When Mumble is born into a colony of Emperor penguins, he finds himself unable to be accepted by all other penguins, lacking the ability to sing a heartsong - a mating song which all penguins can perform from an early age. He does however have a talent for tap dance which is derided by his peers and scorned by the penguin elders as displeasing to their deity. Mumble’s gift of dance is blamed for the possible cause of their food shortage, which is in reality caused by nearby trawlers depleting local fish stocks. After being virtually outcast by his colony he goes in search of the humans in an attempt to reason and communicate with them.