WAY COOL CUTE PENGUINS, YES, BUT THERE'S A MESSAGE, TOO.

Byline: Glenn Whipp Film Writer

If you were to go just by the commercials, you'd think George Miller's new animated offering, ``Happy Feet,'' was one big party movie with wall-to-wall singing and dancing penguins.

What's striking when you see the full film is that ``Happy Feet'' contains a strong environmental message that would make Al Gore's heart sing. In the middle of a movie that is, in Robin Williams' words, ``Riverdance'' meets ``March of the Penguins,'' you have plot points turning on the effects of overfishing, global warming and the fragility of the food chain in Antarctica.

``You can't tell the story of penguins without dealing with the environment,'' Miller says. ``In some sense, `Happy Feet' is an appeal to humans' better nature. That's what the main character, Mumbles, sets out to do. Because we're all responsible for these amazing creatures.''

Mumbles (voiced by Elijah Wood) is an emperor penguin born without the ability to sing. If you were one of the millions who saw last year's documentary smash ``March of the Penguins,'' you might remember that Antarctica's emperor penguins find their mates and distinguish each other through what's called their ``heartsong.''

Thus, Mumbles' affliction is viewed as a problem, except by Mumbles.

Because all he wants to do is dance. (Mumbles' tap-dancing came from the filmmakers doing motion-capture work with virtuoso tap dancer Savion Glover.)

A familiar journey

That message of the importance of individuality makes ``Happy Feet'' indistinguishable from most other family fare. But Mumbles' journey to happiness takes him to some authentically dark places, leading him to confront the actions of what he and his brethren call the ``ugly penguins without feathers on their fat, flabby faces.''

Australia's Miller has been down this road before. He was one of the writers and producers of the 1995 Oscar-nominated family film, ``Babe,'' where the specter of the ax in the family-farm food chain was never far from the surface.

Miller took 1998 sequel ``Babe: Pig in the City'' a step further, moving from the gentle, pastoral charm of the original to a movie disturbing in tone, European art house in feel.

Not surprisingly, ``Pig in the City'' bombed with audiences, grossing only $18 million in the states. (Miller calls the movie's commercial failure ``self-inflicted.'' He delivered the film to the studio late, giving the marketing department little time to prepare audiences for the tonal shift.)

``The moral darkness of `Pinocchio' and `Snow White' are huge to me,'' Miller says. `` `Happy Feet' has a lot in common with `Dumbo,' another one of my favorites. These dark stories help us negotiate life. They're for the adult in the child and the child in the adult.''

Adds Wood: ``Life isn't sanitized. I like that the movie throws in a little dark reality.''

For the Antarctic penguins in ``Happy Feet,'' that reality includes ocean waters where fish aren't swimming and ice temperatures that are, relatively speaking, sweltering. One penguin, Lovelace (voiced by Williams), wears a plastic six-pack ring around his neck.

Initially, the other penguins see the ring as an exotic talisman, a sign of Lovelace's power. Then Lovelace begins to have trouble breathing, and Mumbles realizes something more sinister is at hand.

Subtle message

``To George's credit, it's funny and ridiculous and heartbreaking, all at the same time,'' says Brittany Murphy, who voices Gloria, Mumbles' singing love interest. ``The message is there, but he isn't beating you over the head with it.''

Miller was developing ``Happy Feet'' several years before the success of ``March of the Penguins.'' Initially, it wasn't planned as a musical. Nor was it intended to tell a story about the environment where the lead penguin rails to the humans: ``Why are you taking our fish? You're causing an awful lot of grief!''

Miller just liked emperor penguins, finding their existence nothing short of incredible.

``I was struck by he way they live in community and share the load,'' he says. ``Their incredible efficiency. The way they waddle on land but then virtually fly underwater.

``These penguins don't have to sing and dance,'' Miller adds. ``They're amazing all on their own. I'd love for people to feel that and feel their responsibility to care for these creatures and their environment. They have such a tenuous hold on life. You can't take them for granted.''

Glenn Whipp, [phone]

[e-mail]

Winning a Princely favor, for a song

How do you tell Prince that his song stinks?

That was the question running through George Miller's mind when the Purple One volunteered to write a new song for Miller's animated movie, ``Happy Feet.''

``I was really scared,'' Miller admits. ``Because if someone's taking the trouble to write you a song, how are you going to tell him that you don't like it - particularly when we wanted to use another one of his songs for the film?''

The impulse for Prince's act of good will came when Warner Bros. asked for permission to use his 1986 spare funk classic ``Kiss'' in the movie. Miller wanted to change the lyrics a bit, making it appropriate for a love duet between penguins voiced by Hugh Jackman and Nicole Kidman.

Prince curtly replied that he doesn't allow his lyrics to be altered.

So two representatives from Warner Bros. flew to Minneapolis and screened the film for Prince at his home studio, which conveniently also sports a movie theater.

``As the movie was ending, he ran up on the stage, picked up his guitar and started looking for chords,'' Miller says. ``The Warners blokes figured, `Well, that's it. He's not interested in the movie.' Then he said, `Give me two weeks. I'm going to write you a song.' ''

That song, the jazzy, upbeat ``The Song of the Heart,'' plays over the closing credits and is the first single being released off the soundtrack. Safe to say then that Miller ended up liking it.

``Yes, thank God,'' Miller says. ``I heard the song over 200 times because we had to animate that final dance sequence that plays over the credits, and I never got sick of the song. When I told Prince my initial fears, he laughed. But I don't think he would have been laughing if I had told him I didn't like his song.''

-- G.W.

Film almost got the freeze

We wouldn't be seeing the dancing, singing penguins of ``Happy Feet'' this holiday season had George Miller been successful in making the movie he first wanted to shoot7/8 ``Mad Max 4: Fury Road,'' starring Mel Gibson.

Miller had rented production offices in the South African country of Nambia and had the infrastructure in place to begin shooting the fourth chapter in a series that was last active with 1985's ``Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome.'' But shortly before production was to begin, the United States invaded Iraq, the American dollar collapsed against the Australian dollar, and Miller lost his budget.

Warner Bros. told Miller to bail on ``Max'' and start work on ``Happy Feet.'' Gibson went on to direct ``The Passion of the Christ.''

Where does ``Fury Road'' stand today? Miller says he has at least one movie he wants to make before trying to get another ``Mad Max'' vehicle off the ground. He adds he'll need to find another actor if he ever does make the film.

``Mel's going to be too old,'' Miller says. ``The character needs a lean and hungry look. Mel was 21 when he did the first one. It's a bit unseemly to be running around in the wasteland in your 50s, I think.''

-- G.W.

CAPTION(S):

5 photos, 2 boxes

Photo:

(1 -- cover -- color) HOT `FEET'

They sing, they dance, but these penguins also have an environmental message

(2 -- 4) Lessons about the environment and the importance of individuality are imparted gently in the new film ``Happy Feet.''

(5) no caption (Prince)

Box:

(1) Winning a Princely favor, for a song (see text)

(2) Film almost got the freeze (see text)