This morning, J, L and I went to see Happy Feet. While this singing/dancing penguin spectacular has bemused some critics, it's generally been well received - David Stratton on The Movie Show even gave it 5 stars. Well, any film that begins and ends with music from Abbey Road is probably well on the way to winning me over :).

I found Happy Feet to be great entertainment, with only a few minor reservations. This was definitely the best use of computer animation I've ever seen - partly due to it being a perfect match of subject and technique - penguins look really right this way. There are way too many CGI animations for kids lately, but this one is the star attraction and stands out from the pack.

The story of Mambo, the odd misfit - a dancing penguin born into a singing penguin world - was beguiling, enjoyable and always assured storytelling. One reviewer was worried by the implausibility of penguins being able to tap-dance on snow, but this worked for me.

My main reservation was that Mambo never gets to mature fully into adult emperor penguin plumage like his contemporaries - this is okay up to a point, but by the end I was expecting it. Maybe his cute character design was too good to lose! Otherwise, one of the best features for me was the attention to correct biology paid throughout. I found the most moving parts to be those that portrayed the genuine hardships of penguin life - the long migration through the six month night, the blizzards, starvation and predators. Of particular note is the care with correct species and their habits - skuas, a leopard seal, elephant seals and killer whales. And penguins - the Adelie Amigos who feature throughout, and Lovelace, a yellow-crested rockhopper - plus various others.

The pop culture references are many, but don't detract. Primarily, these are musical - in the form of Presley, Monroe and James Brown types. The soundtrack is very eclectic, if largely American.

This is clearly a male buddy movie, with the central focus always on Mambo and his Adelie friends. The scene where Mambo rejects Gloria (the romantic interest, but a real potential friend) from joining their boys' own adventures struck me as truly unpleasant - both unnecessary and overtly sexist. That the ideal demographic for this film would be pre-teen boys seems out of step with the advertising (not to mention the title). There was a surprising amount of sexual references for a "G" film, probably largely due to Robin Williams' improvisational influence in voicing two main characters.

Some have commented about the rambling nature of the story - I really enjoyed this less linear and obvious direction for a children's film, and always felt that we were in the hands of a skilled storyteller who knew how to pick up the various threads layed out. Although there is a literal pounding home of a major environmental theme at one point, this is consistent with the tale. Focus on the problem of extreme overfishing destroying stocks is well-handled. I did think some mention could have been made of Climate Change itself, but this is still apparently (and unbelievably) a political issue in some countries. (Non Important Spoiler Alert) The elder penguins did come across as parodies of Greenhouse Effect deniers at points, I thought, particularly in the revelation that they knew the real truth.

All in all, this is an excellent film. One final touch that impressed me was that George Miller and his team had the good sense to use real people for the small parts (towards the end) where humans appear. Knowing the limits of CGI in this instance was so right and an object lesson to other computer animation companies.

Labels: Happy Feet