YOU might expect a movie about tap-dancing penguins to come from Disney or Pixar, not the man who directed Mad Max and The Witches Of Eastwick. But George Miller was also producer and writer of Babe so he has experience of talking animal pictures.

Happy Feet, though, isn't exactly what you might expect. It's not wall-to-wall cute penguins. There's an awful lot of music (and dancing, of course) and an environmental message about looking after the planet to give food for thought.

Having waddled along unhurriedly for most of the time, it suddenly picks up speed and ties things up unsatisfactorily and with undue haste. Emperor penguins in Antarctica are bound together by singing. They're defined by their "heartsong", which makes life difficult for new-born Mumble (Wood).

He's a rotten singer who tries to compensate for his vocal deficiency by tap-dancing. While mum Norma Jean (Kidman) thinks this is cute, dad Memphis (Jackson, in his second animated movie in two weeks, following Flushed Away) reckons, "it just ain't penguin". His best friend - and ultimate love interest - is Gloria (Murphy, displaying a fine singing voice), who's the best singer on the ice floe.

Unfortunately, all that peculiar tapdancing makes Mumble an outcast, causing Noah the Elder (Weaving) to cast him out of the community. He chums up with a lively bunch of penguins, the Adelie Amigos, led by fast-talking Ramon (Williams, on fine comic form). They like his footwork and invite him to party with them, and seek the advice of Rockhopper penguin Lovelace (Williams again). Amid all the singing and dancing, there are scary encounters with seals, whales and of course man the hunter before the environmental message is hammered home. The animation, though, is spectacular with wonderful snow and ice covered vistas and clear blue waters.

Featuring the voices of Elijah Wood, Robin Williams, Brittany Murphy, Hugh Jackman, Nicole Kidman, Hugo Weaving, Anthony La Paglia

Rating: Four stars