Happy Feet (2006)

Academy Awards, USA 2007

Winner Oscar

Best Animated Feature Film of the Year George Miller

Warner Bros.
Directed by George Miller
My rating: 3.5 stars out of 4
IMDb Wikipedia
(Blu-ray, Warner Bros.)

In Antarctica, a young penguin is born with the ability to tap dance, putting him at odds with his colony that values singing to find a mate. Nonetheless, he falls in love with a talented young singer. Rejected by his parents, the colony, his girl and the village elders, he makes friends with a roaming group of young penguins who call themselves the Amigos. They help him win over the girl with his tap dancing, but this only further enrages the elders who kick him out of the colony and blame him for the diminishing supply of fish. Along with the Amigos, he seeks out a mystic penguin named Lovelace who tells them the fish are disappearing due to the activities of mystic beings. These turn out to be humans who are overfishing the area. He is trapped when he approaches a fishing boat and ends up in a marine zoo, which he mistakes as heaven. When he starts tap dancing, he becomes a worldwide sensation and is released back to the colony. The humans follow and after an outcry fishing is banned and the colony restored, making him a hero. Bizarre animated feature film is no dancing penguin story. Instead, there are religious overtones, interracial tensions and the more obvious conservation theme. It's all set to re-worked hip-hop, R&B and classic rock songs. The animation is spectacular. Future generations will make this a cult classic, for now it is just a cute talking animal movie.