Stuff your belly full of fish and slide with glee down an icy tundra! We’re having a penguin-tastic penguin-a-thon here at Best For Film, so excited are we for Mr. Popper’s Penguins, released on August 5th. Penguins, the universal symbols of happiness, have been cropping up on our screens for some years now, which I’m sure has led you to beg the question: What is the great ever film penguin?

Tap dancing – one of the hardest and most skillful dance forms of our modern age, and who can do it better than anyone? Only a freaking baby penguin! Yes sir little baby Emperor penguin Mumble says to himself ‘you know what? I’m not going to be like any of those crazy fools trying to sing their way to the top. I’m going bust some moves and shake what my mama gave me! Boo yeah!’ Go on son! Shake that funky penguin thang!

The best thing to do with March Of The Penguins is to watch it with the sound off, or alternatively with some penguin based musical accompaniment, as Morgan Freeman’s narration did allow to film to be quite convincingly interpreted by the Christian Right Wing in America as evidence of intelligent design and creationism. However, the footage is beautiful, the story remarkable and if you don’t coo with childish joy over the sight of a penguin leaping out of the water and sliding along the ice, well, we don’t want to be friends with you.

Do you want corporals and soldiers covered head to toe in penguiny goodness? You do! Then Madagascar is the place to go. These penguins are at the top of their game. They are experts in industrial espionage, tactical digging and sailing. If the animals of the New York zoo were ever to rise up and rebel, Rise of the Planet of the Apes style, then you’d definitely want these bad boys on your front line. Mess with these pint sized penguin ninjas at your own peril!

Ah Batman‘s The Penguin, one of the grossest, ugliest criminals in the franchise, with one of the weirdest evil master-plans. Kidnapping and killing all of Gotham’s first born children? What madness is that? Yes it’s a heinous crime, but it makes no sense, so his villainy is definitely lacking. He only makes this list due to the sympathy stirred at the fact that he was thown into a river at birth and raised by penguins just because he was a bit deformed. Shame on you Mr and Mrs Cobblepot!

At the start of this film Werner Herzog says that his intention wasn’t to “make another film about penguins” (Ooo! Catty!). However, that doesn’t stop this documentary topping our list of best ever penguins moments! In a scene in which a group of male emperor penguins are walking away from the colony towards the ocean, one penguin decides he’s had enough and, instead of turning back, ups and runs into the snowy wilderness, certain to die. This remarkable piece of footage is something that really has to be seen to be believed, and also conveniently fits into Herzog’s fascination with animals behaving strangely.

So there you have it – the definitive guide to movie penguins, or is it? Yes it is, but if you think we’ve missed one out (We haven’t, we’re pros) then feel free to comment below

By Sophie Worrell and Harry Harris