Mumble (Happy Feet)

Template:HappyFeetChar Mumble is a fictional emperor penguin, and the protagonist of the 2006 animated film Happy Feet. He was voiced by Elizabeth Daily as a chick and Elijah Wood as an adult. Mumble's tap choreography was provided via motion capture by Savion Glover.

Happy Feet

When Mumble was still an egg, his father Memphis accidentally dropped him, briefly exposing Mumble to sub-zero temperatures. Possibly as a result of this, Mumble hatched with a horrible singing voice but with an affinity for tap dancing, which was completely unique. His parents were both worried about him, as in their world, a penguin without a Heartsong may never find a mate. While still a chick, Mumble encountered a flock of skuas who were intent on eating him. Mumble managed to distract them by pointing out a yellow leg band on the lead skua, who then explained the band was the result of an alien abduction.

At the penguin graduation ceremony, Mumble was the only penguin who had not completely shed his down feathers. He still went out to the sea with his classmates (in fact, he was the first to dive into the icy Antarctic waters) and there he had an encounter with Gloria, a penguin he admired. During a graduatuon party Gloria sings 'Somebody to love' to her classmates but Mumble ruins the party by trying to sing and gets kicked out of the party for interrupting Gloria. Mumble finds a small ice pad where he listens to the rest of Gloria's song.

The next morning Mumble is woken by a leopard seal that chases him and gets so close to eating him that he had him in his mouth, and then falling back to the ice, where the seal cannot move quickly, where he meets five adelie penguins called the 'Amigos' who like Mumble's dancing. Mumble and the little penguins head to Adelieland and meet other adelie penguins who also like his dancing. Mumble and the Amigos meet a rockhopper penguin name Lovelace who is the guru of Adelieland. Mumble notices a talisman on Lovelace's neck that reminds him of the yellow band on the Skua's leg who told him about aliens. Mumble begins asking many questions about aliens and how Lovelace got the talisman on his neck, this angers Lovelace who doesn't answer the questions and walks away.

Mumble and the Amigos head to Emperorland where it is mating season. Mumble tries to impress Gloria but he knows he can't sing, so Ramon hides behind Mumble and sings to Gloria. She doesn't fall for it and at first rejects him, but when he dances to her heartsong, she realizes they are meant for each other, and many other penguins dance with them. Unfortunately, the elders see the penguins' antics and Noah banishes Mumble for not changing his ways. He returns to Lovelace now determined to find out information about the fish shortage and wants to speak with the "aliens". After discovering that his talisman was never given to him by a mystic beings, and that Lovelace is suffocating, he goes to find the aliens for help. Mumble, the amigos, and Lovelace travel far and they reunite with Gloria, who Mumble convinces to leave for her safety, and they also meet elephant seals who warn them of the "alien annhilators". When they reach the Forbidden Shore killer whales attack, and Lovelace gets his talisman off his neck in the process.

Fishing ships come to the forbidden shore and the penguins watch them plunder fish. Mumble follows the ship leaving his friends behind. He eventually washes up on the beach and gets put in a zoo where he's surounded by humans who can't understand his cries about the fish. After three months, a little girl communicates with Mumble by tapping on the aquarium glass and Mumble responds by dancing. The humans return Mumble to Emporerland where he reunites with Gloria, the amigos, and his parents. He convinces half of the penguins to dance for the humans, (the other half chant with the elders in defiance) who arrive in a helicopter. Soon all the penguins dance for the humans, who take footage of them and the United Nations decide to protect the penguins' food supply.

In the end all is well. Mumble gets back together with Gloria and becomes a hero. All of Emporerland dances with Mumble. As a side note, a chick dancing in the end of the film is said to be Mumble and Gloria's child.

Character design

Mumble retains his down feathers throughout the film. It is only by the film's climax that the remaining down feathers start to molt. This was a deliberate decision made by the filmmakers in order to distinguish Mumble from the other emperors. Mumble's icy blue eyes are a homage to his voice actor, Elijah Wood - as well as further distinguishing him from the other amber-eyed emperors. some people say his eyes are blue because he was dropped in snow as an egg. Some penguins have been seen with green eyes and red.

Tuxedo theme

File:Mumble (Regular) & Gloria.jpg

Adult Mumble without his down on the right

Mumble's plumage resembles a tuxedo with spats, formal clothing for men that is associated with the traditional tap dancer image, made popular by well-known dancers like Fred Astaire. The most notable feature of Mumble's "outfit" is the bow tie-shaped mark on his chest, which is gray as a chick and yellow as an adult. His adult plumage sports markings on his feet that resemble spats, and white lines on his flippers resembling cuffs. While Mumble is escaping a hungry leopard seal, the pursuer bites Mumble's tail into two parts, and it takes on the appearance of coat tails.

Adult design

Several Happy Feet books depict Mumble without his downy feathers by the climax of the story.

Until late in the film's production, it was intended for Mumble to lose his down during his pursuit of the fishing fleet. This decision was remitted in order to keep Mumble's unique look throughout the film.