Elijah Wood’s Forgotten Animated Movie Is About To Leave HBO Max & Stop Streaming Entirely

Elijah Wood is best known for his role as Frodo Baggins in The Lord of the Rings, but beyond J.R.R. Tolkien’s iconic series, the actor has plenty of other incredible titles to his name. Since making his film debut as Video Game Boy #2 in 1989’s Back to the Future Part II at the age of 8, Wood has gone on to chart a more than 30-year career on the screen. Nearly two decades before his most recent appearances in The Monkey and the hit show Yellowjackets, the actor starred in an overlooked animated movie that is about to disappear from streaming.

In 2006, Wood voiced an adorable tap-dancing emperor penguin in George Miller’s jukebox musical comedy Happy Feet. The film centers around Wood’s Mumble, a young penguin who can’t sing a single note but has the unusual gift of tap-dancing. The movie, also starring Robin Williams, Brittany Murphy, Hugh Jackman, Nicole Kidman, and Steve Irwin, is scheduled to leave HBO Max on December 31st and stop streaming altogether.

Happy Feet Is an Overlooked Critical Darling

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Happy Feet was a major success when it was released in theaters in 2006. The film earned $384 million against its $100 million production budget to become the tenth-highest-grossing film of the year. With a “Certified Fresh” 76% critic score on Rotten Tomatoes, it also became a critical darling, even picking up numerous awards show nominations and ultimately taking home the inaugural BAFTA Award for Best Animated Film and the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. However, in the nearly two decades that have passed since Happy Feet’s release, the animated movie has largely been overshadowed by other animated hits of the era, such as Cars and WALL-E, and more recent releases, as well as Miller’s other work.

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The movie is a fun watch for the entire family with iconic dance sequences and catchy songs, but beyond the singing and dancing, Happy Feet also tackles complex themes like nonconformity, environmentalism, and prejudice. Happy Feet also notably stands out for its groundbreaking animation, the movie blending CGI and live-action footage to bring the penguins to life in a visually stunning and immersive snowy world.

Unfortunately, the sequel, Happy Feet Two, didn’t live up to the original. The movie underperformed at the box office with a $150 million gross against its $135 million budget and flopped with critics, earning just a 45% score on Rotten Tomatoes.

Where to Stream Happy Feet After It Leaves HBO Max?

Fans hoping to revisit the overlooked animated classic Happy Feet will want to act fast. The movie currently doesn’t stream outside of HBO Max, meaning that when it leaves the service on December 31st, it’s seemingly poised to stop streaming altogether. It is possible that the film will simply move to a different streaming service at the start of the new year or sometime shortly after, but in the world of streaming, nothing is guaranteed.

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