Remember Happy Feet, the animated movie about a penguin who can’t sing but can tap dance like an absolute madman? Well, a TikToker has done the unthinkable and delivered an earth-shattering analysis of the film, arguing that it belongs in the horror genre. And you know what? They’re absolutely right. Points were made.
Myah (@mvuhs) unpacked the deeply bizarre movie in two separate three-minute long TikToks. That’s right, two — so you better buckle up for this.
Let’s take a squiz at the first vid.
@myahcore i tried to talk as fast as i could there’s just too much to cover #happyfeet #childhood #childhoodruined #fyp #foryou #cartoons #throwback #edit #moviereview #moviecommentary
“I watched this movie for the first time since I was seven yesterday and I swear to God I don’t remember it being so scary,” Myah said.
“If not a horror genre this is a psychological thriller, or one of those natural disaster movies that just keeps you on the edge of your seat, about to shit yourself.”
Somehow, I love the idea of Happy Feet falling into the same genre as Gone Girl more than It. Amy Dunne walked so Mumble (Happy Feet‘s penguin protagonist) could run.
“So, first of all going into the movie we just think ‘happy singing penguins’ or whatever,” Myah continued.
“No. These penguins are horny. Like, there’s literally one part in the movie where the macaroni penguin leaves to have an orgy.”
The macaroni penguin in question is called Lovelace and looking at his profile on Fandom, the idea of him having an orgy actually kind of makes sense. Basically, he has heaps of love stones — in real life, these are the stones that male penguins give to the lucky ladies they want to woo — that other penguins have given him in exchange for his wisdom.
His bountiful supply of love stones means he has a lot of clout and all the gals love him. Also, he just looks like a rooter from way back, in my opinion.
The randiness continues ‘cos the penguins sing to find soul mates and TBH watching the TikTok, there were definitely some horndog moments.
Singing plays a huge part in Happy Feet, but as Myah said in her vid, there are also themes of religion and “existential climate change”, as well as a hefty dose of rejection.
You see, the elder penguins reckon “the penguin God” is going to be pissed ‘cos there’s this conspiracy that Mumble (who, as we’ve previously established, cannot sing but is a cracking tap dancer) is stealing the other penguins’ fish because he’s “different”.
Searching for answers, Mumble and some of his mates (who are called the Amigos and for some reason are Spanish) decide to pay the wise and clout-hungry Lovelace a visit.
Back to the religion theme, Lovelace is “seemingly a preacher penguin who’s feeling the Holy Spirit” according to Myah.
The thing is, he’s got the plastic rings of a six pack wrapped around his neck and they’re literally choking him, which is extremely morbid for a kid’s movie.
Myah said Mumble decides to investigate the whole “plastic ring choking Lovelace to death” situation ‘cos he has a hunch humans (or aliens, as he thinks they’re called) are behind it, and he also reckons they’re stealing the penguins’ fish.
Mumble tells the penguin elders about his thoughts and feelings and they bloody exile him. The nerve!
Mumble, Lovelace and the Amigos go on a journey to get to the bottom of everything and, obviously, it’s hectic and they compete with the elements.
Also, Lovelace is “visibly choking and dying, tongue out and everything and we can hear him gasping for air,” Myah said.
Mumble, Lovelace and the Amigos eventually find a fishing boat (after surviving a killer whale attack) and our brave protagonist decides to investigate it all by himself. Unsurprisingly, he fails, eventually washing up on a beach and landing in a zoo.
In my opinion, it’s at this point that the “horror” and “psychological thriller” elements really kick in because Mumble essentially starts descending into madness.
“He’s losing his damn mind,” Myah said.
“He’s hallucinating, he’s staring at the water, he’s hitting the walls and he’s trying to talk to the humans.”
It’s giving Toni Colette slowly becoming possessed in Hereditary.
And on that note, it’s time to move onto part two of this horror Happy Feet analysis.
@myahcore Replying to @kalenamishell final part glad everyone enjoyed my thoughts #happyfeet #childhood #childhoodruined #weirdmovies #feverdream #fyp #foryou #cartoons #throwback #moviereview #moviecommentary #greenscreen
Basically, Myah said Mumble starts tap dancing for the humans at the zoo and everyone starts going balls to the wall at his sweet moves. And then in two shakes of a lamb’s tail, he’s back in Antarctica trying to explain to his penguin pals that he met the humans/aliens and they responded to his tap dancing.
The elder penguin tries gaslighting poor Mumble by telling him there’s no such thing as aliens and he’s disobeying the penguin God.
Meanwhile, my man Mumble has what looks like a fucking bomb strapped to his back, which is actually some sort of tracking device the zoo workers whacked on him.
The device starts beeping and Myah made an excellent point by saying that as a child, she absolutely would’ve thought Mumble was about to blow up. Again: unnecessary horror for an animated children’s movie.
For some reason, all the penguins slowly start dancing and Mumble’s Mum takes him to a cave where his Dad is “deep in despair and sulking”, according to Myah.
“Apparently, his dad thought because of the part he played in the exile that he’d just killed his son,” she said.
Mumble shows his old man how to tap dance and they boogie out of the cave and meet all the other penguins, where this massive dance party continues.
And then a fucking HELICOPTER flies over everyone. Sorry, I thought this was meant to be Happy Feet not Apocalypse Now?
A research team hops out of the helicopter and starts filming the penguins, who at this point are violently dancing for the humans/aliens. The footage of the penguin flash mob is broadcast worldwide and suddenly ambassadors, politicians and everyone in between is debating whether humans should keep taking the penguins’ fish.
Myah said the world erupts into protests and the situation is completely dominating the news cycle. It’s all very apocalyptic and ominous, in my opinion.
And then the movie ends with the powers that be deciding to completely ban fishing in Antarctica.
Look, I know Happy Feet is a movie and it’s not real, but Myah has still put forward a gripping case analysing why it’s a horrifying fever dream. I’ve been clutching at straws trying to figure out why a children’s movie is so disturbing, until I checked who directed it.
It was goddamn George Miller, the bloke who created the post-apocalyptic Mad Max franchise. And just like that, Happy Feet checked out.
