# Could a Doper in the US please go and see Happy Feet? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 17, 2006, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-doper-in-the-us-please-go-and-see-happy-feet/380793 "2006-11-17T04:51:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2006, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-doper-in-the-us-please-go-and-see-happy-feet/380793/1 "2006-11-17T04:51:00Z")
And then tell me what the soundtrack is like? As I noted [in this earlier thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=383255&highlight=cunctator), my choir recorded various bits of the soundtrack - mostly the crowd scenes with all of the penguins. The film opens today (17 November) in the US, but it’s not released until Boxing Day in Australia. ---
**Author:** ![Jurph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/50afbb/32.png) [@Jurph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jurph)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2006, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-doper-in-the-us-please-go-and-see-happy-feet/380793/2 "2006-11-17T13:06:46Z")
[QUOTE=Cunctator] And then tell me what the soundtrack is like? [/QUOTE] I’m planning to go see it with **Mrs. Jurph** in a week (next weekend is so much better for us than this one, what with the US “Thanksgiving” holiday). I’ll report back! ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2006, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-doper-in-the-us-please-go-and-see-happy-feet/380793/3 "2006-11-17T14:41:06Z")
My daughters have been politely requesting (aka endlessly screeching) that I take them to it, so I’m sure I’ll be seeing it this weekend. ---
**Author:** ![auntie\_em](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5e9695/32.png) [@auntie\_em](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/auntie_em)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2006, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-doper-in-the-us-please-go-and-see-happy-feet/380793/4 "2006-11-17T17:43:35Z")
I saw it this past Tuesday. I thought the soundtrack (both the choice of songs and the performance thereof) was great! It’s pretty much the only thing I loved about the movie, myself. But I don’t want to spoil it for anyone. I will, however, share this review from my local newspaper - I don’t think there are any _real_ spoilers, but just in case, I’ll include a **SPOILER ALERT** > **[Kansas City Breaking News & Sports | The Kansas City Star](https://www.kansascity.com/)** > > Read today's latest updates on Missouri news including Kansas, Overland Park and Lee's Summit. Follow crime, politics, local business, sports and community news. ---
**Author:** ![jharvey963](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/54ee81/32.png) [@jharvey963](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jharvey963)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2006, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-doper-in-the-us-please-go-and-see-happy-feet/380793/5 "2006-11-18T05:22:08Z")
[QUOTE=Cunctator] And then tell me what the soundtrack is like? As I noted [in this earlier thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=383255&highlight=cunctator), my choir recorded various bits of the soundtrack - mostly the crowd scenes with all of the penguins. The film opens today (17 November) in the US, but it’s not released until Boxing Day in Australia. [/QUOTE] I just got back from seeing it. It was a fun movie! Definitely a toe-tapper. There’s also an environmental message, but they don’t really beat you over the head with it. The music was great! They had a lot of good songs all the way from Elvis to Rap, Soul to the Gipsy Kings. The animation was also excellent. You definitely want to see this on the big screen. The detail is wonderful. The voice cast is also first tier. Overall, I’d give it a B+. To the OP, I’d be interested in hearing which specific parts you recorded… J. ---
**Author:** ![Stinkum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Stinkum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stinkum)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2006, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-doper-in-the-us-please-go-and-see-happy-feet/380793/6 "2006-11-19T02:40:30Z")
The soundtrack was wonderful. A great mix of music that didn’t overwhelm the film. A penguin doing Elvis was hysterical. The crowd scenes were hypnotic. Overall. a lovely family film. Who knew penguins had rhythm? We always knew they were snappy dressers, but the footwork! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2006, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-doper-in-the-us-please-go-and-see-happy-feet/380793/7 "2006-11-20T03:06:24Z")
[QUOTE=jharvey963] To the OP, I’d be interested in hearing which specific parts you recorded… [/QUOTE] Lots of bits, but it’s rather hard to explain them because we only had the music with certain titles: “Guarding the Eggs”; “Singing Lessons”; “Helicopter” etc. We didn’t see any scenes from the film to put them into context. ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2006, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-doper-in-the-us-please-go-and-see-happy-feet/380793/8 "2006-11-20T03:27:22Z")
