After seeing a hidden human excavator in an avalanche, they opt to ask Lovelace, a rockhopper penguin, about its origin. After escaping from a leopard seal attack, Mumble befriends five Adelie penguins named Ramón, Nestor, Lombardo, Rinaldo and Raul, known collectively as 'the Amigos', who embrace Mumble's dance moves and assimilate him into their group. Now a young adult, Mumble is frequently ridiculed by the elders and their leader Noah.

Mumble narrowly escapes the hungry birds by falling into a crevice. One day, Mumble encounters a group of hostile skua, with a leader who is tagged with a yellow band, which he says is from an alien abduction. Nevertheless, he is enamored with Gloria, a female penguin who is regarded as the most talented of her age. The resulting chick, Mumble, is unable to sing but can tap dance. While the males struggle through the harsh winter, Memphis briefly drops the egg. They lay an egg, which Memphis cares for while Norma Jean leaves with the other females to fish. Norma Jean, a female penguin, falls for Memphis, a male penguin and they become mates. If the male penguin's heartsong matches the female's song, the two penguins mate. A sequel, Happy Feet Two, was released in 2011.Įvery emperor penguin attracts a mate by singing a unique 'heartsong'. It was nominated for the Annie Award for Best Animated Feature and the Saturn Award for Best Animated Film, both losing to Cars. It earned the recipient of the inaugural BAFTA Award for Best Animated Film, and the fourth non- Disney or Pixar film to win the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. Happy Feet received generally positive reviews from critics with praise for its visuals, storyline and songs, and grossed $384 million against its $100 million production budget. However, Warner Bros., the film's production company, was on too tight a budget to release Happy Feet in IMAX digital 3D.

The studio had hinted that a future IMAX 3D release was a possibility. The film was simultaneously released in both conventional theatres and in IMAX 2D format. Though primarily an animated film, the film does incorporate motion capture of live action humans in certain scenes. After being continuously ridiculed and rejected by peers and his own father, Mumble departs on a journey to learn what is causing the local fish population to decline-and to find himself along the way. Set in the cold land of Antarctica, the film follows Mumble, an emperor penguin who, despite his lacking the ability to sing the heartsong to attract a soul mate, is able to tap dance brilliantly. It is the first animated film produced by Kennedy Miller and Animal Logic. Pictures, Village Roadshow Pictures, and Kingdom Feature Productions, and was released in North American theaters on 17 November 2006, and in Australian theaters on 26 December 2006. An international co-production between the United States and Australia, the film was produced at Sydney-based visual effects and animation studio Animal Logic for Warner Bros. It stars the voices of Elijah Wood, Robin Williams, Brittany Murphy, Hugh Jackman, Nicole Kidman, Hugo Weaving, and E.G. Happy Feet is a 2006 computer-animated jukebox musical comedy film directed, produced, and co-written by George Miller.

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