As you'll remember, in the first Happy Feet, the
emperor penguins of Antarctica express themselves primarily
through song, and frowned upon dancing, until one of them, a kid named
Mumble (voice of Elijah Wood), taught them the power of dance. The sequel begins with Mumble now happily married to
Gloria (Alecia Moore, aka Pink), and the whole tribe cheerfully singin'
and dancin' all the live-long day. Sadly, Mumble and Gloria's shy
little hatchling, Erik (Ava Acres), doesn't dance. And he feels like an
outcast because of it.
Meanwhile, in the part of Antarctica where the penguins have Latino
accents, our feisty friend Ramon (Robin Williams) is trying to woo a sexy new female, Carmen (Sofia Vergara). Also, an exotic new penguin named Sven
(Hank Azaria) has arrived. He has a Scandinavian accent and can fly! A
penguin who can fly! He looks suspiciously like a puffin, not a penguin,
but does that really matterr? Anyway, Ramon is jealous of the attention
received by the glad-handing, Sven.
Meanwhile, in the ocean are two tiny krill named Will (Brad Pitt) and
Bill (Matt Damon). Will wants to leave the massive krill swarm and "live a little." He and
Bill flit in and out of the rest of the film, occasionally intersecting
with whatever the main plot happens to be at the moment, and sometimes
seeming like they're in their own movie altogether.
Meanwhile, a shifting
ice formation has trapped all the emperor penguins in a giant valley,
preventing them from accessing the sea and thus food. It's up to
the handful of their kind who weren't home when it happened, to help them
get out and find a new site for their colony. Happy Feet Two is consistently amusing, sometimes deliriously
fun, with slick and vibrant animation. It has upbeat messages about
helping one another and the value of every individual. The musical
numbers are primarily existing pop songs but others have been written for the film. These are
made even catchier by the addition of that toe-tapping, synchronized choreography.