History YMMV / HappyFeet

%% * SoOkayItsAverage: Some consider that while the film might have been provocative for its time, it hasn't held up over time as well compared to other animated films which isn't helped by the fact that it was released at around the same time as ''WesternAnimation/SurfsUp'' and ''Film/MarchOfThePenguins''. There are also some who think that it is decidedly one of the weaker films to have won the academy award for best animated feature.

* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodCharacter: Gloria is perfectly willing to defy her own society to join Mumble and his friends on their journey. Rather than allow this to happen so that she can display more of her character, Mumble stupidly decides to BreakHerHeartToSaveHer, causing her to leave and maintaining her position as little more than a SatelliteLoveInterest.

* WTHCastingAgency:
** Guess who's doing those impressions of Creator/MarilynMonroe and Music/ElvisPresley! [[Film/MoulinRouge Satine]] and [[Film/XMenFilmSeries Wolverine]], that's who!

* SugarWiki/BetterThanItSounds: Dancing penguins. ''Tap'' dancing penguins.

* SoOkayItsAverage: Some consider that while the film might have been provocative for its time, it hasn't held up over time as well compared to other animated films which isn't helped by the fact that it was released at around the same time as ''WesternAnimation/SurfsUp'' and ''Film/MarchOfThePenguins''. There are also some who think that it is decidedly one of the weaker films to have won the academy award for best animated feature.

* NightmareFuel: The zoo scene, as well as the two attacks from the seal and whale listed previously.

** The choice of ''director'' is the most baffling thing about the entire film. A movie about dancing CG penguins... directed by the same guy who directed ''Film/MadMax''.
*** Not as shocking when you consider that this and The Road Warrior are basically the same film - except that one involves penguins and is generally less bloody, and the car chases are substituted with musical sequences.
*** Not to mention the same director produced ''Film/{{Babe}}'' and directed ''Film/BabePigInTheCity''.

* LadyMondegreen: Many of the film's fans were under the impression that the main character is named Mambo rather than Mumble. Others apparently only heard it right some of the time, leading to the common fan misconception that his birth name is Mambo, with Mumble being an InSeriesNickname derived from his inability to sing. In fact, he's named Mumble at birth due to the mumbling noises he's making within his egg.

* SnarkBait: Joel Hodgson has said that ''Happy Feet'' is the one movie he would riff on ''Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000'' if money and licensing was no object.

* {{Fanon}}: A common theory holds that Stevie Wonder's "I Wish" is actually Mumble's heartsong. He gleefully dances to it as a chick, it comes up throughout the film, and the beat he taps out for Gloria initially seems to match it.

%%* SomeAnvilsNeedToBeDropped: The last wild places in the world are worth protecting and preserving.

* HypeBacklash: Coming out in between ''Film/MarchOfThePenguins'' and ''WesternAnimation/SurfsUp'' didn't do this movie's reputation many favors (of course, [[CriticalDissonance box office numbers]] don't lie), not did its Academy Award win for "Best Animated Feature" at the 2007 Oscars (though to be fair, the other two choices were ''WesternAnimation/{{Cars}}'' and ''WesternAnimation/MonsterHouse'', making it more [[DamnedByFaintPraise an award for "least disliked"]]).

* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: Perhaps the orcas were just trying to get the plastic holder off of Lovelace's neck the whole time, then chased them onto shore and left? Would explain why they focus on him in particular when the others are perfectly fine meals in and of themselves.

* BetterThanItSounds: Dancing penguins. ''Tap'' dancing penguins.

* BetterThanItSoundsFilm: Dancing penguins. ''Tap'' dancing penguins.

** To be fair, the part about Mumble's eyes seems intentional. He's supposed to look different from normal penguins, which includes having pretty blue eyes.

* SomeAnvilsNeedToBeDropped: The last wild places in the world are worth protecting and preserving.

* AwesomeMusic: Courtesy of [[AwesomeMusic/JohnPowell John Powell]].
* BetterThanItSoundsFilm: Dancing penguins. ''Tap'' dancing penguins.
* CrowningMusicOfAwesome:

* VisualEffectsOfAwesome: The animation for the water and ice in both movies look amazing. Also, all the dancing penguins.

* CrowningMomentOfAwesome: Mumble encouraging the entire penguin population to dance for the "aliens".

* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: Perhaps the whales were just trying to get the plastic holder off of Lovelace's neck the whole time, then chased them onto shore and left? Would explain why they focus on him in particular when the others are perfectly fine meals in and of themselves.