Elijah Wood Interview For ‘Happy Feet Two’

The sequel to the Academy Award winning animated smash hit, ‘Happy Feet Two’ returns audiences to the magnificent landscape of Antarctica in superb 3D. Mumble, The Master of Tap, has a problem because his tiny son Erik is choreo-phobic. Reluctant to dance, Erik runs away and encounters The Mighty Sven – a penguin who can fly!! Mumble has no hope of competing with this charismatic new role model. But things get worse when the world is shaken by powerful forces. Erik learns of his father’s ‘guts and grit’ as Mumble brings together the penguin nations and all manner of fabulous creatures – from tiny Krill to giant Elephant Seals – to put things right. ‘Happy Feet Two’ features a voice cast of Elijah Wood, Robin Williams, Hank Azaria, Alecia Moore (P!nk), Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Sofia Vergara, Hugo Weaving, Richard Carter, Common, Magda Szubanski and Anthony LaPagila. The film is set for release November 18th in the US and December 2nd in the UK.

How easy was it to slip back into the voice of Mumble for this sequel?

Elijah Wood: Pretty easy, but I don’t nearly have the challenge Hank Azaria or Robin Williams have, in a sense that I don’t have a voice I’m doing, it’s really just my own voice. If anything it was slightly pitched down to be older and more fatherly. But I think jumping back into the world was made so easy just by the context of it – working with George Miller again, working with Robin Williams again, all those guys. It felt like a homecoming in a way, because we became friends and enjoyed working on the first film so much, it felt very familiar.

It must have been great going to Australia? You all went as a group to voice this, your not in a booth by yourself…

Elijah Wood: It is, it makes a huge difference. When you’re in a booth on your own, and I’ve done it, it’s not impossible, you can certainly create a character that way, but having the full cast, the scenes take a life of their own. You have so much to react to, and it breathes life into it that you can’t really experience when you’re on your own.

Mumble really struggles at times finding a balance as a father…

Elijah Wood: Yeah, the conflict for Mumble in this is trying to be the best father he can be for his son, whilst also trying to mend their relationship. It’s interesting because he wants to be inspiring to his son, but then he also wants his son to see reality for what it is. His son gets inspired by Hank Azaria’s character, who by all accounts is a flying penguin. So suddenly Eric thinks he can fly, and as a father that is such a unique struggle – wanting your son to believe that anything is possible, yet also to see the world for what it really is and to look at it from a realistic perspective. It is an interesting balance.

Is it ever slightly strange watching this character and hearing your voice come out of it?

Elijah Wood: It is (laughs), it’s extremely gratifying as well. When you work on a film like this, it’s done kind of in a bubble. We worked in this studio, predominately recording most of the dialogue over the course of a month, then little bits and pieces over the last two years. But it was done without any animation, well certainly no finished animation – the things we were seeing were visual storyboards, animated storyboards, things like that. So when you see the finished film, it’s such a treat. You work that long on something….it’s just the most gratifying thing seeing it come together.

I have to ask, back as Frodo, how is that going?

Elijah Wood: I’m so excited. It feels like revisiting a significant time in my life, it feels like a family reunion in a way – it also feels like stepping back into time (laughs). It has been eight years since we filmed the Lord of the Rings films. It’s wonderful to play that character again, to get to see old friends, to go back to New Zealand and visit everyone as they are all entrenched in Middle Earth. There’s all sorts of new cast members as well, Bilbo as a young man, played by Martin Freeman, he’s extraordinary. It’s just wonderful.