History WesternAnimation / HappyFeet

The protagonist of the film, a male emperor penguin named Mumble, cannot sing like all others of his colony, but he can tap dance. (Because his father Memphis dropped him as an egg, as he admits in an anguished public confession.) Separated from his colony, Mumble meets the Adelie Amigos, who later help him on a quest to get the fish back from "[[HumansAreCthulhu aliens]]" after the elders exile him from the Emperor Penguin colony.

* TheCoverChangesTheGender: Gloria's rendition of "[[Music/{{Queen}}" Somebody to Love]]" at the graduation concert changes the background chorus line "He works hard" to "She works hard" to fit the perspective change.

* AlternativeForeignThemeSong: The Japanese version uses [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m_Q_BW5UmI4 "Hoshi wo Mezashite"]] by NEWS as the theme song. One of the singers voiced Mumble in the dub.

* RevisedEnding:
** An early cut of the film involved a subplot regarding actual extraterrestrial aliens, whose presence was made gradually more and more known throughout. The aliens were planning to siphon off the planet's resources gradually, placing the humans in the same plight as the penguins. At the end, thanks to Mumbles, their hand is stayed, and instead {{first contact}} is made. This was chopped out during the last year of production, and has yet to see the light of day in a finished form. There is proof in the form of [[http://www.woodland-mattepainting.com/matte_painting_portfolio/content/David_Woodland_mattepaint_55_large.html concept art]], and this dropped plot helps explain the outer space motif that remains in the film. The film would've been somewhat longer, by extension.
** This is further confirmed by the release of an early, undated draft of the screenplay, which includes the above-mentioned ending, as well as an even darker tone - confirming that, among other things, the film was originally and unequivocally aimed at a much narrower age-bracket, rather than the all-embracing tone of the finished film. The characters all curse like sailors, and the famine subplot is even further examined, along with the penguin society and religion, various character name changes and a much more eclectic soundtrack, featuring The Who, The Ramones, Iggy Pop and later-era Beatles, in place of what would become John Powell's orchestral soundtrack. You can find it [[http://www.imsdb.com/scripts/Happy-Feet.html here.]]

The protagonist of the film, a male emperor penguin named Mumble, cannot sing like all others of his colony, but he can tap dance. (Because his father Memphis dropped him as an egg, as he admits in an anguished public confession.) Separated from his colony, Mumble meets the Adelie Amigos, who later help him on a quest to get the fish back from "[[HumansAreCthulhu aliens]]" after the elders exile him from of the Emperor Penguin colony.

* {{Spexico}}: With Penguins no less. The Adélie group with Ramon have Spanish/Mexican accents, and the [[IncrediblyLamePun chicks]] they try to impress have Colombian accents.

* AlternativeForeignThemeSong: The Japanese version uses [[http://www.veoh.com/watch/v16459826BpePHmXd "Hoshi wo Mezashite"]] by NEWS as the theme song. One of the singers voiced Mumble in the dub.

* EverythingsBetterWithPenguins: Well, they certainly didn't make this movie because they thought everything was better with Elephant Seals.

* CriticalResearchFailure: InUniverse example in which one of the Adélie penguins believes elephant seals are vegetarians. It isn't ever established that said belief was inaccurate, though, which could potentially give less informed viewers the wrong idea.

* BadassCreed: "When all others leave..." "WE REMAIN!"

* LostInTheCrowd: When all the father penguins and their children march towards their wives who have returned from the ocean, Mumble bolts ahead of Memphis and immediately disappears in the sea of penguins. When Memphis informs Norma Jean that he has lost sight of Mumble, his son just so happens to appear right behind them.

* OhCrap:

* ChildhoodBrainDamage: Mumble's egg being dropped by his father is the main reason he's so odd among the other penguins. '''Maybe'''. Dancing may be InTheBlood, since Memphis does dance even during the march. (Not to mention that being the whole reason he drops the egg in the first place.)

* ChildhoodBrainDamage: Mumble's egg being dropped by his father is the main reason he's so odd among the other penguins. '''Maybe'''. Dancing may be InTheBlood, since Memphis does dance even during the march.

* ArtistsAreAttractive: How penguin society seems to function

* DeviousDolphin: Two orcas come across Mumble, Lovelace, and the Amigos once they reach the Forbidden Shore. While they are somewhat playful by flinging Mumble and Lovelace back and forth to each other, they are indeed very dangerous to the penguins and come close to eating them.

* DanceLine: At the end.

* ShoutoutMusic: Tons of popular songs make short cameos throughout the film.

* SlidingScaleOfAnthropomorphism: Quite far on the TalkingAnimal side.

** Just replace the word "penguin" with "normal" every time someone tells Mumble he's not being or acting like one. The entire first film portrays him like a person with autism (or any other condition).

* CerberusSyndrome: The movie starts out as a lighthearted story about an awkward penguin who dances instead of singing. However after Mumble is banished, the story gets progressively darker and more dramatic, focusing on Mumble’s quest to find the ‘aliens’. In fact, after the Boogie Wonderland sequence, there isn’t another song until right at the end of the film.

* AdultFear:
** Memphis' belief that ''he's'' responsible for Mumble's inability to sing because he accidentally dropped his egg during incubation, allowing it to briefly freeze, causing his disability (the equivalent of dropping a newborn baby on its head). And what's worse, Mumble's egg was slightly late in hatching -- and we see Memphis' guilt-ridden and heartbroken expression as he's clearly thinking he's responsible for the apparent death of his and Norma Jean's child due to his mistake.
** Worse, just before he dropped the egg, he sang, "I think I'm gonna dance now!" and it's his little jig that dislodged it and sent the egg flying. So, to him, dancing was the villain that might have caused him to be careless.

* AllTheOtherReindeer: Due to their long-standing doubts about his singing abilities, Mumble is viewed as an outsider by his peers and the leaders of the penguin society, with his parents as the sole exception.

The protagonist of the film, a male emperor penguin named Mumble, cannot sing like all others of his colony, but he can tap dance. (Because his father Memphis dropped him as an egg, as he admits in an anguished public confession.) Separated from his colony, Mumble meets the Adelie Amigos, who later help him on a quest to get the fish back from "[[HumansAreCthulhu aliens]]" after he was thrown out of the Emperor Penguin colony by the elders.

* AllTheOtherReindeer: Due to his apparent lack of a heartsong, Mumble is viewed as an outsider by his peers and the leaders of the penguin society.

* AllTheOtherReindeer: Due to his lack of a heartsong, Mumble is viewed as an outsider by his peers and the leaders of the penguin society.

* SanitySlippage: Mumble at the Florida aquarium. The Village Voice stated that it was perfectly realized envisioning penguin insanity.

* AllTheOtherReindeer: How Mumble is treated by not only his peers but by the leaders of the penguin society.