Can't wait to take E!

On tap: 'Happy Feet' animates icy Antarctic
Updated 8/31/2006 7:48 PM ET E-mail | Save | Print | Reprints & Permissions | Subscribe to stories like this Subscribe to stories like this
Flightless family: Nicole Kidman, E.G.Daily and Hugh Jackman give voice.
Enlarge Warner Bros.
Flightless family: Nicole Kidman, E.G.Daily and Hugh Jackman give voice.
By Susan Wloszczyna, USA TODAY
Pirates slashed, fashionistas clashed and superheroes soared. But a certain something was missing from the 2006 summer moviegoing experience.

Something black and white and cuddly all over.

Namely, awww-inducing penguins.

Last year was waddle nirvana with the hot doc March of the Penguins and those stealthy stowaways in the animated hit Madagascar. This year, however, there's been a dearth of mirth from Antarctica.

But George Miller, the man who made pigs talk in the Babe films, will unveil a chorus line of tuxedoed birds when his HappyFeet dances into theaters Nov. 17. The Aussie filmmaker offers a few tidbits about his cartoon adventure, in the works long before those marching penguins made a box-office splash:

•An idea is hatched. Miller first thought of doing a film about emperor penguins after seeing the BBC documentary Life in the Freezer. "I had no idea what extraordinary creatures they were. It was a chance to look at how individuals in a community can't survive without depending on one another." He says Warner Bros. chief Alan Horn bought the French-made March "because he had seen our footage and was sensitized to how interesting penguins were." The sale also allowed the studio to space out the release dates.

•A high-tech fable is born.Happy Feet uses both computer and stop-motion animation to tell the story of misfit Mumble (voiced by Elijah Wood), whose lack of singing ability hampers his search for a mate. Instead, he has a knack for tap. "You can't train a penguin to dance," Miller says. "Animation was the only way to do it." Taking cues from Weta Digital's Gollum in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, the director hired Broadway's Savion Glover to do Mumble's moves — with metallic taps replaced by the sound of a penguin's toenails.

•A musical is found. Miller's fantasy somehow evolved into a tuneful extravaganza — or "an accidental musical," as he calls it. Instead of a distinctive squawk to attract a partner, as they use in nature, these penguins have their own signature pop hits to warble. Everything from The Beatles and the Beach Boys to Queen and Stevie Wonder is sung by such actors as Brittany Murphy (Somebody to Love) and Robin Williams (whose pint-size Adelie penguin croons My Way in Spanish).

•A Prince is charmed Hugh Jackman, as Mumble's Elvis-inflected dad Memphis, and Nicole Kidman, as his Marilyn-inspired mom Norma Jean, perform Prince's Kiss. But Miller wanted to change a lyric or two, and had to ask permission. "We got a denial. Prince said no." But then Warner Bros. decided to show His Purpleness the movie. "Not only did he allow us to change the lyrics," Miller says, but "he said, 'I want to write a song.' It inspired him."