It was genuinely upsetting to witness the birth of this young penguin into a community that primarily expresses itself through song, largely because he's completely incapable of carrying a tune. The constant musical numbers “Mumble” has to navigate are bad enough, but his lack of vocal ability is even more disheartening. As Cynthia Erivo might put it, “…he couldn’t carry a tune in a bucket”. Fortunately, he *can* dance; and he dances well. However, that doesn't really help since “Gloria,” the penguin he wants to impress, possesses a beautiful voice, while the grumpy (and Scottish) elder “Noah” believes this young penguin is responsible for their dwindling fish supply. Now rejected by his own people, and after an unpleasant encounter with a swift and dangerous leopard seal, he finds companionship with some other penguins who happen to be Hispanic, and together they embark on a journey to seek guidance from “Lovelace”. He insists that he was abducted by aliens who gifted him a plastic necklace. "Mumble" suspects these aliens might be behind the food shortage, so they travel across the entire snowy landscape, encountering hungry orca and enormous elephant seals along the way, before finally uncovering the truth about these beings from another world. It’s then that the film's environmental message becomes prominent; while this is admirable and easy to understand, the storyline falters and descends into confusion. The movie aims to teach us acceptance of those who are different and highlights the significant harm caused to our oceans by fishing nets and pollution, but these themes aren’t strongly connected through "Mumble," particularly during a hurried ending. There are moments when it's quite entertaining, but the plot points feel too thin and the characters underdeveloped to hold up as a full-length animated movie. Perhaps trimming it down to thirty minutes with a few memorable songs would have been better; concentrating more on its themes, and allowing for his Fred Astaire-style dancing to be more effective. It’s an inventive and decent film, but ultimately not very memorable.

Source on TMDB