Happy Feet is a 2006 American-Australian computer-animated comedy-drama film with music, directed and co-written by George Miller. It was produced at Sydney-based visual effects and animation studio Animal Logic for Warner Bros., Village Roadshow Pictures and Kingdom Feature Productions and was released in North America on November 17, 2006. It is the first animated feature film produced by Kennedy Miller in association with visual effects/design company Animal Logic.
Though primarily an animated film, Happy Feet does incorporate live action humans in certain scenes. The film was simultaneously released in both conventional theatres and in IMAX 2D format.[1] The studio had hinted that a future IMAX 3D release was a possibility. Unfortunately, that was not possible because Warner Bros., the film’s production company, was on too tight of a budget to release Happy Feet in IMAX digital 3D. Their previous release of The Ant Bully in IMAX digital 3D had cost the company a big amount of money, so they did not have too much to spare for Happy Feet. [2] Happy Feet won the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature and was nominated for the Annie Award for Best Animated Feature.
The film was dedicated in memory of Nick Enright, Michael Jonson, Robby McNeilly Green, and Steve Irwin.
Plot
Set in an Antarctic emperor penguin colony, the film established that every penguin must make a unique song called a "heartsong" to attract a mate. If the female likes the male and his song, and if it fits with the female's and helps complete it, the two penguins mate. This is based in fact, since emperor couples court each other and recognize one another by their unique calls. One penguin named Norma Jean (voiced by Nicole Kidman) sings the song "Kiss", whereupon a male penguin named Memphis (voiced by Hugh Jackman) sings "Heartbreak Hotel". Norma Jean chooses him as her mate. They couple and Norma Jean lays an egg. The egg is left in Memphis's care while Norma Jean and the other females leave to fish for several weeks. While the males are struggling through the harsh winter, Memphis drops the egg, briefly exposing it to the freezing Antarctic temperatures. The resulting chick - the film's protagonist, Mumble (voiced by Elizabeth Daily) - has blue eyes, ever-lasting down feathers, a late hatch and a terrible singing voice. However, Mumble has a talent that none of the other penguins had ever seen before: tap dancing.
This ability, however, is frowned upon by the colony's elders, who do not tolerate deviance of any kind. As a result, Mumble is ostracized throughout his childhood, with only his mother and his best friend Gloria (voiced by Alyssa Shafer) to turn to for compassion. One day Mumble wanders into a secluded area, where he is free to be himself and dance. But Mumble is interrupted when the Boss Skua (voiced by Anthony LaPaglia) and his posse Dino (voiced by Danny Mann), Frankie (voiced by Michael Cornacchia), and Vinnie (voiced by Mark Klastorin) fly down and plan to consume the dancing baby penguin. Mumble stalls by asking the leader of the pack about a yellow band that is attached to his right ankle. The Boss Skua tells Mumble that he had gotten abducted by "aliens"; the result leaving him with the mysterious yellow band. The "aliens" the Skuas bird speaks of are actually human beings. Mumble narrowly escapes the hungry birds by falling into a small crevice. Mumble grows into an adult (voiced by Elijah Wood), still half-covered in fluffy down.
Mumble's class is graduating, and although Mumble has not graduated, he joins them on their first unaccompanied trip into the ocean. His class ends their day by partying on an iceberg. Mumble constantly interrupts the singing party and is forced to enjoy the party on a small, separate iceberg. Mumble dozes off and wakes to find himself alone; his class gone. A hungry leopard seal (voiced by Roger Rose) chases him off the small iceberg, and the penguin finds himself far from his home and within the carefree colony of adelie penguins. These adelie penguins are small in stature, but fiercely loyal to those they call friends. He quickly befriends a small group of bachelors who form a club of sorts called the Amigos: the leader, Ramon (voiced by Robin Williams), the brothers Raul (voiced by Lombardo Boyar) and Nestor (voiced by Carlos Alazraqui), and twin brothers Rinaldo (voiced by Jeffrey Garcia) and Lombardo (voiced by Johnny A. Sanchez). The Amigos quickly embrace Mumble's dance moves and assimilate him into their misfit group.
Mumble's joy at finding acceptance is cut short when he accidentally starts an avalanche with the Amigos and causes a hidden human excavator to tumble out from a glacier. Mumble catches a glimpse of this mysterious machine and is intrigued. Driven by curiosity, he sets out to find the "aliens" responsible for the machine.
