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Special Features
- BD-25
- Two new fully animated sequences: Mumble Meets a Blue Whale, A Happy Feet Moment
- Private dance lesson with Savion Glover
- Two music videos: Gia's "Hit Me Up," Prince's "The Song of the Heart"
- Classic cartoon: I Love to Singa
Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
For anyone who thought the Oscar-winning documentary March of the Penguins was the most marvelous cinematic moment for these nomads of the south, you haven't seen nothing yet. Happy Feet is an animated wonder about a penguin named Mumble who can't sing, but can dance up a storm. George Miller, the driving force behind the Babe (and Mad Max) movies, takes another creative step in family entertainment with this big, beautiful, music-fueled film that will have kids and their parents dancing in the streets. From his first moment alive, Mumble (voiced Elijah Woods) feels the beat and can't stop dancing. Unfortunately, emperor penguins are all about finding their own heart song, and the dancing youngster--as cute as he is--is a misfit. Luckily, he bumps into little blue penguins and a Spanish-infused group (led by Robin Williams) and begins a series of adventures. Miller has an exceptional variety of entertainment: Busby Berkley musical numbers, amusement-park thrills, exciting chase sequences (seals and orca lovers might like think otherwise), and even an environmental message that doesn't weigh you down. Best of all, you don't know where the movie is going in the last act, a rare occurrence these days in family entertainment. A fusion of rock songs, mashed-up and otherwise, are featured; this movie is as much a musical as a comedy. Mumble's solo dance to a new version of Stevie Wonder's "I Wish" by Fantasia, Patti, and Yolanda may be the most joyful moment on camera in 2006. --Doug Thomas
More Happy Feet
 Other DVDs and products |  Combo HD/DVD |  More Penguin DVDs |
Product Description
In the great nation of Emperor Penguins, deep in Antarctica, you're nobody unless you can sing - which is unfortunate for Mumble (ELIJAH WOOD), who is the worst singer in the world. He is born dancing to his own tune...tap dancing. As fate would have it,
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
31 of 36 people found the following review helpful
Format:Blu-ray
First of all, this is simply a great movie. The narrative is brought to life with humor, action, important life lessons, and conservational commentary. The voice actors all give 5-star performances and the animation is incredible.
But, this being the Blu-ray disc, I'm going to focus on the picture and sound.
The animation by itself is simply breath-taking; easily one of, if not the best looking CGI feature to date. But in HD, it's brought to life even further. Every feather on the penguins is apparent, every flake of snow falling through the air and I'd almost go so far as to say every molecule of water! This is the best looking animated feature you can get on Blu-ray now. It's definitely the show-off piece when people ask "How much better does HD look?". The leopard seal was particularly mind-blowing to me.
Another hook is the sound. While I wouldn't say this is the best sounding movie on Blu-ray, it definitely puts sound to good use and ranks pretty high. All five channels are used when appropriate, but Happy Feet does not utilize them as much as other films. Still, crank up the sound and the action scenes will blow you away.
All in all, this is an excellent movie made even better on Blu-ray. At this time, this is the Blu-ray disc to own for giving people lessons about HD.
But, this being the Blu-ray disc, I'm going to focus on the picture and sound.
The animation by itself is simply breath-taking; easily one of, if not the best looking CGI feature to date. But in HD, it's brought to life even further. Every feather on the penguins is apparent, every flake of snow falling through the air and I'd almost go so far as to say every molecule of water! This is the best looking animated feature you can get on Blu-ray now. It's definitely the show-off piece when people ask "How much better does HD look?". The leopard seal was particularly mind-blowing to me.
Another hook is the sound. While I wouldn't say this is the best sounding movie on Blu-ray, it definitely puts sound to good use and ranks pretty high. All five channels are used when appropriate, but Happy Feet does not utilize them as much as other films. Still, crank up the sound and the action scenes will blow you away.
All in all, this is an excellent movie made even better on Blu-ray. At this time, this is the Blu-ray disc to own for giving people lessons about HD.
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
South polar-izing in this case, but it's hard to miss the fact that some people really love this movie and some really...well...don't.
I just saw this movie twice over the past three days, and here's my take on it, with the upsides and the downsides.
The upsides were:
The animation technology! Some of the animation, especially the backgrounds, was drop dead gorgeous. I don't even have HD, and I was mesmerized by how beautifully done some parts of this movie were.
The misfit becomes a hero. It hit sort of close to home for my wife and I because we have a special needs child and have often felt like Memphis and Norma Jean. What went wrong? We sigh a lot and wonder what will become of him. I quietly hope he will develop some great talent some day. We'll see.
An environmental message that wasn't too heavy handed. The humans are not presented as evil, just as being who didn't know what they were doing. Once they discovered the penguins, they helped them out. At least this movie didn't stoop to the now very tired "man is bad" cliche message.
Interesting symbology. The "Memphis" character was obviously Elvis, and Norma Jean was Marilyn Monroe? The two icons of the 1950's give birth to a misfit who revolutionalizes music among a sort of authoritarian theocratic paternal oligarchy. Is this supposed to be something like what happened when rock 'n roll took America by storm in the late 1950's and early 60's? The fundamentalists preached against rock 'n roll, and the kids just wanted to have fun.
