06 December 2006

Fish gotta swim, bird gotta dance


Last night I went with Mika and Oz to see Happy Feet. I can't compare it to March of the Penguins, because I haven't seen it yet. The penguins in this movie are singers. They use songs to find mates to “have eggs” with, and they use song to worship the Great Guin, who provides them with fish. Mumble (the one with the happy feet) is born to parents that are just unorthodox enough to feel really guilty about it, and to want their kid to conform. Mumble, however, can’t sing. He can only dance. The old-timer penguins blame Mumble for the shortage of fish and cast him and his heretical dancing feet out. Mumble makes it his mission to find out what’s happening to the fish.

The animation was astounding. I was highly impressed by the impossible cuteness of the baby penguins, and the ferociousness of the leopard seals and orcas. The scenery was also amazing, with the vast ice-scapes and the dark, rolling swells of the ocean. The script was pretty good, and the music was (at times) a little more suggestive than I would have expected from a kids’ movie. The danger scenes were exciting enough that you could enjoy it even though you knew that all the characters would be okay. There was one part that I can’t really describe without ruining a plot point, but it was so depressing I would have cried if the movie ended there. There was also a bit of live action stuff that worked really well and gave it a more real feeling.

The best part of the movie was the moral: stop harvesting fish. Seriously! How awesome is that? The very thing I’ve been preaching for years is at the core of a children’s movie! One of the humans in the movie says, “We should stop marine harvest altogether!” and I cheered – out loud, in a public place – because I was so glad to hear someone else say it for once.

This movie was brilliant, as far as anti-fishing propaganda goes. I mean, what better way to reach the next generation of fish eaters than with an übercute tap dancing penguin named Mumble? I can’t wait until my niece is old enough to eat fish and I can tell her with a disapproving tone, “If you eat fish, Mumble and all his friends will die!”

2 comments:

Annie said...

I want to see that movie... but you must see the March of the Peguins you'll love it. But it does make you realize they are probably one of the stupid birds around...well when it comes to mating but gosh darn their cute.

Anonymous said...

This movie made my week, but have you heard the latest? Apparently a bunch of conservative Christian groups are planning to boycott the movie, because . . . can you guess? Because Mumble is gay! Or so they claim. I must have missed that, what with all Mumble's (albeit unconventional) wooing of Gloria, a decidedly female penguin. There's a spot on last night's Daily Show about it. There's also some controversy about whether the anti-fishing message makes the whole movie un-American and terrorist-supporting (in the words of Glenn Beck), but the gay thing seems to be of a higher priority.

Ah well, at least there's a precedent regarding penguin sexual orientation. A gay penguin couple in a New York zoo made the news last year ("It's penguin heaven, Dave . . ."), so I suppose this makes a little more sense than questioning the sexuality of other animated characters. I'm thinking of the SpongeBob controversy, of course. Come on. He's a sponge. He may (inexplicably) wear pants, but even SpongeBob can't deny basic biology. Sponges are asexual, so Bob couldn't be gay even if he wanted to.

Pity the sponges and their doomed love for echinoderms. Let's hope Mumble does a little better.

-Oz