Joyous

Rating: 7/10 (15 December 2006)

HAPPY FEET is a joyous, largely musical cartoon involving the search for a dwindling fish supply by a brave young emperor penguin. The gag is that this penguin was born with a bad singing voice in a society defined by its singing agility. But man, can he dance! The irony for the adults in the audience is that when this kid tries to sing, he sounds exactly like a real penguin. But to penguin ears, he brays like a donkey. The movie is filled with great pop tunes of the last 50 years. The animation and artistry are first rate, and it looks a lot like ICE AGE. The movie does bog down in the second half as this Fred Astaire of penguins goes in search of the "aliens" who have disrupted his land. We lose the music and the film's rhythm during this extended sequence. But it comes around again at the very end for a big, toe-tapping finale. It should be noted the indefatigable Robin Williams voices not one but two characters.