The music itself. I found it varied and rather enjoyable. I've never liked that "Somebody to Love" song by Queen, but I genuinely enjoyed the way it was rendered by the penguin choir.
Finally, extrapolating on the fact that penguin couples can identify each other out of the masses of penguins because each has a unique call. This I assume was the inspiration for the idea that penguins mate when they find "their song".
Now the downsides:
I found the adult penguin characters to be designed in a way that didn't make them particularly endearing to look at. I thought the penguins in Surf's Up (which anyone who likes this movie should see too; it's brilliant) were designed to look more fun and loveable. The hint of breasts on the female penguins just made them look sort of weird.
One dimensional stereotype characters. There's the overbearing authoritarian fundamentalists, the holy roller preacher, the "five amigo" wise guys, the skua bird gang, etc. There just wasn't much depth anywhere in the character department.
Very little genuine humor. A lot of what was supposed to be humor seemed forced, Disney Style. I was entertained throughout the movie, but I only really laughed two or three times.
And, one big helping of subliminal vulgarity. I read it elsewhere and so out of curiosity I freeze framed through the sequence where Gloria and Happy Feet emerge from their first swim and tumble through the snow, and yes it lookes like they went through the catalogue of sexual positions. That was crass, but then this movie is rated PG for a reason. I mean, what parent would think that a fuzzy little cute baby penguin on all the artwork would mean that they should allow their young children see it? Who would get that idea anyway?
So, a solid three stars for a movie that pretends to be for the little ones but richly deserves a PG rating and perhaps PG-13. Now, my happy keys gotta stop clickin'. Tippity tippity tap tap click!
I just saw this movie twice over the past three days, and here's my take on it, with the upsides and the downsides.
The upsides were:
The animation technology! Some of the animation, especially the backgrounds, was drop dead gorgeous. I don't even have HD, and I was mesmerized by how beautifully done some parts of this movie were.
The misfit becomes a hero. It hit sort of close to home for my wife and I because we have a special needs child and have often felt like Memphis and Norma Jean. What went wrong? We sigh a lot and wonder what will become of him. I quietly hope he will develop some great talent some day. We'll see.
An environmental message that wasn't too heavy handed. The humans are not presented as evil, just as being who didn't know what they were doing. Once they discovered the penguins, they helped them out. At least this movie didn't stoop to the now very tired "man is bad" cliche message.
Interesting symbology. The "Memphis" character was obviously Elvis, and Norma Jean was Marilyn Monroe? The two icons of the 1950's give birth to a misfit who revolutionalizes music among a sort of authoritarian theocratic paternal oligarchy. Is this supposed to be something like what happened when rock 'n roll took America by storm in the late 1950's and early 60's? The fundamentalists preached against rock 'n roll, and the kids just wanted to have fun.
The music itself. I found it varied and rather enjoyable. I've never liked that "Somebody to Love" song by Queen, but I genuinely enjoyed the way it was rendered by the penguin choir.
Finally, extrapolating on the fact that penguin couples can identify each other out of the masses of penguins because each has a unique call. This I assume was the inspiration for the idea that penguins mate when they find "their song".
Now the downsides:
I found the adult penguin characters to be designed in a way that didn't make them particularly endearing to look at. I thought the penguins in Surf's Up (which anyone who likes this movie should see too; it's brilliant) were designed to look more fun and loveable. The hint of breasts on the female penguins just made them look sort of weird.
One dimensional stereotype characters. There's the overbearing authoritarian fundamentalists, the holy roller preacher, the "five amigo" wise guys, the skua bird gang, etc. There just wasn't much depth anywhere in the character department.
Very little genuine humor. A lot of what was supposed to be humor seemed forced, Disney Style. I was entertained throughout the movie, but I only really laughed two or three times.
And, one big helping of subliminal vulgarity. I read it elsewhere and so out of curiosity I freeze framed through the sequence where Gloria and Happy Feet emerge from their first swim and tumble through the snow, and yes it lookes like they went through the catalogue of sexual positions. That was crass, but then this movie is rated PG for a reason. I mean, what parent would think that a fuzzy little cute baby penguin on all the artwork would mean that they should allow their young children see it? Who would get that idea anyway?
So, a solid three stars for a movie that pretends to be for the little ones but richly deserves a PG rating and perhaps PG-13. Now, my happy keys gotta stop clickin'. Tippity tippity tap tap click!
16 of 19 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
When I saw this movie, I was struck by two things - how it looked and how it felt.
It sounds obvious, but I couldn't help but be struck by the artistry of the film's animation. "Happy Feet" had the appearance of a nature documentary, and I mean it in a good way. The filmmakers made a conscious effort to study penguin movement (maybe by watching "March of the Penguins?") as well as how the enviornment interacts with them. Simple backgrounds work as well, as they are able to capture the splendid vistas of an admittedly minimalist natural environment.
