Happy Feet

A genial fable about a tap-dancing emperor penguin, Happy Feet is well crafted and surprisingly nimble—surprisingly, at least until a scan of the credits reveals the name of George Miller, the Australian writer-director behind the wonderful Babe movies.

Young Mumble (voiced by Wood, with tap dancing from Savion Glover) looks poised to become the penguin Fred Astaire, but unfortunately in his Antarctic community, singing is the only way to impress the ladies and Mumble’s voice is hopeless. Rejected even by his guilt-ridden father (Jackman), Mumble sets off on a quest, along with a group of misfits led by the voluble Ramón (Williams), to find the “aliens” responsible for a fish shortage.

The movie’s eco-friendly message is pointed without getting preachy, but as with any good musical, Happy Feet is all about the flow. The pop soundtrack references classics performed by the eclectic likes of Prince, the Beach Boys and Frank Sinatra, and Miller’s team of animators provides a bounty of visual detail, from gorgeously sculpted caves of blue ice to the finely detailed penguin feathers.