A police officer sees a man driving around with a pickup truck full of penguins. He pulls the guy over and says, “You can’t drive around with penguins in this town! Take them to the zoo immediately.”
The guy says okay, and drives away. The next day, the officer sees the guy still driving around with the truck full of penguins – and they’re all wearing sunglasses.
He pulls the guy over and demands, “I thought I told you to take these penguins to the zoo yesterday?”
The guy replies, “I did. Today I’m taking them to the beach!”
I’ve just finished watching the trailer to Farce of the Penguins and I would have to say I’m fairly disappointed so far. When I first heard they were making this mockumentary, I was generally interested. A movie trailer is supposed to highlight why you should see the movie. Farce’s trailer is giving me the idea that the whole thing is going to be voice-overs of bad, crude, sexually implicit jokes, one after another. Not that I don’t mind a crude joke now and again, but a whole movie? The cast list is astounding though. So many names in there that everyone will recognize. Samuel L. Jackson’s voice parodies Morgan Freeman’s narration from March of the Penguins. Hopefully this film won’t affect their careers much.
I’m appalled at the DVD cover for Farce as it boasts at the top, “In the tradition of Airplane!, Naked Gun, and Scary Movie.” Are you serious? How can constant sexual innuendo and anatomical humor compare to great Zucker films like Airplane! and The Naked Gun? Those movies had real humor including but not limited to puns, subtlety, and class.
Usually I am all for a movie about penguins but it may be going too far to say that I would actually watch the whole thing. Plus with its R rating, children shouldn’t watch it. I think a more noble approach would to done it in a more Mystery Science Theater 3000 kind of way with only a handful of voice actors. Of course, that would have just been a March of the Penguins redux with funny commentary. You can watch the trailer below but heed my warning. Bad language is abound and children should not view it.
I read this interesting article today on how Australian director George Miller got his movie, Happy Feet, off the ground. It talks about how he got his inspiration to bring the dancing penguins to life after seeing early animation footage of Gollum from The Lord of the Rings. He also highlights the vocal cast, especially Nicole Kidman & Steve Irwin, and the generous favor offered from singer, Prince.
A few days ago, I found this funny online comic about penguins. Overlord Ro’s humor is witty and the commentary about his weekly happenings is entertaining while sometimes giving us a peek on his progress on world domination. I immediately had to send him an email to tell him that I liked his comic and that I’ve placed a link to it on this blog. I just got his reply and the member newsletter where I noticed I got a mention for this site there and on this week’s commentary. Thanks a bunch, Ro! Keep with the comic. I’m loving it. Be sure to check it out, everyone.
Happy Feet is a fictional movie but there are some truths in it. As shown in the film an over-fishing threat does exist. This time it’s the Magellanic penguins on the Patagonian coast that may suffer. The local fisheries expected to rise due to worldwide demand. This appears to not be the first time this has happened. Back in the 1990’s, hake supplies were decreasing rapidly, causing a state of emergency to be announce cutbacks against fishing them. They plan on trying to set limits on fishing in these areas in order to side-step this crisis.
Oily anchovies provide a high-energy meal for penguins, sea lions, dolphins and cormorants, to name but a few. The pivotal role these tiny fish play in the food chain means that depleting their stocks could cause an ecological conundrum that the Magellanic penguins won’t be able to dance their way out of.
Make yourself at home and read up on anything and everything about the fascinating world of penguins and my obsession of learning more about them. If you have any comments, feedback, or requests, don't hesitate to contact me.
Penguin Geek 
