Happy Feet, I've got those Happy Feet ...

So you think this is just a movie about dancing penguins, hmmm? I did too.

Wrong.

Happy Feet should come with a warning. Right out of the box. It will make you want to tap dance, even if you can't. You will want to take home a baby penguin. (And even if you could, that's really not such a great idea, is it?) Most of all, this audacious, blindingly bright, glittering music box of a movie is going to knock you out of your seat with laughter one moment, tears the next, and finally -- in the end -- with a take-no-prisoners message about what we're doing to the planet (hint: it ain't good) that won't be ignored. Not for one minute.

What to do with it all, what to do, what to DO? I may have to see it again to decide.

I know I liked it, and on many levels. On some, I even loved it. Especially gratifying is the central story of Mumbles -- the fuzzy, happy footed hero whose tap dancing expresses what his lack of song cannot. Like Rudolph with his beacon of a nose, a liability is turned in the end to triumph.

That's the spirit. Yeah, you show 'em kid!

See this movie. Take a kid, or three. It will quietly piss off your very conservative friends and relatives (think of it as a bonus), while showing the little ones a good time. And it will dazzle you ...

... like it did me.

L.A.E.