Plot: What’s it about?
It’s taken me a little while to accept, but I now fully support the Academy for making “Best Animated Film” a bona fide Oscar category. Yes, I’m sure that’s the endorsement that they were all waiting for, right? In recent years, animated films have become big budget and, well, a lot more interesting than animated films of the past. I’m not knocking movies like “The Little Mermaid” or “Lady and the Tramp” but let’s face it, the computer animated movies like the ones started by Pixar are the wave of the future. They have amazing scripts, top name talent and are clever enough that they’re great for children and adults alike. Not many movies can claim that and “Happy Feet” is the latest in the realm of well-made animated movies (and the recipient of this year’s Oscar for Best Animated Film). I will say that if you’ve seen “March of the Penguins”, the documentary narrated by Morgan Freeman, you might be a little more at home with what’s really going on here. In essence, “Happy Feet” is like a cartoonized, entertaining version of what the documentary was telling us.
“Happy Feet” is actually very accurate (if you factor out all of the singing and talking by the animals, but I think that’s a given) when it comes to the life of the penguins. The transfer of the egg, the female penguins going off to catch fish and so on. We meet all of the main players as Memphis (voiced by Hugh Jackman) and Norma Jean (voiced by Nicole Kidman) have a son, Mumble (later voiced by Elijah Wood). Mumble is the black sheep of the penguins who has the ability to tap dance but not the ability to sing the heartsong that the rest of the group can. He ventures off only to find solace with a more lively group of penguins led by Ramon (voiced by Robin Williams) and it also trying to get to the bottom of the famine that’s plaguing the area. Naturally this journey teaches Mumble a lot more than any heartsong could teach him and the universal theme of accepting others for who they are is the undercurrent here. Truly, the movie has it all: music, big stars, a great plot and of course – villains.
Video: How does it look?
“Happy Feet” is shown in a perfect, and I mean perfect, 2.40:1 MPEG/VC-1 HD transfer. As anyone would expect, these computer animation titles look outstanding in a HD format and I even flipped the disc over to the standard DVD side and it looks great as well. A year ago, before I really knew what HD DVD or Blu-ray would be capable of, I’d have given the standard DVD a perfect score and it’s a no-brainer that I’m giving this a perfect score. Some movies are just made for an amazing video presentation and this is certainly one of them. Colors are rich and vibrant and we can see every detail on the screen that seems so lifelike it could almost be touched. Truly, this is a disc that you’d show to someone that says “How good does HD DVD look?”. Again, perfect.
Audio: How does it sound?
Just as amazing as how the movie looks is how it sounds. The movie contains a very robust Dolby TrueHD soundtrack that lights up the room. Quite simply, there is nothing wrong with the way this sounds. Plenty of songs abound throughout the film (opening up with a Prince song, to boot) and they all sound amazing. The depth can be felt in some of the songs as well as some of the action scenes. Surrounds are quite active most all the way through and dialogue is, of course, very clean and natural-sounding. Proof that good sound doesn’t always mean things blowing up, “Happy Feet” scores on the audio section as well.
Supplements: What are the extras?
All three versions of this movie (standard DVD, HD DVD and Blu-ray) share the same supplements which don’t add up to that much, but still better some than none. There are two new scenes “Mumble Meets a Blue Whale” and “A Happy Feet Moment”, a couple of music videos for Prince’s “The Song of the Heart” and Gia’s “Hit Me Up” and we’re also given the ability to take a private dance lesson with Savion Glover. Lastly is a classic cartoon “I love to Singa” which has nothing to do with the movie. If anything, I’d have to give the edge to the HD DVD version as it also contains the standard DVD release as well, but no matter which way you go “Happy Feet” will leave you stomping.
