Happy Feet, a wonderful animated movie designed for the inner child in each of us, tells the story of Mumble, an Emperor penguin who can't sing like the rest of the birds. Mumble has a terrible voice, but he's a terrific tap dancer -- which makes him an outcast. While the rest of the penguins find their "heart songs," Mumble expresses his love and joy with his feet instead of with his vocal chords. Little do any of the penguins know that Mumble's tap-dancing talent might end up saving them all.

Mumble's mother (voiced by Nicole Kidman) thinks what her son does is "kinda cute," but his father (voiced by Hugh Jackman) insists he should try to fit in and stop his hippity-hop nonsense because "It ain't penguin!" As Mumble (voiced by Elijah Wood) grows up, he starts having strong feelings for Gloria, an expert singer (voiced sensationally by Brittany Murphy) -- but has difficulty getting close to her because his vocalizing efforts are so ugly.

Things start to look up for Mumble when he meets Ramon (voiced by Robin Williams with a Spanish accent) and a group of smaller penguins from a different tribe who actually like his dancing and want to help him win Gloria's attention. As a sort of grand gesture,  Ramon gives it his all in a rousing ventriloquist rendition of "My Way."

Sadly, these efforts backfire, but Mumble's new friends also decide to assist him in his mission to find out why the penguins are so short on fish, their important food source. This is where the film takes on a darker tone as Mumble, Ramon and his gang go on a long, dangerous journey to find out about the "aliens" (humans, of course) who are responsible for the penguins' food problem. Unfortunately, I fear this part of the movie might be too disturbing for very young children. Some little tykes in the audience at the screening my husband and I attended cried out loud over what was happening on screen during this section of the flm -- which went on a bit too long, even for me.

Although I'm impressed with the dazzling look of Happy Feet and the way it explores significant issues relating to tolerance, diversity and ecology, what I enjoyed most about the film was its spectacular singing and dancing sequences. As the world's most avid movie musical fan (you can look it up), I became enchanted with the variety of songs in this film and those cute tapping feet. Way to go, penguins! When I got home, I even put on my old tap shoes and did a few lively time steps myself.

Who knows? Perhaps, as Happy Feet suggests, tap dancing might one day save the world.

(Released by Warner Bros. Pictures and rated "PG" for mild peril and rude humor.)

Click here to read Betty Jo's "Penguin Mania" feature article.