Imagine this irony: You love music and even have an independent record label -- yet you're asked to sing lousy in a film where everybody else sounds fabulous.

That's the dilemma for film star Elijah Wood, who voices the tap-dancing Emperor Penguin Mumble in the new computer-animated family comedy "Happy Feet." But the actor doesn't mind. In fact, Wood told me in a recent @ The Movies interview, that he reveled in the idea of being and odd duck, er, penguin.

"It's a part of the character that I found endearing when I read the script," Wood said with a laugh. "And as the actor called on to sing poorly, I actually found those moments to be quite hilarious."

Funnier yet, director George Miller ("Babe") and his fellow filmmakers took Wood's purposefully wretched singing tracks and made the vocal strains even more unbearable.

"I sang poorly enough as it was, but they made it worse when they edited the film together," Wood beamed. "They actually added squawking of penguin on top of it to make it sound even more dissonant. It was pretty funny."

Of course, singing was never meant to be Mumble's strong suit.

The newly hatched son of Emperor Penguins Memphis (Hugh Jackman) and Norma Jean (Nicole Kidman) in the frigid environs of Antarctica, it's quite obvious to Mumble's parents from the start that he can't sing -- but sure can tap-dance up a storm.

The problem is, a penguin needs to sing a "heartsong" if its to ever attract a mate. An embarrassment to everyone else except his mom and his crush, the brilliant vocalist Gloria (Brittany Murphy), Mumble flies the coop and hitches on with a Ramone (Robin Williams) and a band of Latino penguins that are fascinated by his fancy footwork.

But just because he can't sing a heartsong doesn't mean part of Mumble's heart is aching for home and Gloria. But before he goes back, Mumble embarks on a journey to prove that there's a use for his tap-dancing that his fellow penguins never could have imagined.

Featuring the tap-dancing of "Stomp" star Savion Glover, "Happy Feet" opens in theaters and on IMAX screens Friday.

Among Wood's recent achievements, of course, were saving Middle Earth as Frodo Baggins in the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy and slaying audiences as the silent serial killer Kevin in "Sin City." And while Mumble is decidedly different from his previous parts, Wood said bringing a role to life through voice isn't that different from live action for him.

"It's ultimately a similar process in that you're ultimately a character," Wood explained. "The big difference obviously is that it's not encumbered by physical movements, so you're not at all considering how the character will move or be represented because the he's a penguin. So in that way, it's actually a very freeing experience. You're only really relying on your voice, and there's so much that you can accomplish. There's nothing confining about it."

Plus, Wood had the benefit of having animated voice maestro Robin Williams as a co-star in the film, who raised the level of the actor's game.

"Working with Robin on this was so extraordinary. He is the epitome of an incredible voice actor," Wood said. "He improvises so much and takes something and runs with it. A lot of the scenes that we did together were infused with that kind of experimental energy, freedom and sense of creating something from the ground up."

Amazingly, Wood not only brings the character to life with his voice -- but through his distinctive eyes -- which the animators stunningly captured in the digital rendering of the character. By capturing the essence of Wood's bright baby blues through the wonders of animation, the filmmakers -- and effectively, Wood -- open the windows to Mumble's soul.

"It's nice to see a touch of myself in that penguin," Wood enthused. "It's a real credit to the animators to achieve that sense of realism with Mumble and with his eyes, so you do get a sense of who this character is in that way, being that he's not of physical form -- it's amazing."

Beyond the character's physical attributes, Wood said that he particularly loved Mumble's "an incredible sense of self" ? that there was no-self pity or desperation driving the character to conform to his birthplace's notions of perfection.

Essentially, the penguin with the "happy feet" really is happy.

"That's one of my favorite elements of the character, in that initially he has almost a na?ve belief in himself," Wood stressed. "I think that he really doesn't realize that anything is wrong with him. He thinks all the other penguins are kind of crazy for thinking that he can't sing, but dance, is strange. It's an important message in the film, that you have a sense of individuality and that you believe in yourself for who you are -- whether it's socially acceptable or not."