7/1/2023 0 Comments Dancing mumble penguin![]() The emphasis on choral writing is quasi-religious, particularly alluding to religious conservatism, which is also hinted at in the film’s screenplay. The melody the penguins sing at 0:42 becomes the first major theme of the album, what I will call the “colony” theme, and it represents the traditional Emperor penguin way of life, and the staunch adherence to that tradition by Mumble’s father Memphis (Jackman) and the elders, led by Noah (Weaving). Opening with staccato chants, an all male choir takes over, representing the male emperor penguins huddling together against the bitter cold, invoking the power of their ancestors and the great Guinn, their penguin god. The opening number, ‘The Huddle’, gives us an impressive piece of entirely choral majesty and power. Different tracks go through a large variety of styles and orchestrations – rich orchestral material, choral chanting, eerie, otherworldly music, epic dancing numbers, slow jams and even Hispanic action sequences! You certainly feel like you’ve really been on a musical odyssey by the album’s end. We get a great number of memorable motifs for characters and concepts, perhaps more than a children’s animated movie deserves, which just shows Powell’s commitment to the project. Powell’s work really shines in the context of the film, and on the album, which features over an hour of music. The electronic rhythms and effects present throughout the score are never in direct competition with the more orchestral elements, neither overpowers the other, and they blend almost seamlessly. Considering this film debuted in 2006, it is obvious that Powell is in a transitional period for his composing manner. Happy Feet is a nice combination of both of Powell’s composing styles – he is known for his earlier action scores which have masterfully crafted electronic samples, such as the Bourne films, and for his later fully orchestral scores for the How To Train Your Dragon movies, among others. My favourite arrangement would have to be ‘Somebody to Love’ by Queen, sung by the graduating school of penguins that Mumble and his love interest Gloria (Brittany Murphy) are part of. Each of the heart-songs, when they are sung, are interwoven seamlessly and excellently orchestrated. John Powell was responsible for everything musical in this film, and when you factor in the arrangements for the many penguin heart-songs sung throughout the film (basically any top 50 pop song from the last 5 decades) as well as the writing of instrumental music, this really was quite an undertaking – Powell apparently spent 4 years working on this film. The voice cast was surprisingly strong, featuring such talents as Hugh Jackman, Nicole Kidman, Hugo Weaving, Robin Williams, and Elijah Wood as Mumble, the penguin who can’t sing but can dance till the cows come home (or in this case, till the mother penguins come home with food to regurgitate for their young ones. The animation style was quite impressive, capturing the movements of the animals with extraordinary detail and realism, and presenting us with beautiful cinematic landscapes that evoked the harsh beauty of Antarctica. Happy Feet was Footloose meets March of the Penguins. At the heart of the film was a story about acceptance and embracing your differences, and there was a strong undercurrent of environmental messages centered on the human over-harvesting of fish in the antarctic. ![]() Happy Feet was the brainchild of Australian director George Miller, famous for his Mad Max franchise – that’s right, the guy who directed the masterpiece action flick Mad Max: Fury Road also made a film about singing, dancing penguins. Yet this instrumental soundtrack so elevated the quality of the picture that I couldn’t allow it to go unnoticed. My first Unsung Heroes post was about a film featuring animated talking penguins, which had an instrumental soundtrack buried beneath pop songs. ![]()
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