ROBIN WILLIAMS hopes movie fans who helped propel animated family film HAPPY FEET to the top of the US box office this weekend (19NOV06) will take a minute to consider the dangers of global warming after watching penguins dance.
The funnyman insists there is a subtle, serious message behind the fun film, and he hopes it will prompt parents to talk to their kids about environmental and conservation issues.
Williams explains, "One thing that's really happening that the movie doesn't mention is Antarctica is melting both north and south poles are turning into a pool. I hope, in wanting to know more about penguins, kids find out what's really going down.
"There's large areas that don't exist; areas the size of New Zealand have melted. When the poles melt water rises and large parts of this world will be under water.
"Meanwhile, factory ships come out and play this game of hit and run with international fishing limits and they basically said they fish like hunting squirrels with a bulldozer.
"They pull everything in looking for certain kinds of fish and throw the other fish back, even though they're dead. They have fished out large populations of fish throughout the world and if you're a population that depends on that, like the penguins, you'll find your food source rapidly depleting.
"As they push their way further north it really screws with the entire food chain. The number of instinct animals has been dramatically increasing. As human beings we have to wake up or we're gone. The penguins will go first and then it'll be us."