Awenydd

I saw Happy Feet this weekend! And I have a thing or two to say about it.

Happy Feet is a wonder of filmmaking, really. The animation is incredible. All the wonder and beauty of Antarctica is captured in each frame. From the grand expansive scenes of (I guess it would be) the Southern Lights to the monstrous arctic blizzards, every detail is beautifully rendered.

The music of the film, for the most part, is a thoroughly enjoyable experience. John Powell’s score does a good job of capturing the mood and accenting the action with exciting and interesting cues. The songs are well performed. Especially Robin Williams’ Spanish rendition of “My Way.” Speaking of which, Robin Williams’ performance is pretty funny all around.

So. From an artistic and technical standpoint, it was worth seeing. Because of the wonderful views, it was worth seeing on the big screen.

It’s too bad the story is a blatantly anti-Christian allegory. Here. I’ll break it down.

Anti-Ecclesiastical

Besides the nasty indifferent humans (aliens) who are polluting the environment and stealing all the fish from the cute little penguins, the villain of the whole set piece is the group of penguin “elders,” and particularly the oldest penguin elder, who speaks with a thick Scottish brogue and uses archaic English in his admonitions like “the Great Wind is that which giveth and taketh away.” No, I’m not kidding. He actually says that.

It seems that there has been a fish shortage recently, and the elders are baffled as to what to do about it. They conclude that rigid conformity to a religious sort of singing ritual is the answer. The Great Wind (which giveth and taketh away) must be displeased with them, so they should sing better, louder, and more religiously.

The main character, Mumbles, dropped as an egg and unable to sing, does not quite fit in. Instead of singing, he dances. This does not fit into the religious practice as prescribed by the great penguin church, and so when his influence grows he is promptly excommunicated.

This subplot is a clear attack against the organized church and the ignorance and bigotry that the all-accepting liberal secular world accuses it of. In fact, the whole eldership of the penguins is a twisted caricature of the church. One might even be tempted to think that the Scottish penguin pastor is a personal slam against John Knox.

“Non-conformity” (revolt against morality) is glorified

Mumbles is different. He can’t sing. And he does this weird little tap dance. It’s different. It must be evil, the elders conclude. “But he’s not hurting anyone!” his defenders say. No matter, he must go. Sure, the particulars of Mumbles’ different-ness is basically innocent. I enjoy tap-dancing as much as anyone. But Happy Feet is no innocent Ugly Duckling story.

With the whole story context of the penguin church and the elders’ insistence that his tap dancing is immoral, Mumbles’ non-conformity is being used to attack any moral standard in society. As if to say, “See? It is all just a matter of being different. If it’s not hurting anyone, it must be okay. There is no moral standard beyond the comfort of your peers. All these ‘differences’ are as innocent as tap dancing.”

Religion vs Science

Mumbles believes that the aliens (humans) are causing the fish shortage. The elders dismiss this as nonsense. There are no such things as aliens, and that is that. After all, “it is the Great Wind that giveth and taketh away.” All use of empirical evidence is lost on the penguin elders, so Mumbles goes off to prove that his theory is true. In the end, science trumps religion, and the elders are exposed as the ignoramuses they are. In fact, they join Mumbles in dancing for the humans.

This is a clear assault against the Biblical account of natural history. “Those stupid Christians, they think God created the universe! When all the empirical evidence indicates evolution. Imagine that.” The implication, of course, is that anyone who believes in a supreme divine Creator is as stupid and blind as the penguin elders in the film.

EDIT: Paragraph on “adulterous penguins” removed. See comments.

Conclusion

So that’s the nature of Happy Feet. It packages a poisonous anti-Christian message into a dangerously cute candy coated form and markets it to children. The included props to environmentalism and illegal immigration are relatively benign compared to what the film is really telling us. Christians should exercise great caution and lots of instruction when allowing their children to view Happy Feet.