[QUOTE=jharvey963] To the OP, I’d be interested in hearing which specific parts you recorded… [/QUOTE] Lots of bits, but it’s rather hard to explain them because we only had the music with certain titles: “Guarding the Eggs”; “Singing Lessons”; “Helicopter” etc. We didn’t see any scenes from the film to put them into context. ---
**Author:** ![Surbey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@Surbey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Surbey)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2006, 6:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-doper-in-the-us-please-go-and-see-happy-feet/380793/9 "2006-11-20T06:12:54Z")
I saw it, snooze. But I am a 19 yearold guy. I did laugh a little bit here and there. The group of small penguins (Rob Williams voiced one of the 5, I think) had a few funny bits. Other than that, its super boring. Well, like I said. See my second sentence. ---
**Author:** ![zagloba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/977dab/32.png) [@zagloba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zagloba)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2006, 8:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-doper-in-the-us-please-go-and-see-happy-feet/380793/10 "2006-11-20T08:48:22Z")
To the OP re the other thread: how hard was it for you and your colleagues to do an American accent? Do you try to model a specific speaker or regional accent? ---
**Author:** ![Bear\_Nenno](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bear_nenno/32/3358_2.png) [@Bear\_Nenno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bear_Nenno)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2006, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-doper-in-the-us-please-go-and-see-happy-feet/380793/11 "2006-11-20T15:15:34Z")
I am waiting until this coming weekend so I can go watching in iMAX! ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2006, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-doper-in-the-us-please-go-and-see-happy-feet/380793/12 "2006-11-20T15:36:06Z")
Fantastic music. The play was a bit “eh”, but the animation and music were great. Note that I didn’t see any “chorus” credited, everyone seems to have their individual names listed, even if in rather small fast rolling print. ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2006, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-doper-in-the-us-please-go-and-see-happy-feet/380793/13 "2006-11-20T17:04:49Z")
Good movie, great music. My 6 year old got emotionally involved in the story, my 4 year old got bored about half way through (which is typical for her). The background singing was very good in all the scenes. There was a scene near the beginning: where the male penguins gather together during the 6 months of darkness, singing a song while Hugo Weaving harangues them with a Scottish accent where the singing was just phenomenal. Robin Williams was funny, but overused - he did 2 penguins, who appeared in several scenes together, which was annoying and took me right out of the movie. ---
**Author:** ![Incubus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c68b51/32.png) [@Incubus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Incubus)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2006, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-doper-in-the-us-please-go-and-see-happy-feet/380793/14 "2006-11-20T17:37:20Z")
I went and saw it with my girlfriend. She said she liked the fact that they finally made a cartoon about how God doesn’t exist 😕 and she pointed out that The penguins worship the penguin god Guin, and they attribute Guin’s wrath to their hardships. But Mumble proves there was a _scientific_ reason for the fish shortage, and debunks the notion of Guin. I thought her explanation was really out there, and frankly doubt many kids are going to see it the way she did. I pointed out that Outside of the tagged bird and Lovelace, penguins don’t have any knowlege there is much of anything beyond Antartica, much less humans. The whole Guin thing seems to me a kind of coping/survival mechanism, because these penguins endure so much hardship as part of their normal lives. Mumble throws that all out of whack, and I’m not surprised this makes them fearful. Up until then, penguins didn’t thrive from wacky ideas about aliens from a forbidden shore, they thrived by working together and conforming. ---
**Author:** ![Canadiangirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dc4da7/32.png) [@Canadiangirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Canadiangirl)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2006, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-doper-in-the-us-please-go-and-see-happy-feet/380793/15 "2006-11-20T20:38:06Z")
We are going to see it Friday night…will post about music. ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2006, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-doper-in-the-us-please-go-and-see-happy-feet/380793/16 "2006-11-21T04:11:53Z")
