It was probably inevitable after the astonishing success of March of the Penguins [my review] -- which was, let us remember, a French nature documentary, not exactly the stuff of blockbusters -- that the funny little critters would turn up everywhere. One of the most memorable lines in A Prairie Home Companion, earlier this year, was Garrison Keillor's joke about the birds:

Two penguins are standing on an ice floe. The first penguin says, "You look like you're wearing a tuxedo." The second penguin says, "What makes you think I'm not?"

That was just a throwaway, though. But now we have the delightful spectacle of Happy Feet to look forward to ... and lemme tell ya, I cannot wait to see this one. The film comes with a "warning": "may cause toe-tapping," but man, that's gotta be the understatement of the decade if the trailer is any indication. It's not just dripping with some serious cute overload -- penguins! and they're dancing! and hugging! -- but it makes me want to jump up and dance myself, with a huge grin on my face. If the trailer is a fair teaser for the film, then there's no way Happy Feet doesn't make $200 million. It all just looks too joyful, and there ain't enough joy in the world to ignore it when it comes along.

  Watch the Trailer

Which is why I'm of two minds when it comes to Farce of the Penguins, which has been rumored for months, and just this week came the announcement: It will go straight to DVD in January. We were all shocked to discover, in last year's The Aristocrats, what a filthy mouth Bob Saget has, and now that he's been set free of his sweet-sitcom-dad reputation, all bets, it seems, are off. This is how Saget describes Farce in a press release:

Who knew penguins were so dirty? They cheat on their wives, get eaten by seals, and hump anything within seventy miles! They're a bunch of dirty little birds. A heartfelt 'thank you' goes out to all my comedic friends who were kind enough to get on board to help me expose the seedy, sordid, sex-slaved world that is penguin life.

And the film's trailer -- viewable at the official Web site -- is a nonstop barrage of crudity. It looks like the whole film will be an extended riff on this one joke -- "Isn't it funny when penguins swear and talk about sex?" -- and maybe it'll work. But I'm not getting my hopes up.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
MaryAnn Johanson
author of The Totally Geeky Guide to The Princess Bride
minder of FlickFilosopher.com

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