What Do The Critics Say?

"What a delightful surprise to find a film whose gimmick is not simply a shallow one-joke wonder but one that delivers on multiple levels. I haven't laughed as much for a long time; Mr Popper's Penguins has the cute factor, is hilariously funny and its heart is as warm as ice is cold. Not surprisingly, the penguins steal scene after scene; these are incredibly well trained penguins. Carrey is superb and goes from crazy-mode to credibly sincere in the flash of an eye." Louise Keller URBAN CINEFILE "Forgive the alliteration, but part of the fun found in “Penguins” comes from Popper’s assistant Pippi whose pithy pronouncements pleasantly puncture the plot. Director Mark Waters isn’t a hack, so the slapstick sequences hit their cues and, the clever camera angles elevate even the obligatory fart jokes. Carrey holds the enterprise together, stepping out of character briefly for a Jimmy Stewart impression. Jim Carrey shrewdly lets his tiny co-stars have most, but not all, the fun in Mr. Popper's Penguins." Christian Toto TOTO'S MOVIE REVIEWS "Carrey has never been better, filing down the rough edges of his manic tendencies into a performance that times the comedy of pratfalls and slow burns with faultless precision. Brisk and heartfelt, there’s not a wasted moment in this frolic that is anything but frivolous." Andrea Chase KILLER MOVIE REVIEWS "The penguins are a marvel and worth the price of admission. Carrey is at home with his flock of aquatic, flightless birds. A great time to be had by all. Turn off your brain off and director Mark Waters comedy of feathers, based on the beloved children’s book by Richard and Florence Atwater, is a fabulous vehicle for Carrey’s brand of comedic flair." David Michael Brown EMPIRE MAGAZINE "With a bit of heart, a bunch of cute penguins, Jim Carrey not overplaying it too much and a dash of Angela Lansbury Mr Popper's Penguins actually turned out to be quite charming. Even more surprising is that the film actually has a soul. Far more enjoyable on the whole, especially when the movie used real penguins instead of CGI counterparts." Matthew Razak FLIXIST

"Just when you think penguin mania is over, here comes Jim Carrey plus the cutest bunch of penguins ever to waddle across the screen and steal your heart. My favorite scene? Carrey showing off a tap dance routine Popper has taught the birds. Carrey and the legendary Angela Lansbury also share a couple of wonderful scenes: one in the highly cinematic Guggenheim Museum." Betty Jo Tucker REEL TALK MOVIE REVIEWS "The casting of Jim Carrey is by far the most interesting element of the film. Tom Popper is a familiar riff on characters he’s previously mastered. Mark Waters plants his camera and mostly lets Jim Carrey work his comedic schtick (and, thankfully, his dramatic chops) in Mr Popper's Penguins. It’s no Ace Ventura: Pet Detective (1994), but given its agreeable humour and digestible amount of saccharine sentiment, Mr Popper’s Penguins will do just nicely as an afternoon at the movies for the family." Simon Foster SBS "Adorable that they are (with very few unpleasant habits), the penguins have a more important role to play in this story than just be amusing and cute, slide around the floor in puddles of water and make (sometimes deafening) quaarking noises. They help Mr Popper remember the importance of a close family - in which dads are there and they share their feelings with their children, something young Popper missed out on. Based on the much loved 1938 novel, the adaptation brings the story, the setting and the characters up to date (or at least changes them all to suit modern movie making) but retains its central and essential message." Andrew L Urban URBAN CINEFILE "Instead of just aiming at the kiddie audience or skewing it too much towards the adult one, this enjoyable movie finds the perfect center between the age ranges. Carrey's warmest, funniest movie in years and its perfect for kids and adults. Carrey’s performance is right on target every step of the way. He is silly, rubber faced, loving, frantic and a million other things but he is always a good man at heart." JACKIE K COOPER MOVIE REVIEWS

