Happy Feet, HAPPY movie.

Happy Feet is one of the happiest movies of the year.  This little gem will carry on into the holiday season without trouble and will be a huge hit.  The animation is out of this world, and uses new technology to be practically photo-realistic.  And the movie is wall to wall music.

Happy feet is the story of Mumble a penguin who isn't able to learn to sing his lovesong, and thus he is a misfit in Emperor Penguin society.  He is able to tap dance like no other, and is shunned by the other penguins because dancing is not penguin-like behavior.   As we know from classic story telling, he will have to prove himself on a quest to be accepted by his penguin society.

If this all sounds a bit like Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, it is.  The difference, however, is in the twist on the story that speaks to the  discussion of the old school religious ways vs more youthful and liberal ways, including hints of the same sex marriage issue going on in society today. (Not to worry America, Mumble is straight and likes a girl.)  Mumble is shamed and run out of town by the essentially fanatical religious penguins who make up the old guard and rely on blind faith to lead them out of the current crisis that the penguins are having with their food supply.  When they see Mumble's differences, they blame the lack of fish on Mumble's dancing skills and chase him off.

Gloria, the girl penguin who loves Mumble has to make a choice to follow him or not, to accept his dancing ways/alternate lifestyle or not.  If she goes with him, they will not be able to have a child, because they will not be able to create a viable egg.  She says she will go with Mumble because she loves him and will have him even if they can't have an egg.  Mumble is forced to chase her away for her own safety and she returns to the rest of the penguins.

Mumble leaves his family behind to go on a quest to solve the food supply problem and to prove that he belongs in penguin society.  He is joined by a group of minority penguins who understand and accept his talents.  He is also joined by a fallen preacher/guru, who turns out to be a fraud.  Sound familiar?  While this story was obviously written ages before the voices were recorded or the animation created, its timing with the Ted Haggard scandal is almost scary.

Happy Feet is a fun movie, and will do well.  I am interested to see if the religious right picks up on the barely hidden meaning in the movie, and if they decide to protest what is really one of the cutest movies of the year.