Now, it also was meant to be a "message" film, and those can always be tricky. I'm not a big fan of them because, when moviemakers attempt one, I get the feeling they assume the watchers are too stupid to get what they're saying without clobbering us about the head with them. It's worse when it's done with a "children's" film. There are two here - taking care of the environment and not casting out those that are different - and yet they're handled in a truly cool way. Yes, the uberconservatives may get in a bit of a snit when they see the forces against Mumbles are cast to appear like mean-spirited religious zealots, however this IS a great plotpoint. Outcasts (I speak from experience here) sometimes feel just that way - beat on and thrown out simply because we're running against the popular tide. And the environmental point is handled, I truly believe, in a way non-humans would look upon it. Humans really ARE "aliens" in this world, and they aren't being necessarily "mean" in how they act toward animals. They may be just clueless to the harm they're doing.
A top-notch voice cast helps bring this off. Elijah Wood may yet be one of the most overlooked actors in Hollywood because he's able to bring off a tender, desperate Mumbles with only his voice (although the animators also gave him Wood's piercing blue eyes). We don't get to see often enough Hugh Jackman's verstility with accents, and here we are hearing him do a cross between Curly from "Oklahoma" (I strongly suggest anyone who hasn't yet see the filmed Royal Shakespeare version with him in it to do so) and Elvis without it seeming forced or artificial. There are really too many performances to list, and they're all first rate.
The tapdancing too is great. We only see a cartoonish replication of Savion Glover's moves, but he really sends off on sound as well. A carryover from his days on "Stomp."
The final verdict is an enthusiastic "buy it." Unless you don't happen to like penguins.
It sounds obvious, but I couldn't help but be struck by the artistry of the film's animation. "Happy Feet" had the appearance of a nature documentary, and I mean it in a good way. The filmmakers made a conscious effort to study penguin movement (maybe by watching "March of the Penguins?") as well as how the enviornment interacts with them. Simple backgrounds work as well, as they are able to capture the splendid vistas of an admittedly minimalist natural environment.
Now, it also was meant to be a "message" film, and those can always be tricky. I'm not a big fan of them because, when moviemakers attempt one, I get the feeling they assume the watchers are too stupid to get what they're saying without clobbering us about the head with them. It's worse when it's done with a "children's" film. There are two here - taking care of the environment and not casting out those that are different - and yet they're handled in a truly cool way. Yes, the uberconservatives may get in a bit of a snit when they see the forces against Mumbles are cast to appear like mean-spirited religious zealots, however this IS a great plotpoint. Outcasts (I speak from experience here) sometimes feel just that way - beat on and thrown out simply because we're running against the popular tide. And the environmental point is handled, I truly believe, in a way non-humans would look upon it. Humans really ARE "aliens" in this world, and they aren't being necessarily "mean" in how they act toward animals. They may be just clueless to the harm they're doing.
A top-notch voice cast helps bring this off. Elijah Wood may yet be one of the most overlooked actors in Hollywood because he's able to bring off a tender, desperate Mumbles with only his voice (although the animators also gave him Wood's piercing blue eyes). We don't get to see often enough Hugh Jackman's verstility with accents, and here we are hearing him do a cross between Curly from "Oklahoma" (I strongly suggest anyone who hasn't yet see the filmed Royal Shakespeare version with him in it to do so) and Elvis without it seeming forced or artificial. There are really too many performances to list, and they're all first rate.
The tapdancing too is great. We only see a cartoonish replication of Savion Glover's moves, but he really sends off on sound as well. A carryover from his days on "Stomp."
The final verdict is an enthusiastic "buy it." Unless you don't happen to like penguins.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Happy Baby Bounces to the Beat
My little one loves the music and is mesmerized by the sweeping scenes of the penguin colonies. He is still to young to appreciate the story line, but anything that grabs his... Read more
Published 15 days ago by ChiefCook&BottleWasher
Embarrassingly Silly
I watched the first Happy Feet and found it cute until the end when it just turned into ridiculous environmentalist preaching. Read more
Published 23 days ago by Kathleen Meyer
Great movie!
We were happy to find this movie at Amazon at a really decent price! We had just bought Happy Feet 2, and wanted to have both movies for the kids. Read more
Published 28 days ago by LaVerne G Knight
Great movie, good video quality
My 3 1/2 yo loved this movie. And I especially loved the music, and Robin Williams. Wish we could watch this on our iPad, but couldn't get it to work. Read more
Published 28 days ago by L. Larson
great movie
great entertainment for kids and adults, love the music, love the characters, good story. The special effects are well done, as well as the voices of the characters. Read more
Published 29 days ago by booksmart
happy feet
My grandaughter loved it Would recommend as a gift for children they will have hours of enjoyment watching this movie
Published 1 month ago by bb
Love this movie!
Love this movie! I use it with clients to introduce talking about being yourself, even if you feel like you are different.
Published 1 month ago by roserose
happy feet
Great kids movie. Again it was here fast and you can't beat the price. I'm in love with buying movies off of here it's agreat place to but movies
Published 1 month ago by Angie
Crap
Very disappointing movie. It was not entertaining in the least -- I feel like I wasted my money and time.
Published 2 months ago by i.m.skeleton
Boring. boring, boring......
This movie didn't entertain anyone of any age for even minutes. It is a boring embarrassment to all penguins everywhere!
Published 2 months ago by filmflea
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