Capsule/Summary **½
At its best moments, Happy Feet Two manages to echo highlights from its predecessor. Unfortunately, it suffers from a lack of ambition to ever do much more than that. The plot centering around characters stuck in a hole may prove too personally metaphoric for adult audience members having to sit through the whole film. The film is impressive in a number of technical ways, and is rendered to digital perfection on this Blu-ray release. Extras are kid oriented, with some additional interactive content available for viewers with an iOS device who download a separate free app
Happy Feet Two
Directed By: George Miller
Starring (Voices): Elijah Wood, Robin Williams, Hank Azaria Alecia Moore (P!nk), Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Sofa Vergara, Common, Hugo Weaving, Richard Carter, Magda Szubanski, Anthony LaPaglia, Ava Acres, Benjamin 'Lil P-Nut' Flores, Jr., and Meibh Campbell
Studio: Warner
Year: 2011
Rated: PG-13
Aspect Ratio: 2.4:1
Subtitles: English SDH, French, Spanish
Release Date: March 13, 2011
The Film **½
Happy Feet Two continues the story of dancing Emperor Penguin Mumble (Wood) who, since growing to adulthood in the original film, now has a son named Erik (Acres) with his mate, Gloria (Moore). The main story follows the young and slightly clumsy Erik as he tries to find his way in the Penguin world while his father, in turn, attempts to connect with him. Events come to a head when a natural disaster leaves every Emperor Penguin in their colony except for Mumble, Erik, and Erik's young friends Atticus (Lil P-Nut) and Boadicea (Campbell) trapped in a giant pit. The film contains numerous "B" stories involving favorite characters from the first film and new characters such as a Scandinavian-accented "Flying Penguin" Sven (Azaria), and two Krill experiencing an existential crisis named Will (Pitt) and Bill (Damon). All stories converge as Mumble and Erik enlist the aid of creatures great and small to rescue their colony through (you guessed it) dancing.
While the success of the first Happy Feet all but guaranted this sequel, that still does not mean it was a good idea. The film opens promisingly with a big musical medley production number that reproduces what worked best about the first film, but it quickly digresses after that. The story is all over the place. Favorite characters from the previous film such as Ramon and Lovelace (both voiced by Robin Williams) feel awkwardly shoehorned into the action. The musical sequences are infrequent and of inconsistent quality. Other than a decent power ballad called "Bridge of Light" from P!nk, the film never approaches the level of musical entertainment of its opening medley again. New characters such as Krills Will and Bill are initially entertaining, but wear out their welcome by repeating what amounts to the same jokes over and over again.
The film is technically very impressive with noticeable improvements from the first film in almost every aspect including the rendering of the Antarctic environments, the expressiveness of the character animation, the "virtual camera" movement, and the signature crowd scenes with penguins and krill extending as far as the eye can see. I would expect the 3D version to be even more eye-popping as a number of the scenes seem staged deliberately to enhance depth effects.
The Video *****
The video comes courtesy of an AVC encoded 1080p presentation letterboxed to the film's original 2.4:1 theatrical aspect ratio. While the film itself struggles with the actual need for its own existence, that does not stop the producers of this Blu-ray disc from providing video quality that is digitally perfect reference quality. The CG animation is rendered impressively without even a hint of compression artifacts or distracting contrast or color manipulation.
The Audio *****
Audio comes courtesy of lossless DTS HD-MA 5.1 track. Similar to the video, the audio is a digitally perfect reference quality rendering of a dynamic and spacious surround mix. Alternate language dubs are available as Dolby Digital 5.1 tracks in French, Spanish, Portuguese, and Thai.
The Extras **½
When the disc is first played, the viewer is greeted with the following series of promos presented in AVC-encoded high definition video with Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo audio:
Proper special features on-disc are also presented in VC-encoded high definition video with Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo audio unless otherwise noted below.
Happy Feet Two Movie App Second Screen (58:11) is a feature that synchronizes the film on disc with an iOS app for an interactive experience while watching (most of) the movie. The app is free from the Apple App Store and works on iPads, iPhones, and 4th generation or newer iPod Touch devices. In addition to a few games and activities that work independently of the film on disc, one can launch the Second Screen feature to synchronize with a viewing of the movie on a network-connected Blu-ray player. The content is a mix of interactive games (strum Krill patterns to make music, swipe the screen in different directions to make Erik dance, etc.), sing-alongs, occasional bits of trivia hosted by Lil P-Nut, and two segments documenting Robin Williams' visit to a group of ladies who knit sweaters for real-life rescued Penguins. When watching the film in Second Screen mode, selecting a feature via the iOS app causes the film to jump to the point in its timeline that is relevant. Similarly, if one passively watches the film in Second Screen mode, the default selectable app feature will increment. For the most part, everything worked as I expected, although I did have trouble getting one of the sing-alongs to properly synchronize. After three tries and some fussing about, I did manage to get it to work. Other than the games which require interaction by the user to work, most of this content would have been better served as on-disc material such as a picture-in-picture track. In fact, three of the sing-alongs are redundant with on-disc features.
