Farce of the Penguins

This topic contains:

• overall comments and recommendations
• details of classification and consumer advice lines for Farce of the Penguins
• a review of Farce of the Penguins completed by the Australian Council on Children and the Media (ACCM) on 2 August 2007.

Overall comments and recommendations

About the movie

This section contains details about the movie, including its classification by the Australian Government Classification Board and the associated consumer advice lines. Other classification advice (OC) is provided where the Australian film classification is not available.

ACCM review

This review of the movie contains the following information:

• a synopsis of the story
• themes
• use of violence
• material that may scare or disturb children
• product placement
• sexual references
• nudity and sexual activity
• use of substances
• coarse language
• the movie’s message

A synopsis of the story

The movie is a parody of an earlier documentary, the March of the Penguins.  Penguins Carl (voice of Bob Saget) and best friend Jimmy (Lewis Black) embark on a trek 70 miles back to the breeding grounds to begin the next generation of penguins.  On the way, Carl laments how he has always been unlucky in the love department so Jimmy resolves to help him find his “girl”.  On their journey they meet up with a few interesting personalities including other penguins, a snow owl, seals, sea-lions, and a walrus.  Eventually they reach the breeding grounds and Carl finally finds his true love, Melissa (Christina Applegate).  Together they produce a chick and live happily ever after.

Sexuality and sexual behaviour, both animal and human

There is some violence in this movie including:

• One penguin slaps another penguin with the implied intention of teaching the penguin a lesson.
• One female penguin is “talking” to another about pecking out her husband’s eyes.

Material that may scare or disturb children

In addition to the above-mentioned violent scenes, there are some scenes in this movie that could scare or disturb children under five, including the following:

• The numerous scenes of animals mating may appear scary to younger children
• Some of the penguins lose their footing down steep cliffs and slide over rough rocks to the bottom.
• A penguin dives into a hole in the ice and is chased by a sea lion.  The assumption is made that it is caught and eaten.
• Another penguin is taken off a rock by a bird of prey.
• In surprise, a penguin’s eyes are animated to pop out from its head briefly.

Children in this age group may also be disturbed by the above-mentioned scenes.

Children over eight are unlikely to be scared by anything in this film.

Children over thirteen are unlikely to be scared by anything in this film.

Product placement

The following products are displayed or used in this movie:

• Several snippets of current songs are sung during the movie.
• Other movies such as “Brokeback Mountain” and “Eyes Wide Shut” are referred to.

Sexual references

There are constant sexual references, many of them crude, including:

• In the opening shot, the narrator indicates how cold it is in Antartica by offering advice to the viewers to “let your pubic hair grow really long and wrap it around your testicles.  Unless you’re a woman, in which case you don’t have testicles.  So you might like to let your pubic hair grow to wrap around your vagina.”
• The narrator is discussing how the ecology of the environment has changed and there is less foliage.  He then compares this to different types of bikini waxes saying how he misses “big bushes”.
• “…we made love”
• “It would be nice to find a man who didn’t want me for my body”
• “Let’s make love with our eyes closed”
• “You also told me I need to get laid”
• Music is played during a march across the ice with the lyrics, “Hey sexy, come undress me, I want you next to me.”
• “All I can think about is the man who is going to have this hot booty”
• “All you think about is the sex”
• “Say ‘hey’ to my puddin’ pie”
• Lyrics sung by two penguins, “So many men, they want one thing, to slip it in without a ring.//If she’s not clean, it will sting.”
• A cut away of a mandril in an office telling the narrator, “If you do this picture, I’ll give you some back-up.  It’s pink and fleshy, hey?”
• “They’ll be home having sex with all the women”
• “Let’s get to the sex”
•  “I’ll see you on the inside.  Can you feel me, ‘cos I can feel you.”
• “How do I look?”….. “You look hot”
• Accompanying shots of a male penguin, there are sound effects of a zipper undoing and a thud
• “Look at that technique.  She’s going to be walking to the left for the rest of her life.”
• “Can I join one of your twosomes there? (Answer is “no”) Do you mind if I stand here and just urinate over the four of you?”
• “Do you wanna do it?”
• (While mating) “I’m not in the mood…..Your sister was in the mood.  I’m going to see her.”
• “We just had sex again but this time it was dirtier”
• Jimmy talks about the “hot sex” he had the night before.
• “I can’t have Jimmy’s baby because we didn’t do it in the regular way” (alluding to anal sex).
• Lyrics sung by Carl, “He came up from behind, inside he slid, he loved her in a way I never did.  He just kind of plugged her.”
• “Look!  She has your penis” (referring to their newborn chick)
• “Who’s been using my sanitary napkins?”
• “One of my husbands fired blanks.  None of them made me come like my Herbie.  I’ve got more lines around my uterus than you have on your resume”

