Unhappy About "Happy Feet" (Warning, Spoilers!)

[ForsakenMage]

Thanksgiving. A time for some to share some good old quality time with loved ones. For others, it's the time to quickly gather up the hard-earned cash you have and line up at a store to get some awesome stuff for bargain prices.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For me, it was a time to just go spend some time with my sister, who I haven't seen for several months due to university. After flying back home, it was agreed that we'd go watch "Happy Feet," which came out a short while ago.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Some information before I begin talking about my experience of watching "Happy Feet" (from IMDB.com):

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Movie Title: Happy Feet

 

 

 

Director: George Miller

 

 

 

Writers: Warren Coleman, John Collee, George Miller, Judy Morris

 

 

 

Language: English

 

 

 

Length: 108 min (1 Hour, 48 Minutes)

 

 

 

MPAA Rating: PG for mild peril and rude humor

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Additional Note: Movie was dedicated to Steve Irwin

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Steve Irwin. Great guy who dedicated his life educating people about the animals we share our world with.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Should this ring any alarms about this innocent looking movie yet? Naw... Maybe it just says, "Hey, this movie talks bout penguins and their lifestyles! That should be cool! An animated version of "March of the Penguins" right?"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Let's check the rating on the movie: According to the MPAA, "Rated PG for some mild peril and rude humor." Hrm, mild peril. Okay... maybe Mumble, the tap-dancing penguin, has to face scary animals. Disney has that in "The Lion King" and "The Little Mermaid." That should be okay for kids. Rude humor? I'm assuming that coincides with a joke like "He touched the butt!" in "Finding Nemo," also from Disney...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

~SPOILERS~

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"Happy Feet" is about a penguin named Mumble (voiced by Elijah Wood) who couldn't sing, but had a knack for tap-dancing. His father, Memphis (voiced by Hugh Jackman), dropped him while he was still in his egg while his mother, Norma Jean (voiced by Nicole Kidman) was out fishing, and was the cause of Mumble's "problem." His dancing was not accepted, "not penguin" as Memphis put it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mumble has his heart set on Gloria (voiced by Brittany Murphy), but without a song he can't get her... But still...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mumble and Gloria are swimming in the water; they jump outta the water and land up in weird positions on top of each other, against each other...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here's a blunt way of putting it: they landed up in various intimate positions. :shame: There were little kids in the room, laughing, but the older people in the theatre were going, "Oh my god." Some gasped in surprise, others just stared dumbfounded.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rude humor? More like crude. >_<

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And then, the "peril."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

BOOM! Big scary bird! BOOM! Big scary sea lion!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"Mommy! I want to go home!" I hear a kid say. Poor kid, I know how you feel... I jumped a few times, too...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We get a penguin surrounded by ladies, stereotypical penguins, religious penguins... AAAAAHHHH! What is this?! This is PG and we're watching a movie about rebellion to religion, stereotypes of the people around us, AND sexual themes?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When I cited that the movie was dedicated to Steve Irwin, there was a reason. Towards the end of the movie, it was an attempt to make it political, to tell people, "Hey, we got a problem down in Antarctica. Penguins need the fish and we're taking it all. Save them!"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Personally, I don't think Steve Irwin would've liked how the movie took this turn from how one penguin didn't know how to sing and then switching plots to "saving the penguins." Respecting his legacy is one thing, but to dedicate a movie to him that seems to be a weak attempt of following it is another. Why not stick with something more realistic? "March of the Penguins" did a much better job, I think, in capturing the penguin life, which is what Irwin did with the animals he's handled and filmed with. No need for fancy schmancy in the beginning of his shows to draw viewers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This movie was just a disgustingly underhanded way of putting out an opinion.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thumbs down for "Happy Feet" for me.

[Under_Score]

Amazingly, I agree with every single word you just said. It was, as the English say, "rubbish".

[Bubsa]

Without wanting to sound harsh, what did you expect? It's an animation, voiced by Elijah Wood, Brittany Murphy, Nicole Kidman and other Hollywood 'A-listers'. It gives them an excuse to jump on every bandwagon going.

[How2PK]

They were probably working on it before the death of Irwin. So they just made the movie, and added the Irwin part in it later. But ah well, it's an animation movie. Kids go there for the fun, they don't see that stuff. And it makes it a little bit more than a children movie for older folks. Why are you wasting your good time on an animated movie anyway. Go see some good drama, instead of some quickly produced animal computer-animation flick.

[PumpkinPete112]

Im very glad i didnt see it. It sounds like a disgrace to Steve Irwin's name. And the worst part is, its for mostly little kids who didnt know how great he was.

[Greatsilverwyrm]

For people who haven't seen it, I highly encourage it. It was very good.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The "Sexual Themes" ammounted to about 6 seconds, of which there was 1 that was marginally bad that lasted half a second, the other two were just the 2 penguins on top of eachother for half a second while they were sliding around on the ice. Completely innocent unless you want to look for innuendo.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The "scary bird" wasn't scary at all. The leapord seal was pretty freaky-looking, and I'll agree it could've been toned down a smidge, but, nothing to base the entire movie on.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next: The whole conservation theme ran througouht the movie. From the beginning there was constant allusions to the fact that they had a fish shortage, and that there were "aliens" (humans) possibly behind it, and possibly doing other things.