Under the heading of Behind the Story are the following special features
Helping Penguins and Pals (11:51) is an informative featurette focusing on Antartica and the various creatures that live there. An unidentified narrator and Lil P-Nut interact in between segments that focus on Emperor Penguins, Adéle Penguins, Southern Elephant Seals, Blue Whales, Krill, and the effect of Global Climate Change on Antarctic wildlife and habitats. The interstitial segments with the narrator and Lil P-nut are pretty corny, but the segments focusing on science are interesting. On-camera comments are provided by Aquarium of the Pacific Presentation Manager Lori Perkins, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Marine Mammal Biologist Monica DeAngelis, Aquarium of the Pacific Blue Whale Research Coordinator Kera Mathes, and Aquarium of the Pacific President Jerry Schubel.
How to Draw a Penguin (4:59) is a brief tutorial from Storyboard and Conceptual Artist Tim McEwen on how to draw the character of Erik. I am not sure how effective his instructions will prove to the average budding cartoonist, but fans of gadgetry will be able to appreciate it as a demo of how a digitizing tablet works.
Running with Boadicea (3:10) is a brief featurette focusing on the new character of "Bo" who is a toddler penguin who, like most toddlers, is defined largely by her Parkour- like "free running" movements and yodeling. On-screen comments are offered by Storyboard and Concept Artist Tim McEwen, Animation Supervisor Rob Coleman, and Director George Miller. It concludes with a brief animatic of the character that was not used in the finished film.
The Amazing Voices of Happy Feet Two (4:51) focuses on the film's voice cast which, atypically for most animated features, recorded most of their dialog together. Interview segments are the usual collection of happy people saying nice things about each other, but the behind the scenes glimpses of the recording sessions are interesting. On-camera comments are provided by Elijah Wood ("Mumble"), Robin Williams ("Ramon"/"Lovelace"), Miller, Alecia Moore (P!nk) ("Gloria"), Hank Azaria ("Sven"), Matt Damon ("Bill"), Common ("Seymour"), and Lil P-Nut (Atticus).
I Tawt I Taw a Puddy Tat (3:49) is a CG musical Looney Tunes short featuring Sylvester and Tweety. The audio consiste of a vintage recording of a song of the same name featuring the voices of Mel Blanc (as Sylvester and Tweety) and June Foray (as Granny). It is a brief but entertaining bit of cat andmouse bird shenanigans.
Under the heading of Music are the following special features
Pink's New Song (1:56) is a brief featurette in which Alecia "P!nk" Moore discusses the writing and performing of the song "Bridge of Light" for the film.
Sing-Alongs are karaoke-style synchronized-lyrics presentations for three songs from the film:
BD-Live Access to the WB Portal offers the usual slow-loading access to more commercials. The only Happy Feet Two-related contents are a repeat of the How to Draw a Penguin featurette and the ability to host a screening.
An SD-DVD Copy of the theatrical version of the film is included on a separate disc. It is a bare bones encoding of the film with Dolby Digital 5.1 sound and alternate language audio and subtitles in French and Spanish.
Packaging
The Blu-ray and SD DVD discs are enclosed in a standard sized Blu-ray case with a double sided tray allowing it to accomodate both the Blu-ray and SD DVD. The case has die cut holes to reduce plastic use.
There are three paper inserts in the hard case. The first contains information and the access code for an Ultraviolet Digital Copy of the theatrical version of the film. This allows users with a Flixster account to access a streaming version of the film on computers and certain tablets and mobile devices. It also allows viewers with Flixster Collections software to download a copy to their computer's hard drive. The second includes instructions on how to access the Happy Feet Two Mobie App for iOS devices. The third is an add for the multi-platform Happy Feet Two: The Video Game.
The hard case is in turn surrounded by a cardboard slipcover that reproduces the same art with foil and embossment enhancements and some additional text touting the DVD and Ultraviolet Digital Copy.