Nudity and sexual activity

There is some nudity and sexual activity in this movie, including:

• Numerous scenes of penguins mating with many of the penguins “bedroom talking” during the act.
• There is a photo flashed on screen of a partly clad person described as a “half man, half woman”.
• Footage of a variety of animal species mating.
• A monkey is shown copulating with a coconut.
• An innocent piece of footage is portrayed (on two occasions) as an act of fellatio with the male penguin saying, “Keep doing it baby, daddy likes that.  Naughty, naughty girl.”
• One penguin rushes at another saying, “Say my name, bitch.  Who’s your daddy?  Look me in the eye.”

Use of substances

There is no use of substances in this movie, however substance use is mentioned including:

• “…one point eight, a six pack and a bong”
• “…then he drank too much he got sick”
• “You wanna buy…tequila shots, smoke…?”
• “You just acted like a groupie on acid”

Coarse language

There is excessive coarse language in this movie, including:

• the words “fuck” and “arsehole” many times
• “…frigid white anus”
•  “…walk back 70 miles to get laid”
•  “I’m horny”
• “Nature really fucked us, you can’t even jerk off”
• “Shit”
• “Stop bitchin’ ”
• “You’re such a pussy”
• “You’d freeze your arse off in the winter”
• “You can’t be so frickin’ needy”
•  “Gay? I’m all about the pussy”
• “…before the winter freezes their little buttholes completely shut”
• “…we can’t even scratch our own arses”….  “Scratch my arse”
• “Who are you pushing, mother-fucker?”
•  “…bullshit”
•  “Keep your nose out of my arse; I’ve got enough trouble keeping my dick out of the snow”
•  “Get a hold of yourself before I bitch-slap you.”
•  “Holy shit”
•  “Did you fart?” “No, I don’t fart.”
• “…Penguin pussy’s mighty cold.  Penguin pussy’s mighty hot”
•  “I told you, you son of a bitch”
• “You don’t have nuts; just a kind of flipper thing you use as a penis”
•  “I’ll never get to be some short bitch’s whore”
•  “A monkey will bang anything”
•  “Now get your hand out of my arse you fuckin’ Brokeback Mountain shit”
• “I am the first penguin in history who can touch his toes with his dick”
• “…gigantic penguin cock”
•  “Who wants to fuck the sensitive guy?”
•  “Everybody got boxed but me.  I’ve gotta bang something.  Pussy, pussy but none for me”
•  “…he just kind of plugged her”
• “…pussy-whipped”
•  “The father stuffs that egg up his nutless sack”
•  “…after he busted his woman’s butthole”

In a nutshell

Farce of the Penguins is a crude parody of an existing wildlife nature movie using actual footage of penguins on their march to the breeding grounds.  It is based on a documentary style with a narrator and minimal subtitles.

The positive messages from this movie, largely overshadowed by the crudity, are the importance of determination, endurance and friendship.

Parents may also wish to discuss the real-life consequences of sexual behaviour and the need to respect the opposite sex.