Happy Feet (2006)

Into the world of the Emperor Penguins, who find their soul mates through song, a penguin is born who cannot sing. But he can tap dance something fierce!

Directors:

George Miller, Warren Coleman (co-director)

Writers:

George Miller, John Collee

Stars:

Elijah Wood, Brittany Murphy, Hugh Jackman

Won 1 Oscar. Another 19 wins & 25 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Carlos Alazraqui	...	Nestor (voice)
Lombardo Boyar	...	Raul (voice)
Jeffrey Garcia	...	Rinaldo (voice) (as Jeff Garcia)
Johnny A. Sanchez	...	Lombardo (voice) (as Johnny Sanchez III)
Robin Williams	...	Ramon / Lovelace (voice)
Elijah Wood	...	Mumble (voice)
Brittany Murphy	...	Gloria (voice)
Hugh Jackman	...	Memphis (voice)
Nicole Kidman	...	Norma Jean (voice)
Hugo Weaving	...	Noah the Elder (voice)
Elizabeth Daily	...	Baby Mumble (voice) (as E.G. Daily)
Magda Szubanski	...	Miss Viola (voice)
Miriam Margolyes	...	Mrs. Astrakhan (voice)
Fat Joe	...	Seymour (voice)
Alyssa Shafer	...	Baby Gloria (voice)

Storyline

This is the story of a little penguin named Mumble who has a terrible singing voice and later discovers he has no Heartsong. However, Mumble has an astute talent for something that none of the penguins had ever seen before: tap dancing. Though Mumble's mom, Norma Jean, thinks this little habit is cute, his dad, Memphis, says it "just ain't penguin." Besides, they both know that, without a Heartsong, Mumble may never find true love. As fate would have it, his one friend, Gloria, happens to be the best singer around. Mumble and Gloria have a connection from the moment they hatch, but she struggles with his strange "hippity- hoppity" ways. Mumble is just too different--especially for Noah the Elder, the stern leader of Emperor Land, who ultimately casts him out of the community. Away from home for the first time, Mumble meets a posse of decidedly un-Emperor-like penguins--the Adelie Amigos. Led by Ramon, the Adelies instantly embrace Mumble's cool dance moves and invite him to party with...

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Plot Keywords:

anthropomorphic penguin | singing animal | singing penguin | warner bros. | penguin | 

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Taglines:

The only film that has people dancing in the aisles

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Genres:

Animation | Adventure | Comedy | Family | Music | Musical | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG for some mild peril and rude humor

Details

Official Sites:

Warner Bros [France] Warner Bros. [United States]

Country:

USA Australia

Language:

English

Release Date:

17 November 2006 (USA)

Also Known As:

Happy Feet: The IMAX Experience

Filming Locations:

Fox Studios, Moore Park, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

Box Office

Budget:

$100,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$41,533,432, 19 November 2006, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$198,000,317, 10 May 2007

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$384,335,608, 10 May 2007

Company Credits

Production Co:

Warner Bros., Village Roadshow Pictures, Kennedy Miller Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

108 min

Sound Mix:

SDDS (8 channels) Dolby Digital EX DTS-ES

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.33.1 (dvd)

Did You Know?

Trivia

Not only does Steve Irwin provide the voice for one of the elephant seals, but he was also originally cast to play an albatross that Mumble encounters as he crosses the ocean after the aliens. The albatross scene was cut from the final movie, but you can see it in the DVD extras. The scene was cut before animation was complete, so no actual animation existed until they were preparing the DVD for release. The director and the production crew felt that they needed to do something following Steve Irwin's death, so they completed the scene and included in the DVD in remembrance of him.

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Goofs

In the scene where Mumble is born, Memphis says "woah" a little bit before Mumble's foot actually comes out of the egg.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Penguin #1: [singing] Once there was a way to get back homeward.
Penguin #2: [singing] Are the stars out tonight?
Penguin #1: [singing] Once there was a way to get back home.
Penguin #2: [singing] I only have eyes for you.
Penguin #1: [singing] Sleep, pretty darling, do not cry.
Penguin #2: [singing] For you.
Penguin #1: [singing] And I will sing a lullaby.
Penguin #3: [singing] With a song in my heart.
Penguin #4: [singing] So tell me / Tell me something good / Yeah, yeah, yeah / Tell me that you love me. / Tell me, baby. / Tell me something good.
[...]

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Crazy Credits

The closing credits are slanted upwards.

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Connections

Featured in The Oscars (2014)

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Soundtracks

Let's Talk About Sex
Written by Hurby 'Luv Bug' Azor "Fingerprints"
WB Music Corp & Sons of K-oss Music Inc / Warner/Chappell Music Australia Pty Ltd

User Reviews

Bad Vocals But Happy Feet

Happy Feet' is a delightfully cheerful little movie about an emperor penguin who has an unappreciated gift of tap dancing and his inability to sing causes others to look down upon him. While the penguins suffer from food shortage, he aims to rescue the fish that serves as their daily meal. The animation is excellent. Very few such CGI animated films have looked so real to me but in 'Happy Feet' it is almost hard to tell. The characters are fun (though a little out of place and unnecessary at times). The voice-casting is great with Robin Williams and the Hispanic adelaides stealing the show. Nicole Kidman lends her beautiful voice as the loving mother while Hugh Jackman's dad character is a little clichéd. Elijah Wood and Brittany Murphy are annoying but you get used to it. The story could have been better developed as there are a few plot holes now and then and the ending is a little too optimistic, too unrealistic and too abrupt. 'Happy Feet' is meant to be a family film but it could have been a stronger movie and at the same time remains enjoyable to the family had the story been given a little more focus. There are a range of songs, most of which are popular numbers. Even though the visualizations were fun to watch, they were at times distracting and deviating from the main plot. Yet, 'Happy Feet' was still an entertaining flick and it had that adventurous feel. There was not one boring moment and the viewers wonder how Mumble will rescue the fish from being stolen (I just wished that the conclusion was done differently).