While Mumble's mother, Norma Jean, thinks this little habit is cute, his father, Memphis, says it "just ain't penguin." Besides, they both know that, without a "Heartsong", Mumble may never find true love. As fate would have it, his one friend, Gloria, happens to be the best singer around. Mumble and Gloria have a connection from the moment they hatch, but she struggles with his strange "hippity-hoppity" ways. Mumble is just too different; especially for Noah the Elder, the stern leader of the colony, who ultimately casts him out of the community.