Elijah Wood, Robin Williams, Hugh Jackman, Nicole Kidman and Brittany Murphy lend their voices to animated penguins in Happy Feet. Regardless of a "very, very weird" plot that sees these flightless birds doing cutesy renditions of 80s pop ditties, the film got a warm reception from critics and moviegoers. In the US, it even kept James Bond off the top spot (despite Daniel Craig in a penguin suit).
Breaking The Ice
Heading the list of extras is an additional scene that features the late Steve Irwin as a gabby albatross. Apparently the ill-fated conservationist pleaded with director George Miller for a role, or at least that's how Miller tells it in a brief introduction. Another 30-second skit features a grown-up penguin playing football with a baby penguin, which is just unnecessary.
Tap dancer extraordinaire Savion Glover and Mumble the Penguin (Elijah Wood) teach you how to find your "heartsong" and sing it with your feet (no, really) in Stomp To The Beat. The happy clappy philosophy is unspeakably naff, but at least it's something to get the kids off the sofa. Meanwhile Creating The Tap sees how Miller used motion capture technology to bring Glover's moves to life in the virtual world. (It's hardly an in-depth exploration though.)
Makes Snow Sense
A standard behind-the-scenes featurette repeats what we've already seen in Creating The Tap. Most of the time is spent with Jackman, Kidman and co struggling to explain the bizarre story. Robin Williams sums it up best as "March Of The Penguins meets Riverdance" and cameras get a glimpse of him in the sound booth getting his groove on. The crew also chip in to assure us that this film is on the cutting edge of CGI technology, but there are actually very few practical insights into the animation process.
Rounding off this feather-light batch of extras is Brittany Murphy's squawky cover version of Queen track Somebody To Love. No doubt younger viewers will enjoy the film, but it's hardly worth making a flap about.
EXTRA FEATURES
Happy Feet DVD is released on Monday 26th March 2007.
