I really enjoyed the Mexican Penguins and their penchant for stealing scenes away from our main character Mumble. Robin Williams is a very convincing Chicano, mainly because he's surrounded by actual Mexican comedian actors who manage to work well off of him and many times out do him in laughs and charisma.

Ah, dancing penguins. They are the new fixture of animation whether we like it or not. There are penguins dancing, penguins singing, penguins joking around, and soon penguins surfing. This is really not where I wanted American animation to head into, but alas, “Happy Feet” was a hit, so more dancing penguins. What “Happy Feet” is, is nothing but a re-enactment of “March of the Penguins,” set to a pop music score, and lacking the tragic presence. Everything we learn here, we learned in the former, except this is more for children than the aforementioned. The harsh realities of life as a penguin are traded for a safer experience of baby penguins who can escape the clutches of predators easily, and dance. You want a typical animated film?

And an environmental message to boot? No, I wasn’t sold, nor was I impressed at any moment. “Happy Feet” is absurdly simple. It lacks any actual story, because it’s almost nothing but visual gags and singing. Mumble wants to dance, his parents want him to sing, he grows up, falls for Gloria who can sing, he wants to dance, his friends teach him how to sing, but he wants to dance. Cue the endless musical covers that inevitably amounted to a killer of a headache. And then I managed to make quick work of the forward button, and then the stop button. While I always enjoy a ripping good variation of “Somebody to Love” from Queen, watching penguins singing it just takes away the fun. And this waste of pure celluloid, talent, and money can't even accomplish its musical status.

An overrated, mediocre, utterly unoriginal film was a huge hit in America, what a shocker. Aside from some memorable characters, “Happy Feet” is a forgettable, irritating, and rather obnoxious retread of “March of the Pengiuns,” and now my journey to forget this begins.

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