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You would’ve thought that the mind that brought cinemas the Mad Max series would also gift audiences with a feet-tapping, family-friendly blockbuster like Happy Feet. Trading the desert wasteland for frigid Antarctica, George Miller’s animated 2006 hit follows a young penguin on a quest to find acceptance. For emperor penguins, attracting a mate is a matter of the heart – or the “heartsong” – but for Mumble (Elijah Wood), who can’t sing, only dance, this proves an issue. Ostracised and ridiculed by the other penguins, Mumble finds a family with the Amigos, who love the young penguin’s dance moves. A story about accepting ourselves and overcoming life’s obstacles, Happy Feet also has a positive environmental message and was the fourth non-Disney or Pixar film to win the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature.
Aside from Miller, who directed, produced and co-wrote the film, Happy Feet has another Australian connection (besides an all-star Aussie cast) with its visual effects done by acclaimed Sydney-based animation studio Animal Logic – their first in a long string of hits that includes The Lego Movie.
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