Feel Good Factor
The main problem with Feel Good Factor movies is that they… well… make us feel good so we leave cinema feeling absolutely Splendid, Uplifted and Inspired and therefore forget all about pain and suffering film’s characters had to endure and challenges they had to face in order to deliver to us such happy ending.

Dreams come true
One obvious point the film makes is that our dreams CAN come true. But it does take a real effort to make one’s dreams a reality, and, more importantly, one has to have the COURAGE to want them to become a reality and accept the fact that the end result will not always be what we expected. This is not because we have to bargain with our dreams - but rather because we are actually not sure what we are dreaming of until we face the full reality of realised dream itself. Our wants are not equal with our needs – and it often turns out that what we want is not what we actually need. The film also exposes how important our friends are to us and that, without them, most of the things we achieved in our lives would have been simply impossible to achieve.

Religious Penguins
The Penguins demonstrate to us how this should be done, in physical realm as well as mental one. Penguins make enormous effort to have their dream become true. Once that happens – they realize that this is actually not what they wanted. Do they sulk, blame God, Life and Universe for that? Nope. They just move on and dream next dream and follow that through. Penguin’s religious doctrine is “smile guys” and as long as they are going through the motions, any motions, with a smile on their faces - they are happy.

Spiritual
All animals in the Zoo have a Wonderful life. They are pampered, looked after and adored by Zoo visitors. And they get it all for just being themselves, they actually do not have to invest any work or effort to obtain such VIP treatment. By all practical means this is as close to Paradise as one can get. But for one of them, Marty the Zebra, that is not enough. Despite having EVERYTHING, Marty doesn’t feel satisfied and is prepared to trade all his comforts for the Unknown. Is it because Marty does not appreciate what he has? Or is it because what he has is simply not enough?

Steak Monster
Alex the Lion started to turn into a monster once he found himself in his natural habitat. He knew it, so he locked himself up, so he could not do any damage to his friends. He knew what was going on, he just did not know how to stop it. And all it took to stop it was his friends’ faith in him. They believed in him, they believed that he is a “good lion” who would not eat them just just because he was hungry. They believed in his friendship so much, he had no choice but to oblige. This belief enabled Alex to shake off the dark corners of his mind. And that seems to be a paradox – without his friends, he would eat them. But because they were his dear friends who cared about him - he was saved from the doom of hungry selfishness.

And this just shows how powerful belief in somebody we know can be. It shows that our support and belief can have ENORMOUS subconscious effect on the other person. Believing that somebody can do something, even the smallest of things, can bring huge benefits to this person. Not you, but the person you believe in. We actually make some people Gods just believing that they can be, and we also prevent other people from being “rotten apples”.. by believing that they are not. We never see cause and effect here, for we would not have friends who are “rotten apples”.. but it is circular dependency. By believing that somebody is “good” we prevent them from being “bad”.. By believing that somebody is “good” we reduce the crime rates. Alex not only wanted to kill his friends.. but he wanted to eat them too damn it!

Monster Steak
Consider the opposite. Consider that other people insist that you are a monster, although you are not. Many rapists, killers, thieves etc are so because there was outside insistence that they are. They had no choice but to oblige. The only difference between them and Alex is that Alex’s friends turned him into “positive”.. how many people are turned into “negative” by the very same pressure and belief? Starting from parents and school, bullying, all the rest.. they just did what was expected of them, they did their best, they fulfilled what everybody expected of them.. and now they are punished for it?!

And this just shows how careful we have to be when judging other people. It shows that our judgment can have ENORMOUS subconscious effect on the other person. Criticizing somebody for anything, the smallest of things, can have huge consequences. Not for you, but for the person you criticize. We actually turn some people into criminals without even knowing about it. We carry on with our lives.. they spend the rest of their lives in prison. We never see cause and effect so we are not even aware of what we have done. By criticizing somebody we encourage them to commit a crime. By criticizing somebody we increase the crime rate. Alex not only wanted to kill his friends.. but he wanted to eat them too damn it!

Cute Factor
And there is a cute factor. Skinny, hopeless thing. The whole tribe is cute, but, worse comes to worse, they will offer to the lion the cutest/skinniest one of them all. Supermodel. Which is the least meaty member of the tribe. Why would any lion consider having a snack when there is a full, 5,000 course dinner staring at him? The cutinises rules the nature apparently, not even human nature but all the nature. Practically every young animal is cute. And that is their main defence. Put your paws up. We see “cute” as we see it… but animals rarely touch defenceless animals unless they are desperate or their very parents. Coindider the gesture of putting one’s legs up.. You think humans invented that?! This is the way of Evolution. There is no point in killing offspring for then there would not be more meaty stuff coming our way. In other words – cutinises is a fallacy, it is just superb self-defence. Animals (including humans) are cute only so they can survive, not so they can attract predators. That is yet another paradox.

Put your legs up and You MIGHT stand a chance…

Summary
Penguins rock! That’s the way to live one’s life!