Happy Feet

So I finally joined Common Sense Media tonight just to add my review to this movie. I have used CSM for the last several years to look up tv shows and movies, and then decide what is right for my family. Luckily I have found this site is for parents/families from all kinds of backgrounds, opinions, and beliefs. That being said, tonight I feel the need to stick up for this movie, Happy Feet. If you decided that the movie was not right for your children or belief system, good for you. But I'd like to offer what we found: songs/music by Prince, Elvis, Stevie Wonder, The Beach Boys, Gipsy Kings, Steve Miller Band, Queen, and the Beatles! We also found tap, mambo, hip hop, and jazz dance. If you don't enjoy these varied kinds of music and dancing in real life, you probably won't want your children exposed to it either. We also found plot similarities to Finding Nemo and The Lion King, where the young main character challenges the opinions and traditions of the elders/old guard/leaders of the group. If you don't want your children to learn to think for themselves, you might not want to see this movie. It's also great for a family discussion on how wonderful it is that everyone is good at different things. Another Nemo similarity is that Mumble is captured by humans and put in an aquarium. Again, a good talking point for families about real-life zoos and aquariums. We also found some scary chase scenes involving real-life animals that feed on penguins: skuas, leopard seals, and orcas. These were just as scary as Bruce the shark trying to eat Marlon and Dory, beware. We also found ethnic stereotypes that we'll definitely talk about later: Hispanic mambo-dancing penguins, an ethics-comprised African-American evangelical preacher, and an Irish-American colony leader. There were some plot lines that actually didn't make sense, like the visit to the evangelical preacher and the journey to an old human fishing town. These could have been completely cut from the movie. I also wish they had just used "humans" instead of "aliens," to describe people. My kid loves aliens, so it's just confusing. And so tonight, my 4.5 year-old tap-danced off to bed, and I'm humming Stevie Wonder. Thanks, Happy Feet!

Kids film? This film is about young Penguins being sex mad randy teenagers, and being encouraged in this course by all the grown up characters. They may sound like an exaggeration - but it’s got about as sex related as American Pie. From the opening scene where a female penguin is courted by a gaggle of males... ‘let’s talk about sex baby’, ‘go forth and multiple’ when it’s not overt it’s thinly veiled and often it is overt. Obviously kids have no idea - but it’s just felt completely off throughout. For no apparent reason the makers thought it would be a good idea to take the threat of birds and seals and magnify it through animation, made scarier and more menacing. So why not through in racial stereotypes too? Bingo in come the (again) overly sexualised latino penguins. This film is only 15 years old - but I honestly can’t think there was a time in history this film made sense. I’ve said 14+ but honestly I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone. If you’re young it’s weird. If you’re older, it’s got nothing for you either. And they made a sequel??

When is eye-popping about this movie is the computer animation on the penguins and other animals. It looks so real! Besides that, I like the music, story, and characters of this movie! Robin Williams makes me chuckle in this movie! He's a funny actor! I haven't seen the second movie, but I heard that it was terrible! I guess I have to see it for myself!

Although this movie is a little scary at times, I recommend it for kids between 3 and 12! Younger than that might get a little scared, and older might get a little bored! Awesome movie! A favorite of my 4 children who can watch TV!

The scene in which a seal attacks the penguin is VERY scary. It is a very mean looking seal with large teeth. The movie has a great message in that everybody has different talents and that you don't have to be just like everybody else.

This film has its ups and downs, but ultimately the sexualization of "female" penguins is just plain odd and does not help in the telling of this story. The third act climate change feels unpredictable and almost works. You're definitely rooting for Mumble, but I could have easily rooted for Williams to move his character portrayal in a different direction.

Happy feet is sad but it gets better in the end and it is kind of boring.

Really sexualized and creepy. Music is uninventive. Story is boring. Characters are racially insensitive and some are too scary for young kids. My 8 year old who plays minecraft and roblox and laughs at zombies was upset by this film. I was happy to turn it off half way through! Go watch Penguins of Madagascar or Lego Batman instead lol. Just such a bad movie... When they asked what age I think this is for I wish I could have put Nobody should waste their time instead. I chose 18 because I guess if you're an adult and wanna waste your own time that's on you. XD

I started watching this with my then 5 1/2 year old, and was really disgusted with the way sexuality is prevalent in this movie. It isn't even subtle. I think we watched about 20 mins, before we turned it off, because it really wasn't redeeming itself. I honestly wouldn't let my children watch this at all. There are far better moviea for children that don't push sex in their face. Don't bother watching.

This movie was genuinely disturbing on so many levels. The sexual content was so inappropriate for the targeted audience that it was mind blowing. I literally could not believe what I was watching! The penguins were singing about sex, sliding into sex positions and constantly saying overtly sexual things to one another. This went wayyyyyy beyond the very subtle sexual humor an adult might chuckle at in a kids movie and made me feel uncomfortable. Aside from that, the movie was filled with racial stereotypes and anti religious themes (I am not even religious.) The perilous parts were over the top and too intense for little kids. The environmental message that was thrown in at the end was told in such a dark and disturbing way that kids would be left confused and upset rather than taking away anything meaningful. The movie was long, boring, utterly stupid and just downright creepy. The music, dialogue and animation were garbage as well. This is without a doubt the worst movie I have ever seen and I can’t believe it was disguised as a kids film about a penguin…This movie is complete trash and I regret letting my child see even a second of it.