 

 

 

The real reason mumble is rejected is because he thinks that finding the "aliens" can help the fish problem. The whole tapdancing not singing part is completely ancillory.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You could say that the "religious" penguins are like environmental conservatives now, thinking that they just need to do nothing and the environment will be fine.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mumble gets captured and sent to a zoo where he becomes miserable, then at one point he gets to tapping again, which gets the attention of the media, and then he's sent back to his home, so people can follow him. He convinces everyone to start dancing, and it's basically implied that the dancing penguins are a tipping point where people start to care about the environment.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I think it does fine justice to steve irwin's name. It's not the best movie ever, but it certainly gets a point accross, and maybe even to young viewers, which is who is going to matter here soon.

[jockthebrave]

I flatly refuse to watch it.

 

 

 

I am not bothered by the "rude humour"

 

 

 

but omg a film about a dancing penguin!??!?!!??!

 

 

 

and the irwin bit was probably added l8tr cause it's quite recent after his death.

 

 

 

I say we should all go and watch the new james bond film, it's just like the old sean connery ones!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

stupid happy feet. :shame:

[Fat_Slug]

i would like to go and see this film with my kids (ages 9,12 and 13)

 

 

 

but after reading this, slight thoughts of maybe not come to mind. might be a good idea to watch it alone first maybe to see if it is suitable

[E_D_G_E_1039]

I saw it, and I really think you're over-exaggerating a bit. I can't thing of a single children's movie that I have seen where there wasn't at least one line or scene thrown in there that was "for the adults", that the kids do not get.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nothing in this movie is anywhere near what I could consider inappropriate for children, and I highly encourage seeing it.

[ThurinEthir]

It had penguins. That dragged me to it.

 

 

 

I had no idea it was DEDICATED to Steve Irwin. I knew he voiced someone in it, but dedicated? I guess it could have been, but keep in mind that Happy Feet was aimed for everyone. How many little kids would want to watch a "boring" documentary about penguins? The producers did a good job connecting the plots, and I wasn't too unhappy about it. I wasn't completely pleased with it either, though.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My summary: (SPOILER WARNING!):

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It starts as a rather romantic moment in which Norma Jean meets Memphis. (I'm sure this part was to "attract" females. Some love romance)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It moves on to a while later, when Norma Jean goes off on the usual mother-penguin trip. Memphis is left to take care of the egg. (True facts about penguins, I'd say this is one of the parts dedicated to Steve Irwin)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Memphis drops the egg, but manages to keep the baby penguin inside alive.

 

 

 

A while later, it's hatching day. All the eggs hatch except for Mumble. Gloria and her gather come to visit Memphis and his unhatched egg. (It's VERY likely that if a penguin egg is dropped, the baby will die. This is the beginning tragedy that any cheesy movie needs...)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mumble all of a sudden starts to crack open. A rather "cute" moment happens, where Mumble is half in the egg. Then comes a little father-son moment. (Um...Good for fathers and sons? And I think little kids too.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mumble finds out he can't sing, but CAN tap dance. Which is not like a penguin. ("It just ain't penguin!") (A strange part, also part of the tragedy.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mumble goes to his own little ice shelf, and is startled by "scary" skua birds. Mumble finds out about "aliens". (True, probably dedicated to zoologists like Steve Irwin)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mumble is kicked out of the colony, or at least accidentally finds himself with the Amigos, a group of adelie penguins. The six penguins become good friends, and wander around.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mumble meets a rockhopper penguin named Lovelace, who has a talisman (a six-pack ring-thingy) around his neck. (Do NOT litter! Yep, this is for the environmentalists.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The six penguins (Mumble and the Amigos) return to Mumble's former colony. They find out about a fish shortage. According to an elder, the fish shortage is caused by Mumble's tap-dancing. This time, Mumble is REALLY kicked out of the colony. (Aww...This is your main conflict. The fish shortage and Mumble being kicked out.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The seven penguins later head out to find where the six-pack-ring-thingy came from, as well as where the aliens are. They barely escape from two orcas, and meanwhile see ships taking a lot of fish from the ocean. They decide that there are aliens on the boats, and that's why there is a fish shortage. (Environmentalists, pl0x?)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mumble swims after the boat, and finds himself on a beach. Then he is taken to a local aquarium, where he "tap-dances his way out". He returns to the colony with news that he has solved the fish shortage problem. Some humans come and find the whole colony tap-dancing, and videotape it. (Yay! Conflict solved!)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The tape is shown worldwide, and it is decided that less fish will be taken from the oceans. (This is the part that is most dedicated to Steve Irwin.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mumble and Gloria live happily ever after. The End. (Your typical cheesy ending)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To sum it up: Tragedy, conflict, uh-oh, humans should treat animals nicer, conflict solved, cheesy ending, the end.

[Darkinvader]

Sexual themes lol? Have you seen any Walt Disney movies? Lion king has the same *sexual encounter* of the lions ontop of one another. Not even gonna mention the scenes in the(not so) little mermaid lol.

[ktmcf121]

yep i was going to see it until i heard about the ending.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

no environmentalist propaganda for me, thanks. :shame: