Dr (Babe) Miller has certainly wound-up the cute-factor since his last foray into the wild world of animals. If you thought animated pigs were adorable, consider penguins as conventional themes are explored in a frozen wilderness – the brave misfit who proves being different doesn’t mean you don’t fit. You know the score. What’s sets this apart is music: Emperor penguins who quite literally sing for their sex. Best voice gets the best mate which gives Miller a one-two in the marketing department. Saddle the script with a greatest hits package of familiar songs as performed by the cast of Antarctic Idol and you’ve got the world queuing to watch loved-up, singing, dancing, fluffy penguins. As said – cute.

It’s not so great for Mumbles who has a singing voice more karaoke than Kiri Te Kanawa. Worse, he also likes to tap. It brings shame on the colony who hold him responsible for falling fish stocks (their God is teaching him a lesson). “Don’t ask me to change Pa, ‘cos I can’t”. But he does, which leads Mumbles on a journey to an alien world to plead the case for penguin-kind. Rebellion, religion and repentance is all wrapped up in a recognisable journey. What is surprising is how far Miller has raised the bar when it seemed it could go no higher. There is an effortless visual beauty to this film coupled with breathtaking photo-realism of chilling creatures that should frighten kids witless. However this ace is beaten by a frenetic, not particularly funny script and a surplus of sugary songs. There’s no doubting that Happy Feet is an amiable, toe-tapping experience, yet quite a forgettable one.

// COLIN FRASER