As is common during the colder months, the bird activity in my yard has plummeted. Even the old faithfuls, the chickadees, the jays, and the cardinals, seem to have disappeared. Over the past week, the only bird activity I have seen has been at the Village Picture Show in Manchester. That’s right. I’m talking about the bird sighting that has been sweeping the nation—Happy Feet, the major motion picture which documents the adventures of a tap-dancing penguin named Mumble as he struggles to prove himself.
I have been waiting for the release of Happy Feet for over a year and I must say, after my long wait I was not disappointed. Surely, many of you might cringe at the thought of ballad-singing, tap-dancing penguins. But, Happy Feet, aside from being a cute musical journey is surprisingly accurate. The film documents the mating, incubation, and maturing of the Emperor penguins who call the Antarctic home. Each year, after the mating season, the female Emperor journeys to the coastal waters to feed. Before departure, she entrusts her egg to her mate who will guard it for over two months, as he balances it on his feet, fasts, and fights against the frigid temperatures. The females then return just in time for the eggs’ hatching. If you have seen March of the Penguins, another truly fascinating film, you know exactly what I’m talking about.
In Happy Feet, we are first introduced to two Emperor penguin parents, Memphis and Norma-Jean (Hugh Jackman and Nicole Kidman), who have just welcomed baby Mumble (Elijah Wood) into the family. Mumble, however, is different from his penguin counterparts—he does not have a heart song. Rather, Mumble was born with happy, tap-dancing feet. He immediately becomes an outcast, even to his father who says that tap-dancing, “Just ain’t penguin.” Mumble, however, meets a quintet of Adelie penguins, led by the loco-Latin, Ramon (Robin Williams), which embrace his unusual talent and teach him that he is special. A series of adventures ensue, as Mumble and his eccentric friends search for the cause of the decline in the fish population.
Overall, Happy Feet is a charming and amusing film for children of all ages and I highly recommend it. The digital animation of the Antarctic and of the penguins (especially the babies, who are too cute for words) is breathtaking and the ingenuous scenes of thousands of dancing penguins are not to be missed! Most importantly, Happy Feet reminds us humans that we have been entrusted with a priceless gift and that we must work to protect its inhabitants who cannot speak for themselves.
Do you have any comments about Happy Feet, this column, or a bird-sighting? If so, don’t hesitate to send a question to chickadee@att.net.
No comments:
Post a Comment