In happy feet, why did the penguin in the zoo call mumble "Dave" and then Gloria calls him dave in his imagination too... im confused. Is it a referance to something?

Not sure...
I recall them calling him something other than "Dave" though...
This will make me go pop in my copy and see really quick... lol

EDIT: Hmm... well, they never mention "Mumble's" name before he hatches. Then, when he's running around in his shell, baby Gloria says "come back here, Mr. Mumble". Gloria's father says "Gloria... (frustrated)" and Memphis says "It's okay, she can call him whatever she wants!"

Maybe Dave was supposed to be his real name, and Gloria started calling him Mumble?
Or, maybe that first penguin in "Penguin Heaven" called him Dave, it stuck, and when he went crazy he imagined Gloria calling him Dave... she was the first one to say his real name, after all.

Either way, it's a long shot. Maybe someone else knows the real reason, lol.
Good luck, I love a good mystery, especially in a cute movie! :D

PS: Isn't Gloria so cute when she's pecking at Mumble's egg?

I think the "Dave" reference is based on the movie 2001 A Space Odyssey. In that movie, a computer has a psychological breakdown and calls the main character Dave. Even though that is his name, it's the creepy way the computer says it which makes people uneasy. The same inside joke was used in the movie Independence Day when Jeff Goldblum's character used his laptop. The computer comes on and says "Hello Dave." Now, in Happy Feet, they used it in the zoo scene to show that the other penguin was already crazy.

Ooooh those are both awesome ideas. It sounds like lucas might be right ;)

Yep, mine was just random stuff I noticed in the movie itself...
I was too lazy to branch out, and Lucas is probably right! :D

It's nice to know!

Not sure about this reference but I loved the movie, nearly everything with Robin Williams is great, very talented actor.