In Mumble's old home, it is mating season, and Gloria (voiced by Brittany Murphy) is the center of attention. Although she is surrounded by a large horde of suitors including Seymour (voiced by Fat Joe), none of them or their heartsongs interest her whatsoever. At this point, Ramon stands behind a newly-arrived Mumble and sings a Spanish version of "My Way". Gloria however isn't fooled, for she knows Mumble can't sing. She notices Ramon behind Mumble and shoves him away to reveal the little penguin. Goria becomes angry and turns her back on Mumble. Mumble tries to explain himself, saying that the front was the best he can offer. But it's no use, Mumble clearly has no heartsong, and Gloria continues towards the other males visibly distraught at Mumbles apparent fate to live life alone. As a last resort, Mumble tries to persuade her to sing along to his tapping rhythm. Gloria is reluctant at first but, because of her own latent affectionate feelings for him, she complies. She finds to her joy that Mumble's rhythm fits with her melody just as a heartsong would. As Mumble's beat speeds up, Gloria finds the chorus to her heartsong, and realizes it's "Boogie Wonderland", a dance song. Overcome with happiness that they can now be mates, the pair begin dancing, along with the other penguins.
Noah the elder (voiced by Hugo Weaving), sees the lack of fish as punishment from the Great 'Guin, their god, for Mumble's dancing. Mumble tries to explain about the mysterious "aliens" he had heard about and that they are the cause of the scarceness of fish, but the only two penguins that believe him are his mother and Gloria. Noah exiles Mumble from the colony as a result of his strange ways and theories. Before Mumble leaves, he vows that he will find the real cause of the famine. He travels across vast territories with the Amigos and Lovelace (voiced by Robin Williams), a self-worshiping rockhopper. Gloria tries to help him but Mumble, out of fear for her safety, does whatever it takes to get rid of her - namely, insulting her singing talents.
The group treks onward, traveling under harsh conditions. During their journey, they meet a group of elephant seals named Nev (voiced by Nicholas McKay), Kev (voiced by Tiriel Mora), Trev (voiced by Steve Irwin), and Barry (voiced by Richard Carter) who warn them of "Annihilators", who are presumably the same "aliens" Mumble seeks. After narrowly escaping from two killer whales, the penguins finally come face to face with a legion of huge commercial trawlers, all laden with fish caught around the Antarctic coast. Mumble follows after them, leaving his friends behind to bear testament to his legacy.
After swimming and being tossed around by sea currents, Mumble ends up in a penguin exhibit at a marine park (closely resembling the Penguin Encounter at SeaWorld). He fervently tries to communicate with the "aliens" that surround him. When his pleas fail, Mumble nearly succumbs to madness after three months of confinement in the sterile glass prison. When a child taps on the glass wall one day, Mumble is woken from his stupor and dances in response, whereupon the child appears to run away. He becomes disappointed until she comes back with her mother. Soon, a large crowd gathers around the exhibit, taking pictures and telling their friends of this marvel. He is released back into the wild, now with more adult feathers and a tracking device strapped to his back. He leads the humans home to his native colony. The other penguins are skeptical at first, but when Gloria notices the beeping tracking device, they realized that this was absolute proof that the “aliens” truly did exist. They were also aware that they were all wrong to judge Mumble on his theories and his dancing than actually listen to his reason. Now convinced, the penguins (along with the once-stubborn elders) once again dance alongside Mumble in hopes of getting the humans' attention.
Soon, a research team arrives and films the penguins dancing, and the humans begin to dance along with the rhythm. They bring this footage back to the human world. Different governments debate what to make of this footage and a worldwide debate ensues. They soon realize that they are overfishing the Antarctic waters, and conclude that perhaps the penguins were trying to communicate that to them. Antarctic fishing is banned, and the fish population recovers. At this, the Emperor Penguins and the Amigos dance and celebrate their triumph. A dancing baby penguin seen at the end is implied to be the child of Mumble and Gloria.
In the credits, the characters reunite to dance for the final number "Song of the Heart."
