Tappy Toes

This is another mockbuster that people either act like the worst thing ever or quickly become bored of when it turns out to not be as entertainingly bad as they thought it would be.

I rolled my eyes when YouTube critics did so for Chop Kick Panda because it was obvious people were nitpicking for the sake of filling time for their "THE KUNG FU PANDA FROM YOUR WORST DREAMS!!1!" videos while downplaying the positives. For once, I can actually relate to such a knee-jerk reaction. I was one of those people too.

This movie was my first introduction to the world of Renegade Animation mockbusters and as such, it left the biggest impression on me. The first time I watched it was finding it for free on Amazon Prime and watching the cobbled-together trailer. Since I didn't want to pay money to watch Happy Feet, I was going to riff on this movie to pass the night.

At first, I immediately started to make fun of the dialogue. Then it changed to being "this is actually OK, I guess." Then it turned to laughing at some of the jokes. Then, being completely sold on the entire thing. Imagine the whiplash between my preconceived ideas and the fact that this was a genuinely funny and entertaining movie.

STORY & WRITING:

Like Chop Kick Panda, this is a very comedy-oriented movie so the plot is simple to make way for the jokes. It sees two skua birds named Buddy and Lou attempting to care for a penguin chick they stole, who they name Pingo, with really nothing in common with Happy Feet or its sequel outside of a tap-dancing penguin. Unlike Chop Kick Panda, however, there are a larger amount of heartwarming moments that are balanced with the humor.

In fact, the joke-to-story ratio is fairly even in comparison, with Chop Kick Panda getting a bit too exposition heavy towards its middle portion. It also really feels like they found their way with the humor after Chop Kick Panda, featuring more clever wordplay, cultural references, character banter, and even meta jokes.

Tappy Toes can be downright hilarious at times. During the very first scene, there is a parody of a nature documentary that has a narrator drawing over the skuas trying to steal a penguin's egg, culminating in a fourth wall break that has them unable to move due to being trapped under said drawings.

Dialogue is frequently laden with sarcastic wit, with characters playing off of each other's personalities well ("You're acting strange." "I always act strange." "...Point taken." / "If anybody sees us consorting with the enemy, we'll be the laughingstock of the entire bird community!" "We already are." "Yeah, well, now they'll be laughing even harder!").

There is a pessimistic penguin named Ozzie whose constant opposition to his wife Gerty's optimism is a frequent source of laughs ("Look at him, Ozzie, he even looks like you!" "They all look like me. We all look like each other."). One of the antagonists, a hermit crab named Gabby, even performs a reference to the Merchant of Venice when his minion, a sea lion named Thrasher, revels in his supposed death.

The humor really enhances these character dynamics, with the skuas and Pingo as well as Gabby and Thrasher being absolute standouts in terms of the sheer charm this movie exudes.

One of the things that holds the movie back, however, is the pacing and climax. At first, it seems like it's going well with the movie introducing three different POVs (the skuas and Pingo, the penguin colony, and the antagonists). With this being a little over 40 minutes long, you might think that each POV would get roughly 10-ish minutes of screen-time before the climax that brings everyone together, but the movie actually gives Pingo his own POV during the middle point and has him interacting with a new character named Bella.

The skuas only reappear towards the climax. In addition to this, the penguin colony scenes can sometimes drag on for too long, meaning that the screentime that two of the main characters get is very minimal in the long run. The climax was pretty rushed as well, with the skuas having to make up for not being in roughly half of the film and the conflict being resolved in a fairly anticlimactic manner.

ANIMATION:

In some regards, I feel like the movement might be just a little bit better in Chop Kick Panda. That film was better at hiding how limited the animation was, with less scenes where there are extreme motions such as running or dancing like this one. While I don't fault the movie for trying to show more motion, it can result in some scenes looking awkward such as a scene towards the beginning where Gerty is dropped by the skuas, having an oddly subdued reaction. The animation for when she looks for them in a hole in the ground looked very janky as well.

Still, when it comes to posing, this movie is another step forward, with it being easy to tell the tone and intent of a scene just by looking at the characters. The tweening also looks less rigid than Chop Kick Panda, with more bounciness to movements, which helps it look less boring to look at.

The art-style is a much needed improvement over Chop Kick Panda, which had flatly-colored characters with no black outlines. While not bad, it didn't do anything to stand out either. Tappy Toes, on the other hand, features a nice compromise in which the vast majority of the characters have black outlines with accessories being comprised of flat colors.

Character designs also have more unique and varied proportions, as well, looking distinctive enough to stand out. Not only does this enhance the look of the characters themselves, it helps contrast the flat-looking, but detailed backgrounds as well.

CONCLUSION:

If you're looking for something to entertain yourself to 40 minutes, Tappy Toes is another genuinely good Renegade Animation mockbuster to look out for. A lot of the jokes feel like they could be in an Animaniacs episode with how smart they are and there are some really fun character dynamics, especially with the antagonists.

Pacing and climax issues aside, this is worth watching in my opinion. Just remember, if someone asks if you if you want to watch Happy Feet Two, tell them that the much-superior Tappy Toes exists, instead.