Happy Feet

Happy Feet ***1/2

"Happy Feet" is probably the best animated film since "Finding Nemo." It's so good, in fact, that it'll probably give Pixar a run for its money when it takes home the Oscar gold instead of this summer's "Cars." I couldn't find a single scene, no! a single frame, throughout this entire film that didn't obviously have so much care and detail in it. There were times when the environment and detail spent into the characters were so perfectly crafted that it felt as though I were watching a documentary. In fact, if the penguins in this weren't singing and dancing and talking, I would think that I was still watching "March of the Penguins."

"Happy Feet" tells the story of the Emperor Penguins in the Arctic. In order to attract a mate in this penguin world, every penguin has to have his or her own voice-or song. The male will sing its song to attract the female, and if the female feels the same way she will sing her song back. And they aren't just whistles, they are actual songs from the 60's-90's-"Lets Talk About Sex"(pronounced Ex to remain family friendly,) "My Way," etc. Recently, Memphis and Norma Jean had an egg, and at some point during the long and tedious labor months, Memphis drops the egg, revealing its tender shell to the cold weather and possibly damaging whats inside. Memphis returns the egg to its place underneath him, and decides to pretend the entire thing never happened. Sure enough the egg is hatched a few minutes later than all the rest, and Memphis isn't surprised to find that what is inside(named Mumble) is slightly different from them too. Instead of singing at an early age, Mumble begins to dance. "I think its cute," Norma Jean says to Memphis, who simply responds "It ain't penguin." Mumble's isn't accepted by the other singing penguins, and he has a hard time gaining the love of Gloria, the penguin he's always admired from afar. Once day he comes across a group of penguins that find his dancing "cool" and decide to help him gain the love of Gloria. Mumble's love problems should be the least of his worries, though, when he is blamed for the fish shortage that is causing food problems for the others. Mumble's decides to save the penguins and set everything right again, and he goes on a quest to find out what is causing the fish shortage.

Like I said earlier, the animation in this is so vivid and realistic that it is like watching a documentary. Even during the action scenes, where whales and eagles and other creatures chase the penguins, the detail on them was pitch perfect. Drops of water would fall off of them as they would jump out of the ocean, the sunlight glistened off of their skin. I was awestruck watching this. And then there is a section towards the end with humans-it took me a little bit to figure out that they weren't animated and that they spliced real actors into the film. But the point is, the realistic environments of the first half had me confused well into the second. The musical sequences were a bit tedious at times-I could have lived without a lot of them. But the third act is jaw-dropping. "Happy Feet" manages to tell a fantastic message to the youngin's-be yourself no matter how different you may be from others, as well as preaching an environmental plea that everybody, not just kids, should listen too.

The voice cast is top notch. Hugh Jackman, whose been in almost every single movie in the last three months, was nearly unrecognizable as Memphis, and Nicole Kidman, although barely in it, did a good job as Norma Jean. Robin Williams offers three different characters to us, each one of them unique and classic Williams in their own way. Elijah Wood doesn't do much for me, voice or life action, but I have no complaints here. Just about everything in "Happy Feet" clicks. However, I was slightly disappointed by the ending. It was just a little too happy. Everything tied together with a knot and a bow. The last ten minutes seemed to foreshadow something dark and depressing, and I was certain that this wouldn't end the way that every single family friendly movie has ended since the beginning of time. But everything is alright, and there's another dance, bada bing, bada boom! But oh well, this is a children's movie after all. And one of the best children's movies you'll see this year. "Happy Feet' deserves the acclaim that its getting. It's an adorable children's film with a great message. It doesn't lob for cheap laughs and animation to make a quick buck. Obvious care and effort went into this, and it was well worth it.