Characters
Production
The animation in Happy Feet invested heavily in motion capture technology, with the dance scenes acted out by human dancers. The tap-dancing for Mumble in particular was provided by Savion Glover who was also co-choreographer for the dance sequences.[3] The dancers went through "Penguin School" to learn how to move like a penguin, and also wore head apparatus to mimic a penguin's beak.[4] To do so, Animal Logic had to work with IBM, or International Business Machines Corporation, to build a server farm that had the ability to increase the percentage of its processing potential. This included the need for an enormous group of computing power for the movie Happy Feet. The server farm had to use IBM BladeCenter framework and BladeCenter HS20 blade servers, each had to use two Intel Xeon processors. IBM HS20 blade servers are extremely dense separate computer units. Intel Server processors improve the effectiveness of a computer. They also range the computing settings to make the most of the server use and the workload. All the technology used was complicated, but it made some tasks easier. Rendering took up 17 million CPU hours over a nine month period. [5] Happy Feet was partially inspired by earlier documentaries such as the BBC's Life in the Freezer.[6]
The film took four years to make. Ben Gunsberger, Lighting Supervisor and VFX Department Supervisor, says this was partly because they needed to build new infrastructure and tools.[7]
Music
Happy Feet is a jukebox musical, taking previously recorded songs and working them into the film's soundtrack to fit with the mood of the scene or character. Two soundtrack albums were released for the film; one containing songs from and inspired by the film, and another featuring John Powell's instrumental score. They were released on October 31, 2006 and December 19, 2006, respectively.
Awards
Won
Academy Awards
60th British Academy Film Awards
- Best Animated Feature Film
Golden Globes
American Film Institute Awards 2006
- Honored as one of the Top Ten Best Films of the Year
Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards
New York Film Critics Circle Awards
Golden Trailer Awards[8]
Heartland Awards
- The Truly Moving Picture Award
Kids' Choice Awards
British Academy of Film and Television Arts - Children's Awards
Nominations
Golden Globe Award
Annie Awards
- Best Animated Feature
- Best Writing in an Animated Feature Production
Satellite Awards
- Nominated for Best Motion Picture, Animated or Mixed Media
Top ten lists
The film appeared on numerous critics' top ten lists of the best films of 2006, including AFI's Annual list, which is listed above.[9][10] AFI's jury said:
"HAPPY FEET is a one-of-a-kind motion picture experience. George Miller continues to paint outside the lines of traditional filmmaking, and his genius expands upon the animated art form to illuminate a world where penguins embrace dance and differences to survive and thrive. But that is just the tip of the iceberg, as the environment, religion and the chasm between generations enrich this sweet and subtle tale - one that is fun and funny, brilliant and beautiful, groundbreaking and global in its message."
- 1st - Jack Matthews, The New York Daily News
- 1st - Stan Urankar, Sun News
- 2nd - William Arnold, Seattle Post-Intelligencer
- 2nd - Mark Palermo, The Coast
- 3rd - Kirk Honeycutt, Hollywood Reporter
- 4th - Edward Douglas, Comingsoon.net
- 5th - Scott Foundas, Village Voice
- 5th - Peter Rainer, Christian Science Monitor
- 5th - Matthieu Santelli, Critikat (film review, in French)
- 5th - Kurt Loder, MTV
- 5th - Missy Thompson, Tooele Transcript Bulletin
- 6th - Constance Garfinkle, The Patriot Ledger
- 6th - Carole Wrona, Critikat (top ten lists for 2006 films, in French)
- 6th - Lou Lumenick, New York Post
- 6th - Kyle Smith, New York Post
- 6th - Michael Wilmington, Chicago Tribune
- 6th - Keith Cohen, Sun Newspapers
- 8th - Rene Rodriguez, Miami Herald
- 9th - Schlomo Schwartzberg, Box Office Magazine
Home media release
Happy Feet was released on March 27, 2007[11] in the United States in three formats; DVD (in separate widescreen and pan and scan editions), Blu-ray Disc, and an HD DVD/DVD combo disc.[12]
Among the DVD's special features is a scene that was cut from the film where Mumble meets a blue whale and an albatross. The albatross was Steve Irwin's first voice role in the film before he voiced the elephant seal in the final cut. The scene was finished and included on the DVD in memory of Steve Irwin. This scene is done in Steve's classic documentary style, with the albatross telling the viewer all about the other characters in the scene, and the impact people are having on their environment.
