HOME | DD

Penguins — Description
So I saw "Happy Feet" today. I wasn't really impressed. Of all the animals to make dance, penguins have to be the worst choice. Even worse than snakes. Of all land animals that walk, penguins have the most inefficient gait. So why would filmmakers choose them as the stars of their movie? Probably because penguins are popular. Whatever their reason, the dancing penguins were only mildly successful. Their feet were moving, but their bodies were so upright you could barely tell. The smaller penguins were much more interesting than the main characters who were Emperor penguins. The Emperor penguins were very static and upright. And boring.

The character design in this movie was about as good as mine (which, if you hadn't noticed, is BAD). Almost all of the penguins looked identical. How boring. There was some body 'distortion' and changes to the penguin's markings to distinguish a few of them but you had to be watching closely to catch it. I was not impressed.

I think there was a moral to this movie too, but it was hard to figure out. And the environmental message seemed kind of tacked on. The whole movie was a bit disjointed I think.

Despite all that, I loved baby Mumble. Very very cute and his dancing was nicely done. Perhaps because he was so squat and fluffy it made it easier for the animators to bring him to life. I also enjoyed the music and the way it was integrated.

If nothing else, the movie made me want to sketch some dancing penguins. So, here you go. My completely anatomically incorrect penguins doing various activities. Mostly dancing.

Medium: 6B pencil
Date Completed: December 24, 2006

Art is (c) 2006 Dancing Cavy Productions