Happy Feet

About Happy Feet

Happy Feet is an Australian-produced 2006 computer-animated comedy-drama musical film, directed and co-written by George Miller. It was produced at Sydney-based visual effects and animation studio Animal Logic for Warner Bros. and Village Roadshow Pictures and was released in North America on November 17, 2006. It is the first animated feature film produced by Kennedy Miller in association with Animal Logic. Though primarily an animated film, it does incorporate live action humans in certain scenes. The film was simultaneously released in both conventional theatres and in IMAX 2D format. The studio has hinted that a future IMAX 3D release was a possibility. Happy Feet won the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature after failing to win the Annie Award for Best Animated Feature.

The film was dedicated in memory of Nick Enright, Michael Jonson, Robby McNeilly Green, and Steve Irwin.

Set in an Antarctic emperor penguin colony, the film establishes that every penguin must sing a unique song (called a "Heartsong") to attract a soul mate. This is based in fact, since emperor couples court each other and recognize one another by their unique calls. One penguin, Norma Jean, sings the song "Kiss", whereupon a male penguin named Memphis 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 - has a terrible singing voice. However, Mumble has an astute talent for something that none of the penguins had ever seen before: tap dancing.