Video games
A video game based on the film was developed by A2M and published by Midway Games. It has the same main cast as the film. It was released for the PC, PlayStation 2, GameCube, GBA, NDS, and Wii.[13]
Artificial Life, Inc. has also developed a Happy Feet mobile game for the Japan market.[14]
Reception
Box office
The film opened at number one in the United States on its first weekend of release (November 17-November 19) grossing $41.6 million and beating Casino Royale for the top spot.[15] It remained number one for the Thanksgiving weekend, making $51.6 million over the five-day period. In total, the film was the top grosser for three weeks, a 2006 box office feat matched only by Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest. As of June 8, 2008, Happy Feet has grossed $198.0 million in the U.S. and $186.3 million overseas, making about $384.3 million dollars worldwide. The film has been released in about 35 international territories at the close of 2006.[16][17][18]
The production budget was $100 million.[19]
Critical reviews
Happy Feet has received better than average reviews from film critics, and received a 74% "fresh" approval in the Rotten Tomatoes movie review aggregate site, with an 82% percent from the Top Critics.[20]
Analysis
The film has also garnered, since its release, quite a bit of analysis and dissection from various places. Film critic Yar Habnegnal has written an essay, published in Forum on Contemporary Art and Society, that examines the themes of encroachment presented throughout the film, as well as various other subtexts and themes.[21]
Sequel
A follow-up to the film is currently in production at Dr. D Studios.[22] The estimated release date is November 18, 2011.[23]
Environmental message
As things progress there is increasing emphasis on environmental problems in the Antarctic.
The film's denouement shows a group of researchers taking video of the colony of dancing emperor penguins, and the footage is broadcast globally. After many heated arguments this publicity generates considerable pressure to stop commercial overfishing of the Antarctic.
According to the director, George Miller, the environmental message was not a major part of the original script, but "In Australia, we're very, very aware of the ozone hole," he said, "and Antarctica is literally the canary in the coal mine for this stuff. So it sort of had to go in that direction." This influence led to a film with a more environmental tone. Miller said, "You can't tell a story about Antarctica and the penguins without giving that dimension."[24]
References
- ^ "Happy Feet: The IMAX Experience". IMAX. http://www.imax.com/ImaxWeb/filmDetail.do?type=comingSoon&movieID=code__.__30. Retrieved 2007-03-15.
- ^ "Happy Feet Won't Debut in IMAX 3-D". VFXWorld. http://www.vfxworld.com/?sa=adv&code=3631a5a1&atype=news&id=17882. Retrieved 2007-03-15.
- ^ Savion Glover.. Happy Feet. [DVD]. Warner Brothers.
- ^ Kelley Abbey.. Happy Feet. [DVD]. Warner Brothers.
- ^ "Animal Logic gets 400,000 Happy Feet dancing digitally with IBM® BladeCenter® technology". IBM Australia. http://www-07.ibm.com/systems/includes/content/i/pdf/GL_8747_Animal_Logic_03.pdf. Retrieved 9/11/09.
- ^ "Penguin suits up for a cinema hit". The Australian. http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,20753501-2702,00.html. Retrieved 2008-03-28.
- ^ UNSWorld (2007) Bring on the dancing penguins in UNSWorld, Issue 6, May 2007, pp. 14-15
- ^ Golden Trailer Awards
- ^ "Film Critic Top Ten List, 2006 Critics' Picks". http://www.metacritic.com/film/awards/2006/toptens.shtml.
- ^ "The Critics". http://www.moviecitynews.com/awards/2007/top_tens/critics_01.html.
- ^ Happy Feet (2006) - Elijah Wood, Nicole Kidman, Hugh Jackman
- ^ Happy Feet to Dance on Blu-ray, HD DVD This March | High-Def Digest
- ^ Happy Feet
- ^ Parthajit; "Happy Feet Goes Mobile"; Softpedia; April 24, 2007
- ^ Weekend Box Office Results for November 17–19, 2006
- ^ Happy Feet (2006) - Weekend Box Office Results
- ^ IMDb Charts
- ^ Weekend Box Office Results for February 1–3, 2008
- ^ Happy Feet (2006)
- ^ Happy Feet - Movie Reviews, Trailers, Pictures - Rotten Tomatoes
- ^ Yar Habnegnal on Happy Feet
- ^ About Dr. D Studios
- ^ Sky News: Happy Feet sequel in the works[dead link]
- ^ Kelly, Kate (2006-11-17). "The New Animated Film Happy Feet Doesn't Dance Around Serious Issues". The Wall Street Journal. http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB116373257478225933-QS7Oc7yiEQI503rfJ2N42OUiVH8_20071119.html?mod=tff_main_tff_top. Retrieved 2007-03-15.
External links
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Happy Feet (2006)
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40,000 Years of Dreaming (1997)
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The Chain Reaction (1980, uncredited)
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