This movie somehow reminded me of old movies like E.T., Casper, Jumanji and a lot of others "kid-centric" movies, even Russia adaptations of Tom Sawyer and Кортик (Knife, in English I guess). By its overall atmosphere, I guess of exploration and/or growing up. And it also helped me understand, why Birthday Wonderland did not leave much of an impression on me: Penguins were consistent in the message, they were trying to deliver and how they were delivering it. There were some small and similar insignificant moments, that helped building the movie as one about growing up and being slightly depressed about it, but optimistic for new discoveries it brings. Birthday tried a bit of a similar thing, I guess, but it was inconsistent in its own rules even (those who watched it should I understand, that I am referring a thing highlighted in the beginning and then completely forgotten by the end of the movie). As result, Penguins did leave a bit of a bittersweet taste, but it only reassured me, that me trying to protect my "inner child" is the right thing to do, no matter how difficult it may be, because it made me feel like a child if only for roughly 2 hours. Birthday was forgettable to me in that regard.
