguin is born with a certain knack for singing and each must find his or her own unique song on the path to adult penguinhood. But every time Mumble raises his voice in "song," all that emerges is a screechy, piercing off-key shriek. Meanwhile his feet do all the talking in tippety, tappety, hippety, hoppety groovy funkadelic style.

As expected, this special talent leads to ostracism, and, eventually exile (mostly self-imposed). Mumble leaves the flock and has a series of adventures, making friends along the way, including a posse of street-smart little penguins, the "Adelie Amigos" led by the insufferably insouciant Ramon (voiced quite humorously by Robin Williams). Eventually, Mumble embarks on a quest which ultimately saves his people, wins the admiration of his community, and, most importantly, gets him the girl. "Happy Feet" may suffer from a few flaws, not the least of which its (at times) plodding pace and its neat and tidy happy ending. But it's a fun ride, nonetheless, with plenty of laughs and excitement the whole family can enjoy.

"Happy Feet" is a mostly charming and entertaining little animated film that will leave you giggling, if not rolling on the floor. Though the message is worthwhile, and Elijah Wood's Mumble is a reasonably sympathetic hero, it's the voice of Robin Williams (as Ramon and as the prophetic penguin, Lovelace) that provides most of the laughs and makes the film stand head and fins above this year's fairly lackluster competition in the animated film category. The DVD itself has no major flaws and the extras are enjoyable, if not extensive. Overall, a worthwhile viewing. but maybe something to rent before deciding whether you want to own it.

This has got to be one of the most overated hyped up films ever. The only thing this is good for is keeping the kids quiet for a while. It relies too much on musical content which is ok if you like musicals but we were so disappointed with this that we sold it on Ebay the following day. Defeinately not in the same league as Toy Story, Ice Age, Shrek, Finding Nemo, etc.

A WONDERFUL and Very ENJOYABLE Film, the whole Family will enjoy!
This is sure to capture the Hearts of every Child and Adult alike!
Little Mumble the Penguin is Not Born like the rest, he has no Singing Voice but his Dancing is Something Very Special! This makes Mumble an outcast in his large Penguin community. Watch as Mumble Struggles to fit in, tries to prove himself by facing many Dangerous Adventures and also find Love.
There is enjoyable Music and Singing throughout the film with an all Star voice cast such as Robbin Williams, Nicole Kidman, Elijah Wood and Many More!
101% Recommended. A BIG Thumbs Up for HAPPY FEET!

This is an incredible animation mixed with foot tapping pop songs.

This is a film that adults will enjoy as well.

It is definitely one to watch!

I bought this DVD as a gift for a relative who is interested in the environment. I saw the film early in 2007 and the animation was superb and the film was funny. Sadly the message about overfishing is lost on most audiences.

this movie is very touching. it shows a lot of sad scenes that are caused by mankind - it really makes you think, and as corny as this sounds, Mumble has tap-danced a place in my heart.

myself and my family thoroughly enjoyed the film, was odd though seeing singing penguins! the storyline is fab
8/10

It is a really good childrens film, I bought it for my son who is three because he loves anything to do with penguins, there was quite a lot of singing in it and a lot of the songs were quite old ones so my son didn't recognise them.

I bought the DVD for my mum as she loves penguins and i have been told the quality of the DVD is great and that she will keep watching and watching it as she loves the film so much, and my mum is hard to please belive me.

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THIS WAS FOR MY GREAT GRANDAUGHTER AND SHE LOVES IT.I WOULD NOT HESITATE TO BUY AGAIN IT WAS REAONABLY PRICED AND ARRIVED VERY QUICKLY.

Not convinced the item was new as advertised, but received very quickly and in excellent condition, very happy with transaction and would be happy to deal with this eBayer again

I feel like a lone voice in the wilderness. All these reviews here on eBay, and it looks like I'm the only person here who hated this film. On paper though, it should be right up my street, as anyone who has seen the army of toy penguins on my desk at work would attest. Penguins are and always have been my favourite animals. I find them fascinating. Whenever I go to the zoo, if I go nowhere else, I have to see the penguins.

Maybe what worries me most about this film is the agenda hiding between the lines, or actually the not-so-hidden agenda as political messages about enviromentalism and religion are abundant within. It felt like Greenpeace trying to brainwash the nations youth. I don't even think this is a suitable movie for really young children like 'Toy Story' or 'Shrek' and the like, as I think those under six or seven would struggle to understand the complexities behind the script and the sexual undertones within, especially with the Hispanic penguins and the Lovelace character referencing 'chicas' all the time - Lovelace himself has a harem of girl penguins to enjoy. Try explaining THAT to the little ones!

It almost seems like a film of two halves. The first half is like any children's movie you've ever seen. Poor old Mumble is different to the other penguins and can't sing, but he can dance. So you think it will be a whole movie about him finding his place and being unique and finally living happily every after with the girl-next-door penguin Gloria. And for maybe the first 45 minutes or so, that's what you get - unoriginal but at least the CGI animation is pretty cool, right? And that's when the movie takes a sharp turn into left-field and Mumble takes off on a journey to find out where all the fish have gone and find out who the 'aliens' are (us humans, if you haven't guessed - it turns out that we are evil and are over-fishing the Antarctic waters, which we probably are, but I'm still not convinced that a children's movie like this is the right place to air these concerns) and then ends up tossed in a zoo where he starts to go crazy until the humans see he can dance so they let him go back into the wild and then agree to stop fishing in the Antartic. And in between all that of course is the songs - Mumble's "mom" does Marilyn Monroe, while "dad" is an Elvis inpersonator. Even the songs aren't original, it's just like a showcase for a group of animators trying to show off their new software and saying to the audience "Hey, look what we can do!".

If you really want to watch a decent film about penguins then watch "March of the Penguins" instead. If you want a decent animated childrens film try "Shrek". "Happy Feet" is just a pile of enviromentalist propaganda that will be wasted on the very young and doesn't deserve half the plaudits and awards it got. Am I really the only person on eBay who didn't like this? I'm surprised, but then again, if we all liked the same things it would be a very boring world indeed. Just don't say I didn't warn you! 2/10

Was doing a collection for my little boy of kids dvds.I was happy with the price i paid of 1.24 it would be to me between 4/6 working days that wasn't a problem i left it almost 2 weeks and send emails to the seller but no joy from them.Thats why i decide to take it further.But the funny thing was that the seller has done this before to other buyers.I think he should not able to sell anymore items.

it is a good film and my doughter loves it and it was a fab copy not a mark on the dvd there was no dislikes about the film and even thow it was not in the case it came in a plastic wallet witch was even good my doughter has watched it 3 times since buying it and it helps her go to sleep with the singing in it and i have had a good night sleep thanks

disk was in brill condition it arrived very quickly great ebayer thanks alot hope buy from u again soon.

I bought this after watching some of it with one of my grandchildren.. Its a great family dvd and i now get to watch the ending of it that i missed the last time

This is a most enjoyable dvd for both children and adults alike and is highly recommended viewing. There is nothing to dislike about this DVD.

This is a film that the whole family can enjoy. The animation is very good and the music will get your feet tapping.The storyline is amusing and fun to watch. Recommended. Well worth viewing.