Penguin Movies abound!

How many penguin movies have you seen?

Well, there have been a lot this past year. I've heard that there's a new one - something about penguins surfing, but I haven't seen that one yet. I managed to catch that animated flick, "Happy Feet" recently and a few months ago that great documentary about penguins, "March of the Penguins."

"Happy Feet" is billed as a kids movie, but it really touches on some meaningful themes. It shows the proverbial 'ugly duckling' (a penguin in the film obviously) who doesn't fit in, who doesn't have the presumed required 'heart song' to find his one true love. What he does have is an ambition to find out what happened to all the fish and what he can do to solve the food shortage. He also has a lot of courage. In addition to being a touching story, there is just some music and foot tapping dance scenes. It's overall an uplifting film and it feels good to see a film that manages to entertain without violence or foul language (a refreshing change). Other messages in the film?

I joked with some friends, "it shows that not all humans are evil, that some want to help the penguins." Okay, so maybe that wasn't the main message, but I hope that kids, like adults, walk away feeling like they can make a difference. That's a message, given the events in the world today, that truly needs to be remembered.