not so happy feet

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Okay, I can’t let it go.

This movie DISTURBED ME.

Here’s the review I posted on IMDB. If anyone sees this movie and comes away with a different view, please, PLEASE, let me know.

This movie had potential.

Unfortunately it tuned into a story with too many stereotypes, clichés, and messages to count. It lost focus.

I’m not sure what I expected from the previews other than a sweet story and a few laugh out loud moments.(I got to laugh out loud, but for the wrong reasons.)

The setting was Antartica, right? So why was the Penguin leader Scottish? And why did we have the country bumpkin Penguin and the LATINO Penguins? And when I say it was full of stereotypes–trust me. You don’t want to see the leader slap the Latino Penguin and tell him
to go back to his side of the world where he came from.

Not to mention Mumble (Happy Feet) being told not to do his dance thing because he’s different. “It’s just not penguin.” Different is bad. Different isn’t welcome here. But Mumble says he can’t change and asks them to accept him the way he was born. So the dad blames himself for
making him different. And I never felt that was truly resolved to a point a kid would understand.

This movie is anti-any-religion but Christian as well. The tall Penguins worship their god “The Great Wind” and the Latino Penguins have Lovelace. Both are proved to be “false gods” when Mumbles returns to his home. And what is the first structure then Penguins see when they get to the human side of the world? A Church. Yup.

And if anyone can sit through the traumatic scene of watching Lovelace tossed about between two Orcas by the six-pack plastic rings around his neck without wincing, then I’m amazed. Every adult knows that penguin would’ve been dead. Of course, he lived…but that was honestly the
worst thing I’ve watched in animation before.

And lets not forget how dark and disturbing this movie is. There were several kids under the age of 6 who were terrified in some spots. And bored in others. It’s wildly inappropriate for anyone under the age of 7.

One last comment before I get off my soap box. This movie had a good message to deliver, if it would’ve just delivered it. It could’ve been a great “anti-polution” movie and global warming educator. Instead, it was depressing (yes, depressing)and preachy. It was a lesson in how
not to do an animated film. If you want to show your children a good anti-pollution story–see Ferngully.

4 thoughts on “not so happy feet”

  2. I loved this movie. as a woman who is part latina and part african american i wasn’t the least offended by the latin penguins. i loved the diversity, so much better than the typical lilly white stuff i usually have to suffer through. my little one understood the meaning and the music was awesome. oh well. to each her own.

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  3. Hi Anon. Thanks for dropping in. It’s totally subjective. I know there are people who will love this movie. But I’m definitely not one of them. I have never left an animated movie feeling so shocked and depressed.My friend and I took our kids for her son’s 7th birthday. She’s first generation Mexican-American. We live in a fairly close-minded and not real tolerant southern community so we’re very sensitive to stereo-types because we try very hard to teach our kids to accept and be open to others. And even though the movie kinda resolved those issues, I really didn’t feel like they were resolved in a way a kid would get it.I did ask my son what he got out of the movie. He said, “Not to lie and to find true love you have to sing.” Hm. Okay. sounds good to me! LOL

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