The Inside Story "Mr Popper's Penguins" is based on a novel, originally published in 1938, written by the husband and wife team of Richard and Florence Atwater. The book tells the very funny yet touching story of a humble, small-town house painter and his family who inherit twelve penguins. Awarded the Newbery Medal in 1939, "Mr Popper’s Penguins" became a classic through generations, and is a staple on elementary school shelves to this day. Producer John Davis loved the book, which was well known in his own household. "My children had read the book in third grade, and my wife had read the book in third grade," Davis ("Predator") says. "Everybody since 1938 had read the book in third grade!" Davis, the producer of such hit films as "Garfield" and "Daddy Day Care", found the Atwater's story appealing on several levels. "It’s a great story about a guy who’s living a life that’s not really working for him," Davis ("The Chamber") notes. "In the book, the penguins are sent to him by an Antarctic explorer he’s having a pen-pal relationship with, and the penguins turn his life around and move it to a really fun place. And that idea was kind of enchanting to me." The screenplay, written by Sean Anders & John Morris and Jared Stern, updated the Atwaters’ book to present day. "It’s not the 1930s anymore, and Tom Popper is a very different character from the Mr Popper in the book," says executive producer Derek Dauchy. "Though the film’s Mr. Popper is no longer a house painter who dreams of traveling the world, the script retained the book’s sense of fun and its family values. I think that theme stays true in our film, which is about a man who learns something about himself through getting these penguins by happenstance." Davis notes many filmmakers were eager to tell the story of Mr Popper and his pack of penguins. But it was Mark Waters, known for "Mean Girls, who Davis thought would be the ideal match for "Mr Popper's Penguins". "I sat down with Mark, and he talked about the picture and his vision of the movie, and I said, this is the guy, this is the director," Davis ("I, Robot") explained. While casting the role of Mr Popper, Davis learned something rather surprising about Hollywood’s top talent. "I found out that actors and comedians love penguins. For the first time in my life I had six major comedians to choose from: some of whom showed up at my office with penguin statues and said, 'I have to do this movie because I love penguins.' But it didn’t take long to cast the title role of Mr Popper. The producer found the perfect "Popper" combination of talents in Jim Carrey, the hugely successful star of such films as "The Truman Show" and "Bruce Almighty". "Jim is a really talented physical comedian, but also an actor who’s able to generate a lot of heart." "I remember telling everyone I talked to that there was only one person I could see bringing this character to the screen, which was Jim Carrey," adds Waters. "Luckily, Jim read the script, and was immediately excited by it. And he’s also a huge lover of penguins." That's putting it mildly. "These penguins are insanely beautiful," two time Golden Globe winner Carrey exclaimed. "They are incredible creatures. There are few animals that make you feel love; that strike that kind of chord. It’s really difficult to be unhappy about a penguin. That’s one of the reasons I did this movie. Penguins are a kind of obsession with me. They are puppies, times ten!" Once he signed on, the actor worked closely with the director and writers on the script. "The process was incredibly illuminating and fun," Waters recalls. "Jim is much more than a master of comedic invention; he also has a rare kind of emotional accessibility." To play Amanda, the filmmakers cast Carla Gugino ("Night at the Museum" & "Spy Kids"). For the actress, deciding to take the role of Amanda was easy. "I just read the script, and I thought, 'I’d see this movie in a second.' It’s so funny, but it’s also so human." While warming to Popper and his new pals, Amanda is wary of his grand promises to the kids. "Carla grounds our story, and makes the reality of his former family life feel credible and real," executive producer Jessica Tuchinsky ("500 Days of Summer") explained. But the penguins couldn’t have arrived at a worse time for Mr Popper; he’s in the middle of trying to land a deal that would earn him a partnership at his real estate firm. But first he must charm formidable woman, Mrs Van Gundy, into selling the property he seeks. Waters’ choice for the role was an acclaimed and beloved stage, screen and television actress who has chosen to do very few films in recent years: six time Golden Globe winner Angela Lansbury. "When I read this script, I had a dream of casting Angela Lansbury," Waters says. "But it took quite a long courting process. When Angela was convinced that we were making something special, she decided to join us and help make it happen." Three time Oscar nominee Lansbury (1945, '46 & 63) says her decision to take the role was two-fold. "I was interested in doing the film because I’m a great admirer of Jim Carrey. And I understood that the story was very well known and the book was a classic with children. I always love doing something that children can enjoy." For the role of Pippi, Popper’s perky young assistant, the filmmakers cast an up and coming actress, Ophelia Lovibond (Vanessa in "No Strings Attached"). Pippi, a rather high strung young woman with a particular preference for words with the letter 'p' (alliteration), is perpetually at other end of Popper’s cell phone or