The story of Mumble the dancing penguin has many important qualities that should empower society. There's also an important theme of environmental problems, occurring as a result of human indifference that everyone should be aware of once the film is over.
In Antarctica, the race of Emperor penguins sing in order to impress potential mates. Norma-Jean (Nicole Kidman) is one of the most desirable penguins for her male followers. She sings with a soft and smooth voice and ultimately meets Memphis (Hugh Jackman). Their song became love, and love became an egg. When huddling with the other penguins against the cold, Memphis accidentally drops his egg and the next day, the egg doesn't seem to hatch. They don't hear anything inside the egg, until little tapping sounds are heard and Mumble eventually hatches a bit late. The small penguin is treated differently from the start by his peers and no one approves of his feet tapping talents except for his mom who loves him no matter what. Once Mumble (Elijah Wood) is all grown up, he has a liking for Gloria (Brittany Murphy) who is the best female singer of their generation but she doesn't seem to notice his affections towards her. The penguin world is shaken when the fish supplies start running extremely low and the penguins have no chance of survival. That is until Mumble proposes to go to the Forbidden Shores and communicate with the humans about the low amounts of fish left in their oceans. Will Mumble be able to win the human race over with his talents and win the heart of Gloria and his race at the same time? Find out in this family friendly tale of acceptance and foot-tapping fun.
The story will definitely give people a new perspective on life and how so many animal species are struggling because of the negative effects the humans pose to their environment. Featuring a voice cast of Robin Williams, Hugo Weaving and many more wonderful actors, the Happy Feet experience is something you don't want to miss.
There are so many important themes that are talked about in this film such as racial prejudice, religious intolerance and human effects on the environment. Another subtext of the film is of course love. Without love, there will be no peace in the world. All people (or penguins) should not be judged on their race, their origin, their disabilities or even their skills. They should be judged by their character, kindness and sympathy towards others. Even if a majority of people don't have belief in you, you can't give up if what you feel in your heart is right.
The lighting of the production is of course wonderfully executed with the aurora lights and the snowy plains of Antarctica being captured to their fullest capacity. The animation was also very well done, with justice being done to all the penguin species presented in the film as well as humans. The environments shown looked very real on screen with the layered textures of the snow, water and mountains made the experience breathtaking. Some motion capture technology was used to capture the foot tapping movements of Mumble and the other penguins thanks in part to the famous tap dancer Savion Glover who also co-choreographed the dance sequences. Despite the serious tones of this animated feature, there are many songs that are sung by the penguins, that are really fun to listen, and are a visual treat when the penguins start dancing to them.
Happy Feet should be a movie that everyone has in their DVD collection and it deserves to be viewed every now and then by the whole family. Keep on tapping to the beat, Mumble!
No comments:
Post a Comment