Happy Feet 2 (2011)

Directed by: George Miller | 99 minutes | animation, comedy, family | Original voice cast: Elijah Wood, Pink, Elizabeth Daily, Sofía Vergara, Robin Williams, Matt Damon, Brad Pitt, Hank Azaria, Magda Szubanski, Johnny Yong Bosch

The popularity of penguins remains unprecedented. After the documentary ‘March of the Penguins’ and the animated film ‘Madagascar’ (both from 2005), the swinging musical ‘Happy Feet’ (2006) followed as well as the Jim Carrey vehicle ‘Mr. Popper’s Penguins’ (2011) built on the proven concept. Successful formulas have to be milked out and so there is now ‘Happy Feet 2′ (2011). Music and dance is still ubiquitous, but where the first part still had a straightforward narrative, ‘Happy Feet 2′ cites numerous storylines without developing them all in a satisfying way. The brilliant animations and some interesting new characters keep the film going for a long time, but because the bar for animation films is sky high these days, you can only conclude that ‘Happy Feet 2′ disappoints.

The central character in the first film, Mumble (voice of Elijah Wood), returns in part two. He tries to get his son Erik (Ava Acres) to dance (because all penguins turn out to be able to sing or dance, we see in the grand opening scene), but Erik has nothing to sing or dance. The fact that he is different from the other penguins (where have we seen that before?) doesn’t make his life in the group any easier and when he doesn’t like it anymore, he runs away with two other rebellious penguins. Then he meets Sven (Hank Azaria), a penguin who can fly, who fascinates him immensely. Mumble meanwhile does not give up and tries to track down his son. When he returns to the colony, nature appears to have wreaked havoc. A huge iceberg has dislodged and trapped the penguins. If something is not invented soon, the animals will starve to death. It’s up to Mumble to save the colony.

George Miller, who previously co-wrote the first ‘Happy Feet’ with Doug Mitchell, also directed this second film. Almost all well-known characters return, such as Gloria (now voiced by singer P!nk after the death of Brittany Murphy in 2009), Ramon (Robin Williams) and the Adelie Amigos. In addition, a number of new characters are introduced, the most interesting of which are Will and Bill (and not just because their voices are provided by Matt Damon and Brad Pitt). Will and Bill are plankton (“krill”) who have their very own adventures. As plankton, they are the lowest class in the food chain; they are doomed to be eaten in large numbers. Will and Bill don’t want to leave it at that and are determined to avoid their fate. The adventures of these tiny creatures are a story in themselves (compare it to the desperate squirrel Scrat in the ‘Ice Age’ series). Will and Bill are lucky that their story is still being worked out, because many other storylines remain in the void. You could say that ‘Happy Feet 2′ takes too much on its fork by raising too many themes.

Where the story is unfortunately rushed, a lot of attention has been paid to the animations. The penguins are very cuddly, but a lot of care has also been taken with less cute animals such as sea lions. The colorful underwater world of course offers plenty of opportunities for the art department and they have been fully utilized. The motion capture technique was also applied, just like in the first film. When you see how much time, money, energy and care has been spent on the animations, it is a shame to see that this has been at the expense of the story. The fact that ‘Happy Feet 2′ is a mixed bag from a story-technical point of view will disturb the watching adults at some point. The young target audience mainly sees cheerful, fluffy figures who dance and sing to recognizable music (the soundtrack is very uninspired), they do not want a half-baked elaborate core idea about global warming, which is hidden somewhere deep in the film. . That makes this second part of the series especially viewable for the very young.