preferably, by Popper's side. Lovibond describes Pippi as Mr Poppers "go-to girl for everything he needs, whether it be looking after his children or sorting out his schedule or any other insane request that he wants met." The filmmakers then cast Clark Gregg ("Iron Man") to play Nat Jones, head of the 'Flightless Bird Division' of the New York Zoo. A Hollywood hyphenate, Gregg, who has directing ("Choke" 2008), screenwriting ("What Lies Beneath" 2000) and acting ("500 Days of Summer" 2009) credits to his name, admits one of the reasons he took the role was to work with the titular birds. "I’m not going to lie. I was excited about the idea of hanging out with some penguins." David Krumholtz ("Numb3rs") was cast as another thorn in Popper’s side: his nosy neighbor, Kent. On the losing end of a bidding war for Popper’s sun-filled apartment, Kent keeps a close eye on Popper, in hope that he might catch Popper breaking one of the co-ops rules, like keeping forbidden pets. "Kent’s apartment is a dark, ominous, gloomy hole in the other side of the building, that he lives in with dying plants, so he’s very jealous of Popper," says Krumholtz, who played Benji Austin in "Superbad". "Kent starts to sense that something’s going on in Popper’s apartment that he could use to his advantage to get Popper out so that he can get that apartment which he so deeply covets." To play the role of Popper’s daughter Janie, the filmmakers cast fourteen year old Madeline Carroll ("The Spy Next Door"), who made her film debut at age five in John Davis’ hit comedy "Daddy Day Care". Madeline describes her character as someone who’s going through a difficult stage: the teen-age years. "When you first meet her, she’s in a very bad mood because she’s, well, a teen. So that’s really funny, to see how Popper is struggling to figure out what she wants." In the original script for "Mr Popper's Penguins", Popper’s younger child was another girl, but after searching all over the country to cast the role, a meeting with ten year old Maxwell Perry Cotton ("Like Dandelion Dust") resulted in a gender change as Waters recalls. "Once I saw Maxwell come in and read, he just had this kind of really likeable, and: dare I say it; boyishness, that suddenly the part seemed to make complete sense with him." Long before "Mr Popper's Penguins" began principal photography in October 2010, the filmmakers began their search for the six penguins: Captain, Lovey, Bitey, Nimrod, Stinky and Loudy (so named for their distinctive traits), to star alongside Jim Carrey. "We went all over the world to look for the right penguins," Davis recalls. While penguins have made appearances in movies before, never before have the birds held such a key role in a narrative film. "Audiences are going to see something they haven't seen before." They enlisted Birds & Animals Unlimited, Hollywood’s top animal trainers, to help find the birds. They called Scott Drieschman, the respected penguin expert, to aid in the search. Having worked with penguins since 1972, first at Sea World and then as a consultant to zoos, aquariums, and oceanariums around the world, Drieschman has traveled to Antarctica numerous times to conduct research for the National Science Foundation. He describes his work’s goal as "to establish breeding colonies in captivity from one zoo to another so that we have a stable penguin population." This film would be Drieschman’s first foray into the movie business. He finally decided upon Gentoo penguins for the film, "There are seventeen species of penguins. The Gentoos are the third largest of all the penguins, found in the sub-Antarctic and the Falkland Islands, South Georgia and South Chapman’s." Ranging in size from about nineteen to twenty-two inches tall, they're are distinguished by the white stripes across their heads and by their bright orange feet. When the penguins arrived in Brooklyn at the end of August, 2010, the trainers at Birds & Animals had their work cut out for them. "The penguins were pretty wild when we got them," says head trainer Larry Madrid, who has been working with animals for thirty years. "The first part of the training was getting to know them and getting them to eat food from us in a way that they were comfortable with. And then we went into a whole process of desensitization and sanctuary training and position reinforcement." "The trick was to get them to be calm and to give them places where they could go and feel safe," adds Drieschman. After several weeks of training, but before filming began, the cast members visited the Gentoos in their penguin habitat. "The actors would come over and see the penguins first, and get a feel for what they were like, and experience the cold temperature," says Madrid, who adds that Jim Carrey was particularly good with the penguins. "He was willing to feed them fish. He’s really funny, and it was neat to see him interact with them in his way. Jim was amazing with the penguins." "I had no idea penguins were so difficult to train," says Carrey ("Horton Hears a Who!"). "All they want is fish, so I carried fish around with me everywhere. In my pockets, shoes: everywhere." "You cannot stand next to them and not smile," says Gugino ("The Lookout"). "They’re just such little forces of joy. And they work for fish!" Where the penguins had to 'act' by performing a very specific action, or when the filming location could not be made hospitable to the Antarctic birds, the production’s visual effects team, led by VFX producer Blondel Aidoo and VFX supervisor Richard Hollander, took over. What's It All About?