Thanks to everyone for the comments so far. > [@zagloba](#): > > To the OP re the other thread: how hard was it for you and your colleagues to do an American accent? Do you try to model a specific speaker or regional accent? We just imitated whatever accent it is that Hollywood and American television shows do. I have no idea whether that’s a specific regional accent or not. > [@muldoonthief](#): > > The background singing was very good in all the scenes. There was a scene near the beginning:where the male penguins gather together during the 6 months of darkness, singing a song while Hugo Weaving harangues them with a Scottish accentwhere the singing was just phenomenal. That sounds like one of the bits that we recorded. The producer explained to us all about the males huddling over the eggs throughout winter. ---
**Author:** ![Misnomer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misnomer/32/14897_2.png) [@Misnomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misnomer)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2006, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-doper-in-the-us-please-go-and-see-happy-feet/380793/17 "2006-11-24T02:13:24Z")
[QUOTE=muldoonthief] My 6 year old got emotionally involved in the story [/QUOTE] I’ve been wondering whether this film might be ok for my best friend’s 5-year-old (who’s only been 5 for a few months). The PG rating seems to be “for mild peril and rude humor”: the “mild peril” bit is ok, but I wonder how “rude” the humor is. Did anything shock or confuse your 6-year-old? Obviously my friend and his wife will make the final decision about whether they want their son to see the movie, but I figure that a little info from someone who’s seen it can’t hurt. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Bear\_Nenno](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bear_nenno/32/3358_2.png) [@Bear\_Nenno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bear_Nenno)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2006, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-doper-in-the-us-please-go-and-see-happy-feet/380793/18 "2006-11-24T05:14:17Z")
Nothing too rude. A few euphemisms and body motioning. Talking about “making eggs” a lot in place of having sex. Even some of the songs have the lines “I want your eggs” instead of “I want your sex”. Other than the whole “I wanna make eggs with _her_” stuff… it’s not bad. Oh, but if you wouldn’t want your kids to see Isaac Hayes escort half a dozen ladies off set and say something like “Cmon ladies, lets go to my couch of infinite pleasure…” then dont take them to this movie. I just saw it tonight in IMAX. I loved this movie! ---
**Author:** ![wonder9](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c57346/32.png) [@wonder9](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonder9)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2006, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-doper-in-the-us-please-go-and-see-happy-feet/380793/19 "2006-11-25T03:32:15Z")
[QUOTE=Misnomer] I’ve been wondering whether this film might be ok for my best friend’s 5-year-old (who’s only been 5 for a few months). The PG rating seems to be “for mild peril and rude humor”: the “mild peril” bit is ok, but I wonder how “rude” the humor is. Did anything shock or confuse your 6-year-old? Obviously my friend and his wife will make the final decision about whether they want their son to see the movie, but I figure that a little info from someone who’s seen it can’t hurt. 🙂 [/QUOTE] Why is it that people are always worried about the “rude” bits? Not the violence itself, and there is lots of it in the movie…just the poop jokes or maybe a hint of nudity? Penguin nudity, I might add._sigh_ Anyway, the rude bits are so, so minor. The movie itself I thought was less then mediocre. Cool idea (no pun intended) but poorly done. The visuals were unbelievably great but really, how many song and dance numbers do you need? Ditto the scenes where the characters were swooshing down either snow or ice slide kinda things. Once is great. More is story padding. But the worse thing for me as a parent is that there are VERY scary moments in the film during which most kids under 10, maybe even 12, would jump out of their seats. I did. Leopard Seal anyone? ---
**Author:** ![Misnomer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misnomer/32/14897_2.png) [@Misnomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misnomer)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2006, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-doper-in-the-us-please-go-and-see-happy-feet/380793/20 "2006-11-25T04:24:03Z")
Thanks, **Bear\_Nenno**. 🙂 My friend’s wife wound up taking their son to see it today, but she didn’t know it was rated PG until she go to the theatre. She said there were a few scary bits, but that all of the “rude” stuff went right over his head (as I thought it might). I was kinda hoping I’d get to go with them, but I’m sure I’ll watch it at their place whenever the DVD is released. **Wonder9** , how was I supposed to “worry” about the violence when the rating that I saw didn’t mention violence? :dubious: As I said in my previous post, what I saw said that it was PG for “mild peril and rude humor.” [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-doper-in-the-us-please-go-and-see-happy-feet/380793.md?page=2)