Dance of the penguins

Rating: 7/10 (22 November 2006)

After marching to stardom last year via the hit documentary "March of the Penguins," the fat birds in tuxedo - or at least their pixelated versions - are back on the big screen with the Aussie film "Happy Feet," joining this year's battalion of computer-animated features that rival Noah's ark for the number of animals included. But with such dazzling visual elements (oh yes, I'm in total awe), catchy songs and an earnest story, director George Miller's ("Babe: Pig in the City") Antarctic adventure stand out from an otherwise overly saturated film genre that has had recently become a hit-or-miss affair.
"Happy Feet" is built around the premise that each emperor penguin must have his own "heartsong." Taught from childhood, each penguin is expected to find within him/her the song essential to finding a lifelong mate and having children. Enter Mumble (younger one voiced by E.G. Daily, and older one voiced by Elijah Wood), a young emperor penguin who finds himself a stranger to his own kind because he can't sing, although he's unusually gifted in tap dancing. This, much to the dismay of his parents - Memphis (Hugh Jackman in his nth movie this year) and Norma Jean (Nicole Kidman).
Soon, fish supply in the south pole is dwindling and the penguins are starving. Noah (Hugo Weaving), an elder of the penguin colony, blames Mumble and his strange talents for the curse and exiles him. Convinced that "alien" beings are responsible for the food shortage, Mumble sets on a journey to have a diplomatic affair with them regarding their predicament. Along with him is a group of adelie penguins, their appointed leader Ramón (Robin Williams...) and a know-it-all spiritual teacher penguin, Lovelace (... and Robin Williams).
The animation is amazingly done with photo-realistic environments. Also, while the characters are not overall distinctive and memorable, it's compensated by their adorable nature (cute yet not all-too-cloying) and good voice performances. Robin Williams, in particular, steals every scene he's in - which is a lot, since he does two personalities here. It's clear he's having fun, and so are we.
Ah, but if only the film stayed on track. Towards the end, the scriptwriters decide to do an Al Gore and impart an environmental advocacy campaign, which is in itself a noble idea. But here, it feels as a misapplied digression and taking all merits into account, it's something that hedges the film from what it should achieve.
Still, in a time where the boundaries of animation has very much expanded to the point that it has become mostly tedious, "Happy Feet" manages to enchant the viewer not only through its breathtaking visuals, but also through its charming characters and the overall innocence of the film. It's right up near "Cars" (I haven't seen "Flushed Away" yet) and that's surely one thing to be happy about.