This is the story of Mr Popper, a high-powered New York business man who, despite being able to close any deal, suddenly finds his life turned upside down and around. Growing up in Brooklyn, New York, young Tommy Popper looks forward to the moments when, on his tiptoes to reach a ham radio in his bedroom, he can talk to his world-traveling father. Years later, Tommy is now Mr Popper, a highly successful real estate developer in Manhattan. Amicably divorced from Amanda, with two children he sees on alternate weekends, Mr Popper lives the life of luxury in his ultra-modern Park Avenue apartment and is well on his way to becoming partner at his prestigious firm. That is, until the morning a final gift from Popper’s late father arrives at his front door: a crate containing a penguin from Antarctica. Poppers efforts to send it back, only escalates the problem when five more arrive.

The Verdict "Those who loved "Happy Feet" and were enthralled by "March Of The Penguins" or perhaps, like me, have been lucky enough to see the Penguins on Phillip Island in the days when we sat quietly on the sand and watched then come ashore without all the restraining influences that commercialism has brought to the famous Penguin Parade, will find much to like, love and laugh at in "Mr Popper's Penguins". Fans of Jim Carrey will benefit even more as he once again gives a noteworthy performance which never goes 'of the scale' in terms of what some find, overpowering. Cinemagoers who previously found him 'too hard to handle' will be pleasantly surprised. Sure there are traces of those traits that for some were off-putting, but they never overshadow either his, the supporting cast or the six penguins: Loudy, Lovey, Bitey, Captain, Nimrod and, one that will evoke plenty of laughs from younger members in the audience, Stinky. Full of good family values and rated G, "Mr Popper's Penguins" never drags its feet. Added bonus is the casting of eighty five year old much awarded Angela Lansbury as Mrs Van Gundy. Amongst the other recognizable faces is that of Carla Gugino who played Mom in the first three "Spy Kids" films (but won't be seen in the fourth edition "Spy Kids: All the Time in the World in 4D"). How good is "Mr Popper's Penguins"? Very good. Or as Popper's perky young assistant Pippi might say: perfectly pitched performances prevail. See it at your multiplex and then hang out for the DVD. Can't wait to see the out-takes etc. Damn good fun for all ages! 4 STARS." Who Is Playing Who?

Jim Carrey Carla Gugino Angela Lansbury Ophelia Lovibond Madeline Carroll Clark Gregg Jeffrey Tambor David Krumholtz Philip Baker Hall Maxwell Perry Cotton James Tupper Dominic Chianese William C Mitchell Kelli Barrett Dylan Clark Marshall Brian T Delaney Charles L. Campbell Olga Merediz

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Mr Popper Amanda Mrs Van Gundy Pippi Janie Nat Jones Mr Gremmins Kent Franklin Billy Rick Reader Yates Tommy's Mom Young Tommy Popper Young Tom Popper Sr (voice) Old Tom Popper Sr (voice) Nanny

The Production Team Directed by Mark Waters Screenplay by Sean Anders/John Morris/Jared Stern from the novel by Richard Atwater and Florence Atwater Produced by John Davis Executive Psroducer Joel Gotler and Jessica Tuchinsky Cinematography by Florian Ballhaus Film Editing by Bruce Green Casting by Kathleen Chopin & Marci Liroff Production Design by Stuart Wurtzel Art Direction by Patricia Woodbridge Set Decoration by Ellen Christiansen Costume Design by Ann Roth Run Time 94 minutes Rated G [AUST] Copyright ©2011 -Twentieth Century Fox Films - All Rights Reserved ©1999-2011 - The Movie Pages & Impact Internet Services - All Rights Reserved. Protected by Australian & International Copyright, Trademark Laws & Intellectual Property Rights.