Happy Feet: Revisiting the Beloved Animated Classic
Producer George Miller, co-producers Judy Morris and Warren Coleman, and John Collee’s musical comedy adventure animated film, Happy Feet, briefly returned to Regal Theaters this past weekend. This is due to their “And the Award Goes to…” daily re-release of award-winning films for the month of March, from the classics to this year’s Academy Awards nominees.
Revisiting Happy Feet
I remember catching the morning showing of the film during its theatrical run in late 2006 and coming out overwhelmed at how detailed the storytelling is. A sentiment that I would come to have with Miller’s Mad Max: Fury Road over eight years later. Like the treks through the wasteland in Miller’s Mad Max films, Happy Feet is an adventure film in that a young penguin with the titular nickname journeys through and beyond Antarctica for answers regarding the continent’s dwindling fish famine.
Miller, Morris, Coleman, and Collee’s film is a beautiful work of cinema, especially with music composer John Powell’s soundtrack. The overarching narrative dips into the fantastical in this manner, revolving around anthropomorphic penguins who mature by their ability to sing.
The narrative conflict, then, centers on adult penguin Mumble (voiced by Elijah Wood), who was dropped as an egg and consequently, for some reason, is the only penguin who cannot sing. Mumble is viewed as a “bad egg” by the elder penguins of his society and cast out by his peers. Ironic because they should realize the scrutiny of penguins being one of the only group of birds that are flightless.
The logic within this animated production should otherwise not be questioned. There’s a brilliant juxtaposition between the “ignorance is bliss” reality showcased in the first two acts and the surrealist layer that Mumble eventually unveils in the final act, teased by the “alien” machinery that drops into the icy water in the second act. This juxtaposition is the reverse—the surrealism of the penguins’ collective beliefs and their ways of life versus the reality of the human, post-colonial, post-modern world. Noteworthy for what is essentially a children’s film.
In terms of the film being categorized as a musical, I love music supervisor Christine Woodruff‘s song curation as well as the covers incorporated into Powell’s soundtrack. “Do It Again” by The Beach Boys is a fun spring break-type song as Mumble, his crush Gloria (voiced by Brittany Murphy), and the other young adult penguins engage in synchronized swimming as part of their graduation celebration. Murphy’s cover of Queen’s “Somebody to Love” in the following scene is wonderful, and the song plays well into Mumble’s need to be accepted by Gloria and the other penguins.
Editors Christian Gazal and Margaret Sixel‘s wipe transitions, done in the same fashion as Lucasfilm’s Star Wars films, contribute to the fantastical, adventurous feel in their movement from scene to scene.
The most terrifying aspect of all is that the animators and cinematographer David Peers‘ so-called “camera” moves past the sun and the moon in the prologue sequence and hones in on Earth as the camera narrows down its focus on Antarctica. Occasionally, the camera zooms out on the planet, demonstrating the isolated tone as Earth drifts in the depths of space.
Voice performances and character developments
The voice acting is unique work, given the ensemble here thanks to casting director Kristy Carlson. As the voice of baby Mumble, Elizabeth Daily impresses sweet and innocent. It only makes sense since Daily voiced Tommy Pickles in Nickelodeon’s Rugrats and its sequel/ spin-off series, All Grown Up!. Moreover, Wood’s voice work as the protagonist, Mumble, is nice, considering this is his one major role in animation. However, it’s sometimes tough to separate him from his performance in Peter Jackson’s then-recent The Lord of the Rings trilogy.
Hugh Jackman sounds as if an Elvis Presley impression made a Matthew McConaughey impression. This isn’t detrimental to the performance as Memphis, Mumble’s father, although it does make Jackman unrecognizable. More so, Nicole Kidman does a masterful job as Norma Jean, Mumble’s mother and Memphis’s mate. The voice role distinguishes the actor from her live-action performances, and I love Norma Jean’s gracefulness throughout the film.
Most of all, I’m most intrigued by Robin Williams’s multiple voice roles here. In hindsight, the late comedian actor and voice actor isn’t as memorable in Happy Feet compared to Batty Koda in FernGully: The Last Rainforest film adaptation, the Genie in Aladdin, and Fender Pinwheeler in Robots.
Final thoughts on Happy Feet
Ultimately, Happy Feet is a narrative about familiarity and a group’s inclination to treat foreigners and foreign entities as different; rather than setting aside these differences and attempting to make change in the first place. Expression isn’t solely reliant on a literal voice but can even be found in body language and movements, further facilitating our means for communication.
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