Product Details

• Actors: S. Scott Bullock, Martin Short, Annie Golden, Louise Vallance Shani Wallis
• Directors: Gary Goldman Don Bluth
• Format: Animated, Closed-captioned, Color, Full Screen, NTSC
• Rated: G (General Audience)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: MGM (Video & DVD)
• VHS Release Date: March 2, 1999
• Run Time: 74 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (48 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6303499465
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #43,878 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

As a brief promo by a Sea World Animal Ambassador tells us before the movie begins, male penguins really do present pebbles to the females during a courtship that will result in a lifetime match. This post-Thumbelina Don Bluth/Barry Manilow effort gives us Hubie, a nerdy penguin whose love for the beautiful Marina, remarkably, is returned. Alas, before he can present her with a fine stone, his evil--and strangely buff--rival throws him into the swirling sea. Epic adventures and a comical sidekick result. Leopard seals and killer whales threaten, but kids will be entertained rather than frightened by this harmless, if less-than-brilliant movie. --Kimberly Heinrichs

Product Description

From the majestic landscapes of a frozen land comes a beloved animated adventure to warm everyone'sheart. Featuring the incomparable songs of Barry Manilow and Bruce Sussman, and the voice talents of Martin Short, James Belushi, Tim Curry and Annie Golden, this animated tale from the creator of The Secret of NIMH is a magical musical treat for all. Your kids will love it...and you will too (Elayne Blythe, Film Advisory Board, Inc.). The Full Moon Mating Ceremony, a real-life penguintradition, requires that bachelor birds present pebbles to their sweethearts. And in this film, a shy bird named Hubie has the perfect stone for his love, Marina. But there's considerable competitionfor Marina's affections, and in an exciting race against time, sea, storm and a host of other obstacles, Hubie learns that it's not the perfect pebblebut rather the perfect penguinthat always gets the girl.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Goodness Glaciers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!, October 23, 2005

By 

Lanita Wright "Musette" (Crown Point, IN, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Pebble and the Penguin (DVD)

I don't know why everybody is saying how bad this film is. When I watched this as a kid (and I still do, apparently!), I fell in love with this movie as well as all of the other Don Bluth films of the 90s (Thumbelina, Rock-A-Doodle, A Troll in Central Park) that weren't smash hits at the box office like his first films. This story is funny, romantic, musically fun, and a whole lot more.

This story is true on one account, in Antartica, the male penguins would go searching for pebbles to give to the female penguins they love during the mating season. If she accepts it, they mate for life. This is said by the narrator (Shani Wallis, Oliver!) at the beginning of the film. Then, it begins to go into song with "Now and Forever", introducing the main characters, Hubie and Marina. Hubie (Martin Short, Treasure Planet, We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story, The Prince of Egypt, Jungle 2 Jungle) is a shy, sort-of-clumsy, hopeless romantic penguin, who is love with a beautiful girl penguin named Marina (Annie Golden). He dreams of talking with her and asking her to be his mate, but as I said earlier, he's really shy and tends to doubt himself too much. Unbeknownest to the both of them, another penguin loves Marina, a strong, provincial, not-to-mention-evil named Drake (Tim Curry, Ferngully: The Last Rainforest, Home Alone 2: Lost in New York, Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas) and will stop at nothing to have her as his mate. The next day, Hubie hopelessly tries to find a pebble before the Full-Moon Mating Ceremony (that's where the penguins present their pebbles to their mates.), but ends up leaving empty-handed at the end of the day. That night, he wishes for a special pebble to present for Marina, and amazingly, his wish comes true! An aquamarine pebble comes flying out of the sky and onto earth. Hubie is very happy when he finds this, and instantly tries to find Marina to present it to her. But admist his running, Drake comes and starts bullying Hubie to give him that pebble. When Hubie refuses, Drake pushes him off a cliff, and into the waters, where a lepord seal is waiting! Hubie swims for his life, and before he knew it, he is thousand of miles away from Antartica, and on a ship, called the Misery, heading to America to be put in a zoo. Hubie is petrified at this, especially after looking inside the pebble and seeing that Drake wants Marina to be his mate. He is determined to get out of there, but not without the help of a strong, robust, and dreams-of-flying penguin named Rocko (Jim Belushi, Something About Jim, Babes in Toyland {1998 version}). Will Hubie make it back to Antartica in time for the ceremony? Who will be Marina's mate? And what about Rocko? Will his dream of flying come true?

This film is fun to watch over and over again, and that music! Wow! Barry Manilow did such a wonderful job writing the music and singing the end title song with Sheena Easton. Even Jim Belushi can sing in this film! Amazing performance with Martin Short in "Looks Like I Got Me A Friend".

This film has a lot of morals, two of them being extremely important. One of them is if you really put your heart and soul into something you truly love to do, you can do anything. And, if you're offering someone a gift of affection, it's not the gift, but the person offering it that counts. In other words, that person likes/loves you for being you. So, go on! Don't be afraid! Buy this film today! You'll be glad you did!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars This is one of the best animated films that I've ever seen., August 18, 2001

By 

DMS Weston (London + Antigua) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Pebble & Penguin: Clam (VHS) (VHS Tape)

I began to watch this film without expecting much. Admittedly, it does not feature the best animation, but that is not the most important feature in an animated film. It's not the 'Lion King' or 'Dinasaur', but I don't think that it was meant to be. The story is about a love triangle between a good-guy penguin named Hubie, his sweetheart Marina and the egotistical and pompous Drake - this penguin is willing to stoop or bully his way to any level to marry Marina, who is not very interested in him. Hubie must beat the clock to find the most precious pebble and make it back in time, braving all kinds of weather and challenging situations in order to wed Marina. This love-triangle theme of the film was not too 'grown-up', was handled well, and is suitable for children of all ages.

The film is both sad (without being too over-the-top) and funny. The dialogue between the characters is both original and hilarious, and the film in general is very wacky, as were some of the songs. Drake's over-the-top rendition of "Don't make me laugh" had me splitting my sides. James Belushi's characterization of Rocko was perfectly fitted to his natural humour and temperament, and Tim Curry did a great job of Drake. This film is the perfect example of not expecting much from a film, but getting everything. If you like a lot of fun, you will probably love this film.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Superb!, August 18, 2003

By 

TerryT (OK, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Pebble and the Penguin (DVD)

This, along with "Thumbelina," "All Dogs go to Heaven," and "Rock a Doodle," are among the best Don Bluth films ever made. Why are they so disliked?! In my family, we have watched these movies repeatedly for years and laughed, cried, etc. They are so much fun! The music in this movie is WONDERFUL and the voice acting, particularly Martin Short's Hubie, is great. A cute movie and a cute story.

Other notes: Penguins have eyelashes, deal with it. Drake is an abnormally muscular and busty Adele penguin. Marina's flower is magic. Or plastic.