Sunday, November 27, 2011

Happy Feet Review











Happy Feet


Release Date: 26th December 2006 - Australia


Production Companies
Warner Bros. Pictures (presents)
Village Roadshow Pictures (in association with)
Kennedy Miller Productions
Animal Logic (in association with)
Kingdom Feature Productions

Distribution
Roadshow Films


Genre: Animation/Family

Rating: G

Runtime: 106 minutes


Budget: $100,000,000

Box Office Gross: $384,336,108 (Worldwide)


Plot Summary
Every Emperor penguin is
born to sing a heart song
that will attract a soul mate.
All except Mumble, who
cannot sing but, it so
happens, that he can
dance, tap dance.
Eventually, such un-
penguin-like behaviour
causes Mumble to get
kicked out of his home
and into the big cold world.
Far from home for the first
time, Mumble meets a
group of decidedly un-
Emperor-like penguins -
the Adele Amigos. The
Adelies, led by Ramon,
are immediately taken
with Mumble's cool dance
moves and invite him to
join the party. In the land
of Adelie, Mumble seeks
the advice of Lovelace the
Guru, a crazy-feathered
rockhopper penguin who
will answer all of life's
questions for the price of
a pebble. Together with
Adelie Amigos and
Lovelace, Mumble sets
out on a journey of epic
proportions, proving that
staying true to oneself is
the only way to change
the world.


Voice Cast
Elijah Wood - Mumble
Brittany Murphy - Gloria
Hugh Jackman - Memphis
Nicole Kidman - Norma Jean
Hugo Weaving - Noah the Elder
Robin Williams - Ramon/Lovelace
Carlos Alazraqui - Nestor
Lombardo Boyar - Raul
Jeffrey Garcia - Rinaldo
Johnny A. Sanchez - Lombardo
Miriam Margoyles - Mrs. Astrakhan
Fat Joe - Seymour
Elizabeth Daily - Baby Mumble
Alyssa Safer - Baby Gloria
Anthony LaPagia - Boss Skua
Magda Szubanski - Miss Viola
Danny Mann - Dino/Zoo Penguin
Mark Klastorin - Vinnie
Michael Cornacchia - Frankie
Steve Irwin - Trev
Nick McKay - Nev
Tiriel Mora - Kev
Richard Carter - Barry
Dee Bradley Baker - Maurice
Roger Rose - Leopard Seal

Crew
Writer/Producer/Director - George Miller
Writers/Co-Producers/Co-Directors -
Warren Coleman and Judy Morris
Writer - John Collee
Associate Producer/First Assistant Director:
Motion Capture - Philip Hearnshaw
Associate Producers - Hael Kobayashi,
Michael Twigg and Matthew Ferro
Executive Producers - Bruce Berman,
Graham Burke, Dana Goldberg and Ed Jones
Line Producer - Martin Wood
Producers - Bill Miller and Doug Mitchell
Production Designer - Mark Sexton
Supervising Art Director/Visual Effects
Supervisor - David Nelson
Art Director - Simon Whiteley
Art Director: Additional Film Unit -
Colin Gibson
Additional Art Direction - David Woodland
Additional Art Direction & VFX Supervision/
Producer: Animal Logic - Zareh Nalbandian
Set Decorator/Surfacing & Digital Matte
Supervisor - Jean-Pascal LeBlanc
Layout & Camera Director - David Peers
Director of Photography: Additional Film Unit -
Andrew Lesnie
Digital Production Manager - Amber Naismith
First Assistant Director - P.J. Voeten
First Assistant Director: Additional Film Unit -
Colin Fletcher
Choreographer & Principal Performer - Kelley Abbey
Dancer/Choreographer: Mumble/Motion Capture
Principal - Savion Glover
Animation Director - Daniel Jeannette
Digital Crowd Director - Greg Van Borssum
Lighting/Additional Effects Supervisor - Ben Gunsberger 
Character Supervisor - Aidan Sarsfield
Supervising Character Technical Director -
Damien Gray
Motion Capture Supervisors - Greg Allen
and Francois Laroche
Lead Character Artist/Animation Supervisor -
Don Ezard
Lead Environmental Artist - Nick Pill
Senior Animation Supervisor: Rhythm & Hues -
Lyndon Barrois
Animation Supervisors: Rhythm & Hues -
Michael Holzl and Matt Logue
Visual Effects Supervisor - Morgane Furio
Visual Effects Supervisor: Rhythm & Hues -
Todd Shifflett
Visual Effects Supervisor: Giant Killer Robots -
Peter Oberdorfer
Digital/Additional Effects Supervisor - Brett Feeney
Digital Supervisors: Rhythm & Hues - Markus Kurtz
and Mike O'Neal
Associate Digital Supervisor - Olivier Ozoux
Head of R&D/Additional Effects Supervisor -
Chris Bone
Composting Supervisor: Rhythm & Hues - Sean McPherson
Editors - Christian Gazal and
Margaret Sixel
Editor: World Debate - Matt Villa
Sound Designer/Supervising Sound Editor/
Re-Recording Mixer - Wayne Pashley
Re-Recording Mixers - Phil Heywood
and Greg Fitzgerald
Additional Re-Recording Mixers - Phil Judd,
Peter Purcell, Robert Sullivan and
Martin Oswin
Foley Artist - John Simpson
Music - John Powell
Music Supervisor - Christine Woodruff
Score Recordist and Mixer - Shawn Murphy


Awards

2007 Academy Awards
Best Animated Feature - George Miller (Won)


Review
HAPPY FEET was a great family movie. It had excellent cover songs and was charming, funny and sad for everyone, including penguin lovers. The film had a terrific storyline that was a bit like Footloose but sent an environmental message about overfishing and the damage it is causing. HAPPY FEET's factors that I praise include the motion-capture animation that brought the tap-dancing penguins to life, the direction by George Miller and the voice cast of Elijah Wood, Hugh Jackman, the late Brittany Murphy and Robin Williams. It changed the reputation of animation produced in Australia. It's the only movie to feature the voice of Steve Irwin (you have known him as the Aussie icon "The Crocodile Hunter"), who died before the film was released.

For those of you who have enjoyed and seen HAPPY FEET, you'll find that its sequel, Happy Feet Twois not as good as the original. My advice is simple: go back and rewatch the first movie. To those who want to see HAPPY FEET, it'll convince you that penguins can dance.

Star rating: (4/5) Good Movie

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