At its best moments, Happy Feet Two manages to echo highlights from its predecessor. Unfortunately, it suffers from a lack of ambition to ever do much more than that. The plot centering around characters stuck in a hole may prove too personally metaphoric for adult audience members having to sit through the whole film. The film is impressive in a number of technical ways, and is rendered to digital perfection on this Blu-ray release. Extras are kid oriented, with some additional interactive content available for viewers with an iOS device who download a separate free app
Happy Feet Two
Directed By: George Miller
Starring (Voices): Elijah Wood, Robin Williams, Hank Azaria Alecia Moore (P!nk), Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Sofa Vergara, Common, Hugo Weaving, Richard Carter, Magda Szubanski, Anthony LaPaglia, Ava Acres, Benjamin 'Lil P-Nut' Flores, Jr., and Meibh Campbell
Studio: Warner
Year: 2011
Rated: PG-13
Aspect Ratio: 2.4:1
Subtitles: English SDH, French, Spanish
Release Date: March 13, 2011
The Film **½
Happy Feet Two continues the story of dancing Emperor Penguin Mumble (Wood) who, since growing to adulthood in the original film, now has a son named Erik (Acres) with his mate, Gloria (Moore). The main story follows the young and slightly clumsy Erik as he tries to find his way in the Penguin world while his father, in turn, attempts to connect with him. Events come to a head when a natural disaster leaves every Emperor Penguin in their colony except for Mumble, Erik, and Erik's young friends Atticus (Lil P-Nut) and Boadicea (Campbell) trapped in a giant pit. The film contains numerous "B" stories involving favorite characters from the first film and new characters such as a Scandinavian-accented "Flying Penguin" Sven (Azaria), and two Krill experiencing an existential crisis named Will (Pitt) and Bill (Damon). All stories converge as Mumble and Erik enlist the aid of creatures great and small to rescue their colony through (you guessed it) dancing.
While the success of the first Happy Feet all but guaranted this sequel, that still does not mean it was a good idea. The film opens promisingly with a big musical medley production number that reproduces what worked best about the first film, but it quickly digresses after that. The story is all over the place. Favorite characters from the previous film such as Ramon and Lovelace (both voiced by Robin Williams) feel awkwardly shoehorned into the action. The musical sequences are infrequent and of inconsistent quality. Other than a decent power ballad called "Bridge of Light" from P!nk, the film never approaches the level of musical entertainment of its opening medley again. New characters such as Krills Will and Bill are initially entertaining, but wear out their welcome by repeating what amounts to the same jokes over and over again.
The film is technically very impressive with noticeable improvements from the first film in almost every aspect including the rendering of the Antarctic environments, the expressiveness of the character animation, the "virtual camera" movement, and the signature crowd scenes with penguins and krill extending as far as the eye can see. I would expect the 3D version to be even more eye-popping as a number of the scenes seem staged deliberately to enhance depth effects.
The Video *****
The video comes courtesy of an AVC encoded 1080p presentation letterboxed to the film's original 2.4:1 theatrical aspect ratio. While the film itself struggles with the actual need for its own existence, that does not stop the producers of this Blu-ray disc from providing video quality that is digitally perfect reference quality. The CG animation is rendered impressively without even a hint of compression artifacts or distracting contrast or color manipulation.
The Audio *****
Audio comes courtesy of lossless DTS HD-MA 5.1 track. Similar to the video, the audio is a digitally perfect reference quality rendering of a dynamic and spacious surround mix. Alternate language dubs are available as Dolby Digital 5.1 tracks in French, Spanish, Portuguese, and Thai.
The Extras **½
When the disc is first played, the viewer is greeted with the following series of promos presented in AVC-encoded high definition video with Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo audio:
Warner Blu-ray 3D promo (1:50)
Happy Feet 2: The Video Game Promo (1:05)
Proper special features on-disc are also presented in VC-encoded high definition video with Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo audio unless otherwise noted below.
Happy Feet Two Movie App Second Screen (58:11) is a feature that synchronizes the film on disc with an iOS app for an interactive experience while watching (most of) the movie. The app is free from the Apple App Store and works on iPads, iPhones, and 4th generation or newer iPod Touch devices. In addition to a few games and activities that work independently of the film on disc, one can launch the Second Screen feature to synchronize with a viewing of the movie on a network-connected Blu-ray player. The content is a mix of interactive games (strum Krill patterns to make music, swipe the screen in different directions to make Erik dance, etc.), sing-alongs, occasional bits of trivia hosted by Lil P-Nut, and two segments documenting Robin Williams' visit to a group of ladies who knit sweaters for real-life rescued Penguins. When watching the film in Second Screen mode, selecting a feature via the iOS app causes the film to jump to the point in its timeline that is relevant. Similarly, if one passively watches the film in Second Screen mode, the default selectable app feature will increment. For the most part, everything worked as I expected, although I did have trouble getting one of the sing-alongs to properly synchronize. After three tries and some fussing about, I did manage to get it to work. Other than the games which require interaction by the user to work, most of this content would have been better served as on-disc material such as a picture-in-picture track. In fact, three of the sing-alongs are redundant with on-disc features.
