Welcome to another installment of
FAMILY MOVIE NIGHT, where we give
our recommendation on a family-friendly movie to enjoy. Today we look at an
Academy Award winning family friendly film from 2006, George Miller’s HAPPY
FEET.
Happy Feet is the 2006 winner for Best Animated Feature and is
directed by acclaimed director George Miller. The film is about a penguin named
Mumble who can’t sing (something all penguins can do) and develops his emperor
penguin characteristics slowly. This film has a star studded voice cast
including Elijah Wood, Brittany Murphy, Hugh Jackman, Nicole Kidman, Robin
Williams, and Hugo Weaving. This film is quite pleasant and entertaining
throughout but is really just kind of a nothing feel-good film at the end of
the day.
On the positive end, the voice
cast and music in this film are delightful. They draw you into the various
characters and situations and make you kind of groove along to a movie that is
about music and dance. It’s incredibly uplifting and pleasant. The film also
shows our characters having a lot of fun. There are certainly plenty of
challenging situations in the story (and I think it tries to say something
about humans interfering with the life styles of animals pretty ineffectively)
but there is a vibe of real fun and enjoyment that makes this movie incredibly
pleasant to watch.
I think George Miller really drew
a main character in Mumble, in partnership with Elijah Wood, that the audience
can attach themselves to and appreciate his struggle. There are moments of
happiness and sadness for him throughout the film and you do feel the emotional
levels in those by virtue of the fact that you connect with and care about this
main character.
The real negatives in this film
are that it really never elevates its story beyond a very basic coming of age/Footloose-ish
tale. It really wasn’t all that intriguing and watching this movie is pretty
much just a mildly entertaining sounding way to kill some time. Moreover,
looking at this film now, the animation in it is quite weak. They did some neat
things with the water but in the era where we’re at now the penguins just don’t
look quite right and the water and ice environment didn’t look quite right
either.
Overall, Happy Feet is a fairly inoffensive and mildly enjoyable way to
spend an hour and a half. Mumble is a compelling character and the film has
catchy and fun music. It has a certain “cuteness” that will also appeal well to
kids. This is worth checking out some time for a nice and relaxed casual family
movie night.
Ryan’s Score: 7/10
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