Bongy feet

Posted by David Roberts at 2:54 PM on 14 Jan 2008

Read more about: movies | parenting

Parenthood confers many blessings, but the requirement that one watch an endless succession of kiddie movies is not among them.

This weekend, I found myself sitting on the bean bag with the boys, watching Happy Feet. You'll recall that the movie caused a bit of buzz in green (and anti-green) circles when it came out, thanks to its environmental message.

Having seen it, what seems more striking than the message is the spectacular, bongtastic weirdness of it.

***WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD***

OK, here's the deal: among emperor penguins in Antarctica, the mark of tribal membership is having a "heart song," meaning, yes, being able to sing a bad cover of a pop song. Then Mumble is born, and he can't sing. He can only ... tap dance. This causes the other penguins to mock and shun him.

I'm sorry, what?

I realize the outcast that redeems himself is the basis of every kids movie, but are they just throwing tropes in a blender now? "Hey, penguins are popular -- let's get penguins! And they'll sing! [sound of bong bubbling] Except the one that dances!"

What is it about penguins makes them seem like they would sing or dance, even when anthropomorphized? Random.

Meanwhile, there's a fish shortage, which gets blamed by the village elder on Mumble. (Singing bad pop songs pleases the ancient penguin gods, while tap dancing does not. [bubble bubble]) So Mumble wanders off in pursuit of the "aliens." He finds a fishing boat, chases it, and ends up in a zoo, where he impresses people with his tap dancing. Scientists tag him and send him back to his colony, where he convinces everyone that when the researchers show up, they all need to tap dance. So they do -- a big choreographed tap dance. This causes the colony to get noticed, at which point something or other happens in involving the UN and then humanity decides to stop fishing altogether in Antarctica. And the fish come back, apparently within weeks.

Again: humans are, at long last, prompted to conserve resources by tap-dancing penguins. Somebody should tell the polar bears! Maybe they could put together their own little minstrel show.

Anyway, I don't have a point. I've just rarely seen a movie that is such a mishmash of things that make no sense. Yet my kids loved it! Which I guess goes to show that the sense thing is overrated.

For story: Bongy feet
9 Comments | Post a Comment

What about Cats?

That was the longest running show on Broadway for years, and so far as I could tell, had no plot at all. What I wouldn't have given for tap dancing cats that brought fish back. Then at least it would have had some sort of a narrative arc.

(And even old people went to see that.)

But yeah - I agree with you about HF. I have taken to watching YouTube muppet videos on the computer with my daughter, which are vastly superior to anything we can rent. (search for "muppets under my skin" or "swedish chef hotsy totsy" for pure brilliance.)

by Sean Casten at 3:04 PM on 14 Jan 2008

Hey, at least it's not Cars...

...in which everybody is a car. Then there's the Happy Feet knock-off, Surf's up, where penguins not only surf, they have surfing contests! But I think maybe you have to grow up in a beach town to appreciate that one.

I still say the most revolutionary movie of the last 10 years was A Bug's Life, but anyway...

by Jon Rynn at 3:07 PM on 14 Jan 2008

If the anti-greens hated this...

...then just wait until they get aload of Pixar's upcomin' WALL-E movie. An anticipated blockbuster hit that describes a future where the planet has become so trashed that everyone has left and the only living things left are cleaner robots and cockroaches.

by Tasermons Partner at 3:45 PM on 14 Jan 2008

The point to Cats....

was the the ladies could listen to the music while the gents could watch the extras on stage "groom." Reverse that for people with alternative genders.

The point to "Happy Feet" was that penguins were cute and kids movies have to have a sound track. Now where'd those fish sticks go anyway?

Put the Carbon Back

by Pangolin at 3:49 AM on 15 Jan 2008

Kids' Movies

If you think about Ratatouille, how gross is a rat in the kitchen! I've seen lots of kid movies lately including Alvin and the Chipmunks. Singing, dancing chipmunks invade a house and have all these songs and routines ready to perform for this incredulous dude. Maybe he was smoking.

Anyway, kids love them, but since I've never experienced any alternative "hits", I think I understand the sensation since watching Happy Feet, Surf's Up, etc.

by Baby Boomer at 7:06 AM on 15 Jan 2008

It's kind of fun, though...

And I don't agree that it makes no sense. Perhaps the finished product seems to go off on a tangent suddenly, but if you look the movie up, it makes sense what they were trying to do: make a film about someone being outcast because they're different (bla bla, like so many of these seemingly identical films). Then, they decided to throw in an environmental message when they were struggling for a way to finish it. According to Wiki:

According to the director, George Miller, the environmental message was not a major part of the original script, but "In Australia, we're very, very aware of the ozone hole," he said, "and Antarctica is literally the canary in the coal mine for this stuff. So it sort of had to go in that direction." This influence led to a film with a more environmental tone. Miller said, "You can't tell a story about Antarctica and the penguins without giving that dimension."

It's a pity that environmental messages are now merely considered to be a way of selling a product, in the same way as members of the family Spheniscidae are considered to be cute money-spinners. But, sigh, I guess that's the only way forward.

Btw, am I the only person to be annoyed by the fact no one can use the word "literally" properly? Australia isn't "literally the canary in the coal mine", it's literally a large country in the Southern Hemisphere. Metaphorically, on the other hand...

If I share initials with 'Global Warming', is that a sign?

by tico89 at 2:11 PM on 15 Jan 2008

"literally"!

How right thou art, Tico. The misuse of "literal" and "literally" is one of the most pointless and inexcusable now bouncing around the language.

As for the Australians, DR, if you still have the DVD in hand, and if it is similar to the one that I had rented last summer, be sure to watch the cut segment, with the late Steve Irwin doing the voice of an albatross.

As for the movie itself, I agree that it is pretty incoherent and uninteresting, story-wise. But anything that gets young children curious about animals, and shows a few different species more or less realistically, with respect to appearance, is OK on balance.

For penguins cast against type, see "Madagascar" (which we did not like all that much), and the Tim Parks/Aardworks masterpiece "The Wrong Trousers," starring Wallace and Gromit.

Chickens deserve our true friendship! So do fish! So do other sentient beings! Let us learn to be kind.

by caniscandida at 4:23 PM on 15 Jan 2008

Note to self: re-read

I know it doesn't say Australia is literally the canary in the coal mine, it says Antarctica is. I regrettably confused the two place-names.

Just thought I should acknowledge this if I'm going around criticising other people's writing...

If I share initials with 'Global Warming', is that a sign?

by tico89 at 4:58 PM on 15 Jan 2008

LA, and the music of "Happy Feet"

I have this theory, that the LA lifestyle of Hollywood producers/writers/movie-makers/actors has resulted in the mushification of many movies.

The music of the Emperor penguins in "Happy Feet" seems to have been selected to appeal to white suburban youth, by suggesting to them that it is the music of cool other-than-white urban folks. And the music of the hispanophone romantic Adelies is if anything even cooler, a walk on the wild side.

Cf. Barack Obama in Nevada, shouting "!Si'!, !se puede!"

Similarly, though it was intended for a different audience, the movie "The Year of the Dog," which I was expecting to enjoy, is an awful dud. Does this sort of bizarre comedy of bubbleheads pass for drama, growth, sensitivity and enlightenment in Southern California?

Chickens deserve our true friendship! So do fish! So do other sentient beings! Let us learn to be kind.

by caniscandida at 1:41 AM on 16 Jan 2008

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