Under the heading of Behind the Story are the following special features
Helping Penguins and Pals (11:51) is an informative featurette focusing on Antartica and the various creatures that live there. An unidentified narrator and Lil P-Nut interact in between segments that focus on Emperor Penguins, Adéle Penguins, Southern Elephant Seals, Blue Whales, Krill, and the effect of Global Climate Change on Antarctic wildlife and habitats. The interstitial segments with the narrator and Lil P-nut are pretty corny, but the segments focusing on science are interesting. On-camera comments are provided by Aquarium of the Pacific Presentation Manager Lori Perkins, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Marine Mammal Biologist Monica DeAngelis, Aquarium of the Pacific Blue Whale Research Coordinator Kera Mathes, and Aquarium of the Pacific President Jerry Schubel.
How to Draw a Penguin (4:59) is a brief tutorial from Storyboard and Conceptual Artist Tim McEwen on how to draw the character of Erik. I am not sure how effective his instructions will prove to the average budding cartoonist, but fans of gadgetry will be able to appreciate it as a demo of how a digitizing tablet works.
Running with Boadicea (3:10) is a brief featurette focusing on the new character of "Bo" who is a toddler penguin who, like most toddlers, is defined largely by her Parkour- like "free running" movements and yodeling. On-screen comments are offered by Storyboard and Concept Artist Tim McEwen, Animation Supervisor Rob Coleman, and Director George Miller. It concludes with a brief animatic of the character that was not used in the finished film.
The Amazing Voices of Happy Feet Two (4:51) focuses on the film's voice cast which, atypically for most animated features, recorded most of their dialog together. Interview segments are the usual collection of happy people saying nice things about each other, but the behind the scenes glimpses of the recording sessions are interesting. On-camera comments are provided by Elijah Wood ("Mumble"), Robin Williams ("Ramon"/"Lovelace"), Miller, Alecia Moore (P!nk) ("Gloria"), Hank Azaria ("Sven"), Matt Damon ("Bill"), Common ("Seymour"), and Lil P-Nut (Atticus).
I Tawt I Taw a Puddy Tat (3:49) is a CG musical Looney Tunes short featuring Sylvester and Tweety. The audio consiste of a vintage recording of a song of the same name featuring the voices of Mel Blanc (as Sylvester and Tweety) and June Foray (as Granny). It is a brief but entertaining bit of cat and
Under the heading of Music are the following special features
Pink's New Song (1:56) is a brief featurette in which Alecia "P!nk" Moore discusses the writing and performing of the song "Bridge of Light" for the film.
Sing-Alongs are karaoke-style synchronized-lyrics presentations for three songs from the film:
"The Mighty Sven" (4:15)
"Bridge of Light"(3:23), and
"Papa Oom Mow Mow" (1:14)
BD-Live Access to the WB Portal offers the usual slow-loading access to more commercials. The only Happy Feet Two-related contents are a repeat of the How to Draw a Penguin featurette and the ability to host a screening.
An SD-DVD Copy of the theatrical version of the film is included on a separate disc. It is a bare bones encoding of the film with Dolby Digital 5.1 sound and alternate language audio and subtitles in French and Spanish.
Packaging
The Blu-ray and SD DVD discs are enclosed in a standard sized Blu-ray case with a double sided tray allowing it to accomodate both the Blu-ray and SD DVD. The case has die cut holes to reduce plastic use.
There are three paper inserts in the hard case. The first contains information and the access code for an Ultraviolet Digital Copy of the theatrical version of the film. This allows users with a Flixster account to access a streaming version of the film on computers and certain tablets and mobile devices. It also allows viewers with Flixster Collections software to download a copy to their computer's hard drive. The second includes instructions on how to access the Happy Feet Two Mobie App for iOS devices. The third is an add for the multi-platform Happy Feet Two: The Video Game.
The hard case is in turn surrounded by a cardboard slipcover that reproduces the same art with foil and embossment enhancements and some additional text touting the DVD and Ultraviolet Digital Copy.
