Happy Feet Review

Reviews

Apr 30th 2007 By Total Film

Achieving on computer what it took the makers of March Of The Penguins a year of frostbite to capture in reality, George Miller’s Oscar-nabbing animated ‘toon is eye-saucering proof that Pixar doesn’t have the monopoly on this fast-evolving artform. And while it’s not exactly the “new phase in cinema” that voice artiste Brittany Murphy would have us believe, this jolly tale of a tap-dancing Pingu – the lonely Mumble, voiced by Elijah Wood – who sets out to save the Antarctic has a plot and soundtrack robust enough to compensate for the inevitable tedious eco-message. One for Al Gore then, though he’d be disappointed by a substandard selection of extras that places undue emphasis on Savion Glover’s motion-cap hoofing as the source for Mumble’s skills. Still, a deleted scene featuring Steve Irwin as an albatross telling Mumble to “enjoy life while you can” comes with a prophetic resonance, while Murphy’s rendition of Queen’s ‘Somebody To Love’ does Freddie Mercury proud.