The Top Ten Penguin Movies

Penguins have long been a staple in the Hollywood grab-bag. Perhaps it is their redeeming cuteness and un-birdlike appearances about them that makes them so fascinating, or, maybe it is the simple fact that they are from such distant and desolate locations that make these fowl so enduring. Whatever the case, a slew of recent penguin-themed films have popped up and have really taken the nature-themed movie market by storm. But, even if the penguin is not the soul focus of the film, they still tend to leave a lasting impression. Here are the ten best movies featuring -in one form or another- the penguin.

10. Cry of the Penguins (1972)

Mr. Forbrush (John Hurt) a young biologist with an eye for the ladies chooses an unlikely assignment to study a colony of penguins in the wilderness of Antarctica. He feels it's the only way to impress a young biology student Tara played by Hayley Mills. A very strange thing happens to him.. He starts to become more concerned about the penguins and less about himself.

9. The Adventures of Scamper the Penguin (2005)

The animation in this Japanese cartoon is certainly not up to the standards of today's big-budget toons, but it's a cute little film that smaller kids should find interesting and adults can tolerate. Scamper is a penguin chick with a penchant for wandering away from the nest. Facing attacks from seagulls and sea lions, Scamper nevertheless wanders off and meets a Huskie and his human owner, a scientist. Another venture is not as friendly though as Scamper and his little pal Snowflake are whisked away by hunters who plan to sell them to the zoo. They meet Louie, a Macaroni penguin who tries to help them escape.

8. Madagascar (2005)

The penguins steal the show. In the sprightly Madagascar, a mid-life crisis inspires Marty the Zebra (voiced by Chris Rock) to escape from his lifelong home, a New York zoo. His equally pampered friends--Alex the Lion (Ben Stiller), Gloria the Hippo (Jada Pinkett Smith), and Melman the Giraffe (David Schwimmer)--then escape to bring him back. Unfortunately, their attempt at damage control persuades zoo officials that the animals are unhappy, so all four get shipped to an animal preserve in Kenya...only a squad of maniacal penguins change the destination to Antarctica. The quartet end up on an island where, in addition to meeting some hedonistic lemurs, they learn about the food chain--and that Alex is a different link on the chain from the other three.

7. The Pebble and the Penguin (1995)

As a brief promo by a Sea World Animal Ambassador tells us before the movie begins, male penguins really do present pebbles to the females during a courtship that will result in a lifetime match. This post-Thumbelina Don Bluth/Barry Manilow effort gives us Hubie, a nerdy penguin whose love for the beautiful Marina, remarkably, is returned. Alas, before he can present her with a fine stone, his evil--and strangely buff--rival throws him into the swirling sea. Epic adventures and a comical sidekick result.

6. Farce of the Penguins (2007)

This Jackson-narrated mockmentary of March of the Penguins, written and directed by Bob Saget (America's Funniest Home Videos), highlights the penguins' lascivious side, as the male's march inland to find mating partners. Overdubbed with human voices, Farce stars three penguins, Carl (Bob Saget), a neurotic, insecure bird whose search for true love has so far been in vain, Jimmy (Lewis Black), a mobster-like father figure who encourages Carl to keep up hope, and Marcus (Tracy Morgan), a smooth, African American penguin with a self-professed huge penis.

5. Surf's Up (2007)

This story follows a teenage rock hopper penguin named Cody Maverick from his hometown of Shiverpool, Antarctica, where all of the other penguins think he's nothing but a surfing fool, to the "Big Z Memorial Surf Off" on Pen Gu Island. Young Cody is determined to win the most important competition in the world of penguin surfing in honor of "Big Z," a deceased surfing legend whom he has idolized since childhood. But the waves in Pen Gu are different than in Shiverpool, and the competition is steep.

4. Wallace and Gromit and the Wrong Trousers (1993)

Clay-animation master Nick Park deservedly won the 1993 Academy Award for Best Animated Short for this 30-minute masterpiece, in which the good-natured inventor Wallace and his trusty dog, Gromit, return for another grand adventure. It all begins on the morning of Gromit's birthday, when Wallace gives his beloved pooch a rather selfish gift that (to Gromit's chagrin) is more useful to Wallace--a pair of mechanical "techno-trousers" ("ex-NASA," says Wallace, duly impressed) that can be programmed to take Gromit out for "walkies" while Wallace sits comfortably at home. Gromit's not exactly thrilled with the new gadget, and things go from bad to worse when Wallace rents a room to a new boarder--a rather suspicious-looking penguin--to offset his rising expenses.

3. Happy Feet (2006)

In the cold land of Antarctica, the Emperor Penguins each express their true love with a special heartsong of their own that expresses their very being. However, the misfit Mumble cannot sing, but instead has an extraordinary talent to tap dance with almost magical energy and expression. Nevertheless, the deeply conformist leadership of the colony fearfully blames the young penguin's unorthodox ways for the lean fishing that threatens them all. Defiant in the face of unjust rejection, Mumble and his true friends set out to find the true cause of the famine. Through the motley crew's trials and perils, Mumble learns many things about his frozen world, not the least of which being that his toe tapping talent may be what he needs to save his people.

2. Batman Returns (1992)

The first Batman sequel takes a wicked turn with the villainous exploits of the freakish and mean-spirited Penguin (Danny DeVito), whose criminal collaboration with evil tycoon Max Shreck (Christopher Walken) threatens to drain Gotham City of its energy supply. As if that weren't enough, Batman (Michael Keaton) has his hands full with the vengeful Catwoman (Michelle Pfeiffer), who turns out to be a lot more dangerous than a kitten with a whip.

1. March of the Penguins (2005)

Each winter, alone in the pitiless ice deserts of Antarctica, deep in the most inhospitable terrain on Earth, a truly remarkable journey takes place as it has done for millennia. Emperor penguins in their thousands abandon the deep blue security of their ocean home and clamber onto the frozen ice to begin their long journey into a region so bleak, so extreme, it supports no other wildlife at this time of year. In single file, the penguins march blinded by blizzards, buffeted by gale force winds. Guided by instinct, by the otherworldly radiance of the Southern Cross, they head unerringly for their traditional breeding ground where--after a ritual courtship of intricate dances and delicate maneuvering, accompanied by a cacophony of ecstatic song--they will pair off into monogamous couples and mate. The females remain long enough only to lay a single egg. Once this is accomplished, exhausted by weeks without nourishment, they begin their return journey across the ice-field to the fish-filled seas. The male emperors are left behind to guard and hatch the precious eggs, which they cradle at all times on top of their feet. After two long months during which the males eat nothing, the eggs begin to hatch. Once they have emerged into their ghostly white new world, the chicks can not survive for long on their fathers' limited food reserves. If their mothers are late returning from the ocean with food, the newly-hatched young will die.