As an initial inspiration for the film, George Miller cited an encounter with a grizzled old cameraman whose father was Frank Hurley of the Shackleton expeditions, during the shooting of Mad Max 2. "We were sitting in this bar, having a milkshake, and he looked across at me and said, 'Antarctica'. He'd shot a documentary there. He said, 'You've got to make a film in Antarctica. It's just like out here, in the wasteland. It's spectacular.' And that always stuck in my head." Happy Feet was also partially inspired by earlier documentaries such as the BBC's Life in the Freezer.

In 2001, during an otherwise non-sequitur meeting, Doug Mitchell impulsively presented Warner Bros. studio president Alan Horn with an early rough draft of the film's screenplay, and asked them to read it while he and Miller flew back to Australia. By the time they had landed, Warner Bros. had decided to provide funding on the film. Production was slated to begin sometime after the completion of the fourth Mad Max film Fury Road, but geopolitical complications pushed Happy Feet to the forefront in early 2003.

The animation is invested heavily in motion capture technology, with the dance scenes acted by human dancers. The tap dancing for Mumble was provided by Savion Glover, who was also co-choreographer for the dance sequences. The dancers went through "Penguin School" to learn how to move like a penguin, and also wore head apparatus to mimic a penguin's beak.

Happy Feet needed an enormous group of computers, and Animal Logic worked with IBM to build a server farm with sufficient processing potential. The film took four years to make. Lighting Supervisor and VFX Department Supervisor Ben Gunsberger said that this was partly because they needed to build new infrastructure and tools. The server farm used IBM BladeCenter framework and BladeCenter HS20 blade servers, which are extremely dense separate computer units, each with two Intel Xeon processors. Rendering took up 17 million CPU hours over a nine-month period.

According to Miller, the environmental message was not a major part of the original script. "In Australia, we're very, very aware of the ozone hole," he said, "and Antarctica is literally the canary in the coal mine for this stuff. So it sort of had to go in that direction." This influence led to a film with a more environmental tone. Miller said, "You can't tell a story about Antarctica and the penguins without giving that dimension."

The film is dedicated to the memory of Nick Enright, Michael Jonson, Robby McNeilly Green and Steve Irwin.

Happy Feet is a jukebox musical, taking previously recorded songs and working them into the film's soundtrack to fit the mood of the scene or character. Two soundtrack albums were released for the film; one containing songs from and inspired by the film, and another featuring John Powell's instrumental score. They were released on 31 October 2006 and 19 December 2006, respectively.

Prince's "Song of the Heart" won the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song. The film won Golden Trailer Award for Best Music. The song was written by Prince specifically for Happy Feet shortly after he was given a private screening of the film to gain his approval for the use of his song "Kiss" in a musical number. Prince enjoyed the film, gave his approval for the use of "Kiss" and offered to write an original song for the production, which he completed a week later.

Happy Feet: Music from the Motion Picture is the lyrical soundtrack album from the 2006 animated film Happy Feet. As of March 2007, the original soundtrack sold more than 272,627 copies in the US.

The film opened at number one in the United States on its first weekend of release (17–19 November), grossing $41.6 million and beating Casino Royale for the top spot. It remained number one for the Thanksgiving weekend, making $51.6 million over the five-day period. In total, the film was the top grosser for three weeks, a 2006 box-office feat matched by only Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest. As of 8 June 2008, Happy Feet had grossed $198.0 million in the US and Canada, and $186.3 million in other countries, making approximately $384.3 million worldwide. Happy Feet was the third-highest-grossing animated film of 2006 in the US, behind Cars and Ice Age: The Meltdown. The film was released in an estimated 35 territories at the close of 2006.

The production budget was $100 million.

Happy Feet received generally positive reviews from critics. On review aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds a 76% approval rating, based on 170 reviews, with an average rating of 6.9/10. The site's consensus reads: "Visually dazzling, with a thoughtful storyline and catchy musical numbers, Happy Feet marks a successful animated debut from the makers of Babe." Metacritic reports a 77 out of 100 rating, based on 30 critics. Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A−" on a scale of A+ to F.

Marjorie Baumgarten, film critic for The Austin Chronicle, wrote a positive review, saying, "Happy Feet treads material common to kids films and cartoons, most notably Dumbo: A young animal stands out from his herd or flock because of his inability to perform like the other animals, although he seemingly compensates for this defect by demonstrating a certain skill that sets him apart from the others, who ostracize him for his weirdness." Baumgarten also said that the CGI recreation of Antarctica is "stunning, allowing the film to shift among glorious long shots of the ice and penguin population and midshots and close-ups of the character interactions".

James Berardinelli, film critic for ReelViews, praised its musical numbers (particularly "Kiss" and "Boogie Wonderland") and Robin Williams's performance by awarding the film three out of four, saying, "The ingredients for greatness are there. It's too bad the movie lost its way on the approach to the finish line. I recommend Happy Feet, but not as enthusiastically as I wish I could."

Film critic Yar Habnegnal wrote an essay in Forum on Contemporary Art and Society that examines the themes of encroachment presented throughout the film, as well as various other subtexts and themes, such as religious hierarchy and interracial tensions. Vadim Rizov of IFC sees Mumble as just the latest in a long line of cinematic religious mavericks. Some Christians have also considered the film to be anti-Christian (or antireligious in general) due to the imagery and behaviours of various characters.

On a technical or formal level, the film has also been recognised for its innovative introduction of Miller's roving style of subjective cinematography into contemporary animation.

Happy Feet was released on home media on 27 March 2007, in the United States in three formats: DVD (in separate widescreen and pan-and-scan editions), Blu-ray, and an HD DVD/DVD combo pack. Overall, Happy Feet was the third-best-selling film of 2007, with 12.2 million units sold, earning a revenue of $196.9 million.

Among the DVD's special features is a scene that was cut from the film, in which Mumble meets a blue whale and an albatross while pursuing the fishing boat. The albatross was Steve Irwin's first voice role in the film before he voiced the elephant seal in the final cut. The scene was finished and included on the DVD in Irwin's memory. This scene is done in documentary style, with the albatross describing the other characters in the scene, and the impact people are having on their environment. Another special feature included on the DVD is the 1936 Merrie Melodies short I Love to Singa.

The film appeared on numerous critics' top-ten lists of the best films of 2006.

A video game based on the film was developed by A2M and published by Midway Games. It has the same main cast as the film. It was released for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 2, GameCube, Game Boy Advance, Nintendo DS and Wii.

Artificial Life, Inc. has also developed a mobile game for the Japanese market.

Happy Feet Two was produced at Dr. D Studios and released on 18 November 2011.

Happy Feet 4-D Experience is a 12-minute 4D film shown at various 4D theatres around the world. It retells the condensed story of Happy Feet with the help of 3D projection and sensory effects, including moving seats, wind, mist and scents. Produced by SimEx-Iwerks, the 4D experience premiered in March 2010 at the Drayton Manor Theme Park. Other locations included Sea World (2010–2011), Shedd Aquarium (2010–2012), Moody Gardens (2010–2011), Nickelodeon Suites Resort and Adventure Aquarium.

• March of the Penguins — A 2005 nature documentary film about the real life emperor penguins. It won the 2005 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature.

Wikiquote has quotations related to Happy Feet.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Happy Feet.

• Happy Feet at IMDb
• Happy Feet at Box Office Mojo
• Happy Feet at Rotten Tomatoes
• Happy Feet at Metacritic