Another cheap and obvious cash grab made by Gaiam Americas. This time, it's a mockbuster of Happy Feet 2, which was released the same month as this.
Since the film takes place in Antarctica, the range of colors is pretty limited to white snow, black and white penguin feathers, and blue skies and water. Just like Chop Kick Panda all of the animation looks stiff as iron bars. The character models are plain and have very limited animation. For the most part, only their mouths moved as they stand in place and talk. This animation, or lack thereof, made the characters seem like lifeless animatronics.
I couldn't feel any connection to any of the characters at all, not even Pingo's saddened parents or his budding relationship with the Skua brothers. The villains were just as boring and unimpressive, except maybe Gabb with his intimidating shell voice. Plus, the narrator kept giving unnecessary lessons on zoology and evolution.
Surprisingly, the voice acting, and dialogue isn't that bad. Pingo sounded okay, being voiced by longtime voice actress Katie Leigh. Listening to the Skua bird brothers' bicker may be worth a chuckle here and there, and, again, Gabby had an imposing villain voice. But that's the only major highlight.
In the end, this was only a step up from better than Chop Kick Panda. And while Happy Feet 2 wasn't the best animated film, it was still head and shoulders above anything Gaiam ever made. At best, this is worth only a single watch for kids who really like penguins.
