Happy Feet (2006)
This is the story of a little penguin named Mumble who has a terrible singing voice and later discovers he has no Heartsong. However, Mumble has an astute talent for something that none of the penguins had ever seen before: tap dancing. Though Mumble's mom, Norma Jean, thinks this little habit is cute, his dad, Memphis, says it "just ain't penguin." Besides, they both know that, without a Heartsong, Mumble may never find true love. As fate would have it, his one friend, Gloria, happens to be the best singer around. Mumble and Gloria have a connection from the moment they hatch, but she struggles with his strange "hippity- hoppity" ways. Mumble is just too different--especially for Noah the Elder, the stern leader of Emperor Land, who ultimately casts him out of the community. Away from home for the first time, Mumble meets a posse of decidedly un-Emperor-like penguins--the Adelie Amigos. Led by Ramon, the Adelies instantly embrace Mumble's cool dance moves and invite him to party with them. In Adelie Land, Mumble seeks the counsel of Lovelace the Guru, a crazy-feathered Rockhopper penguin who will answer any of life's questions for the price of a pebble. Together with Lovelace and the Amigos, Mumble sets out across vast landscapes and, after some epic encounters, proves that by being true to yourself, you can make all the difference in the world.
WARNING: May Cause Toe-Tapping.
Ram?n: Just a moment. I hear people wanting something... ME!
Disney Studios, Moore Park, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
(Studio)
Initially, Prince refused to allow the use of his song, "Kiss", for the film. However, after seeing footage of the film, he not only changed his mind and allowed the song to be used, but also wrote an additional original song for the film to use in the closing credits.
Brittany Murphy, Hugh Jackman, Robin Williams, and Nicole Kidman all did their own singing.
"The Song of the Heart" is the final original song that Prince created for a movie. The song won him his only Golden Globe Award and he received a Grammy nomination for it as well.
This film is dedicated to Steve Irwin as this was his last film.
Mumble features a faded dark spot directly under his neck in the shape of a bow tie. This was added to make Mumble's appearance more like a white tuxedo. This is both to emphasize the Fred Astaire resemblance and is also a play on "penguin suit", a slang term for a black tuxedo.
Continuity
(at around 21 mins) While Baby Mumble is with the Skuas, a small black bow can be seen on Mumble's chest. However, when Mumble falls into the crack in the ice, the bow disappears. When the birds fly away, Mumble rolls to the side and begins to cry, with his bow visible again.
Factual errors
Penguin chicks cannot stand on the ice immediately after hatching nor do they hatch fluffy and dry.
Emperor penguins don't mate for life as implied in the film. They're monogamous - but typically only for a year. Fidelity between years is about 15%.
Elephant seals are dangerously territorial. Not even penguins would have been left alive by them.
Memphis's egg should have frozen before he even got to it.
(at around 1h 8 mins) When the amigos, Lovelace and Mumble are overlooking the land of elephant seals and ask if they are penguin eaters, and one of the others says they are herbivores, kelp suckers. This is untrue as elephant seals are carnivores and some are omnivores. But none are just herbivores.