@johnnyfog: Memphis wasn't our main character because he can't dance like Savion Glover.
Really, Savion Glover did the dance scenes (through motion capture).
More Buscemi at http://forum.reelsociety.com/Happy Feet was mediocre at best. I really don't think it deserved the praise it got. I went into the movie not really knowing what to expect other than dancing penguins. The movie started off fairly well, and I liked how lifelike the penguins looked. The plot seemed like typical "learn to be yourself" fare usually found in a family movie, but then it can't decide what kind of movie it wants to be and it decided to be all anvilicious in the last act. I wanted to be entertained rather than be lectured Captain Planet style. Talk about mood whiplash.
The sequel looks like more of the same, but it does look better than the first one. Maybe they've taken the feedback from the critics and have made it into what the first film should have been like. I think I'll wait until the reviews come in. I felt duped watching the first one. I don't think I'd want to be duped again.
The problem with Happy Feet is it went "full retard". You never go FULL retard.
Was okay. Not amazing. Too episodic, and I didn't care about a lot of the sections. Too much Ramon (pretty sure off the top of my head that was the hispanic Robin Williams penguin)
I pretty much didn't like anything that didn't take place around the main character's home.
edited 6th Nov '11 12:28:21 AM by TParadox
Fresh-eyed movie blogI know you should Never Trust a Trailer, but the trailer scared me away from this movie. There was some weird penguin trend going on in Hollywood at the time as I recall.
My tropes launched: https://surenity2.blogspot.com/2021/02/my-tropes-on-tv-tropes.htmlI remember seeing the whole craze of Penguins that arised in Hollywood when this came out. Also, I hate Happy feet for these reasons.
1. The story was bland and preditacble(not to mention the fact that it a copy of an animated feautre nobody seems to be fimilar with.
2. They ruined a queen song. You shouldn't even mess with the best bands.
3. Motion capture...nothing else is needed to ben said.
It was like watching a Studio Ghibli film in 3D with penguins; starts off with a likable lead, introduces some interesting side characters, a dash of nice visuals, then it does a 180 and starts punching its audience in the face with themes of: God, Politics, Environment, Pollution. Then continues going through these until the happy returns and the credits role.
It's one of those films you have to watch three times to appreciate the story of the lead character. You like it, but have a tough time swallowing the rest of it, but realize that it is apart of the story... et cetera
I'm not crazy about it. I liked the animation and the music, but my big problem with it is that it becomes a completely different movie about halfway through. "That cute 'be yourself' movie about penguins you were watching? It's now a COMPLETELY SURREAL PSYCHO CEREBRAL MIND SCREW WHAT." The second half just feels effed up for the weird psychological effect it has on the hero, and the ending is just... Huh? Yes, let's have the dancing penguins save the South Pole; it makes perfect sense.
...But I do approve of the way the DVD included "I Love To Singa" as an extra.
"Proto-Indo-European makes the damnedest words related. It's great. It's the Kevin Bacon of etymology." ~MadrugadaThe fact that Robin Williams played multiple characters is why I said "the Hispanic Robin Williams penguin".
Who was the only character in the teaser that I saw, intentionally leading me to believe that he played the main character, until I actually saw the film.
Fresh-eyed movie blogThe first half was all right, but then they ruined it with the Green Aesop tangent. It wasn't as good as good as the classic penguin films March Of The Penguins or The Pebble And The Penguin.
Support Gravitaz on Kickstarter!@ Blader: The only things this movie has in common with The Pebble and the Penguin are penguins and a romantic subplot. There wasn't a search for jewelry in Happy Feet and The Pebble and the Penguin didn't have dancing (I'd know, I saw both in the theatre).
And you listed motion capture as a reason why it's bad? Please, stop worshiping Cartoon Brew and everything they say. Next, you're going to say that The Lion King sucks because it used a digital source to film it.
edited 8th Nov '11 10:45:23 AM by Buscemi
More Buscemi at http://forum.reelsociety.com/Was your reply to me NONAMEGIVEN?
If so the comment by Captain Bones works for what I mean. It's almost as if Happy Feet was a in-film-sequel on itself. The story didn't flow with the ending theme, however it did managed to keep Mumbles personality and develop his character at a good pace.
It's like stepping out of a shower and getting hit with cold a draft.
@Buscemi. One of the things that Pebble and Happy feet have in common is that the two of the main characters of the films are similar.
And I didnt finish a reason why I listed motion capture(My PC is having techinal issues). The reason why I mentioned motion capture on the reason why I hate this movie is because my family thinks the computers did all the work for this movie. They dont even bother looking at the credits for nearly every animated feature. And besides, if my memory is correct. Wasn't the motion capture just used for the dancing?
Quite frankly I'm tired of people whining about this movie everywhere I go, so that someone likes it is amazing.
Personally, I like the episodic nature of the plot. It is something you don't see a lot in animated cinematic pictures.
edited 9th Nov '11 7:35:39 AM by Gannetwhale
A single phrase renders Christianity a delusional cult

Emperor Penguins aren't very cuddly, and their depiction was photo-realistic.
So we entered into a quasi-Uncanny valley where the human tics didn't mesh with the creepy-as-fuck penguin faces. But that's just a subjective criticism.
I'm a skeptical squirrel