Surf's Up (2007)

Directors:

Ash Brannon
Chris Buck

Writers:

Don Rhymer (screenplay) and
Ash Brannon (screenplay) ...
(more)

Release Date:

8 June 2007 (USA)

Genre:

Animation | Comedy | Family | Sport

Tagline:

Hang six Summer 2007.

Plot:

A behind-the-scenes look at the annual Penguin World Surfing Championship, and its newest participant, up-and-comer Cody Maverick.

Plot Keywords:

Surfing | Penguin | Competition | Island | Chicken

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 2 wins & 16 nominations

Cast

Shia LaBeouf	...	Cody Maverick (voice)
Jeff Bridges	...	Zeke 'Big Z' Topanga / 'Geek' (voice)
Zooey Deschanel	...	Lani Aliikai (voice)
Jon Heder	...	Chicken Joe (voice)
James Woods	...	Reggie Belafonte (voice)
Diedrich Bader	...	Tank 'The Shredder' Evans (voice)
Mario Cantone	...	Mikey Abromowitz (voice)
Kelly Slater	...	Kelly (voice)
Rob Machado	...	Rob (voice)
Sal Masekela	...	SPEN Announcer (voice)
Ash Brannon	...	Filmmaker (voice)
Chris Buck	...	Filmmaker (voice)
Brian Posehn	...	Glen Maverick (voice)
Dana Belben	...	Edna Maverick (voice) (as Dana L. Belben)
Reed Buck	...	Arnold (voice)
Reese Elowe	...	Kate (voice)
Jack P. Ranjo	...	Smudge (voice)
Matthew W. Taylor	...	Ivan / Glen's Buddy (voice) (as Matt Taylor)
Bob Bergen	...	(voice)
Jillian Bowen	...	(voice)
Johanna Braddy	...	(voice)
John Cygan	...	(voice)
Courtnee Draper	...	(voice)
Bill Farmer	...	(voice)
Andy Fischer-Price	...	(voice)
Teresa Ganzel	...	(voice)
Jess Harnell	...	(voice)
Jesse Head	...	(voice)
Sherry Lynn	...	(voice)
Danny Mann	...	(voice)
Mickie McGowan	...	(voice)
Alec Medlock	...	(voice)
Laraine Newman	...	(voice)
Jan Rabson	...	(voice)
Meagan Smith	...	(voice)
Marisa Theodore	...	(voice)
Crawford Wilson	...	(voice)
Jacob Zachar	...	(voice)

Directed by
Ash Brannon
Chris Buck

Writing credits
Don Rhymer		(screenplay) and
Ash Brannon		(screenplay) &
Chris Buck		(screenplay) &
Christopher Jenkins		(screenplay)
Christopher Jenkins		(story) and
Christian Darren		(story)
Lisa Addario
Joe Syracuse

Produced by
Lydia Bottegoni	....	co-producer
Christopher Jenkins	....	producer
Andrea Miloro	....	animation executive producer

Original Music by
Mychael Danna

Film Editing by
Ivan Bilancio
Nancy Frazen

Casting by
Mary Hidalgo

Production Design by
Paul Lasaine

Art Direction by
Sylvain Deboissy
Ron Lukas
Marcelo Vignali

Production Management
Theresa Bentz	....	associate production manager
Jason Brewer	....	assistant production manager
David Farley	....	post-production supervisor
David Kalbeitzer	....	digital production manager
Lea Lambert	....	associate production manager
Garrick McLaughlin	....	digital production manager
Lauren Prince	....	assistant production manager: layout
Jill Ragaway	....	production manager
Briana Ryan	....	associate production manager
Jordan Soles	....	associate production manager
Paula Tudorof	....	associate production manager

Art Department
Sunny Apinchapong	....	visual development artist
Damon Bard	....	sculptor
James Battersby	....	3-D visual development artist
Nick Crocco	....	designer
Cathy Jones	....	visual development
Joty Lam	....	visual development artist
Jerry Loveland	....	visual development artist
Marcos Mateu Mestre	....	visual development artist
Shawn McInerney	....	visual development artist
Armen Melkonian	....	visual development artist
Takao Noguchi	....	associate character designer
Armand Serrano	....	environmental designer
Armand Serrano	....	visual development
Noelle Triaureau	....	visual development artist
Raffaello Vecchione	....	sculptor
Jessica Berri	....	art department coordinator (uncredited)
Harald Kraut	....	lead layout artist (uncredited)
Ernie Rinard	....	visual development (uncredited)

Sound Department
Ulrika Akander	....	adr editor
Ulrika Akander	....	dialogue editor
Michael J. Benavente	....	supervising adr & dialogue editor
Sarah Bourgeois	....	assistant sound editor
Brad Brock	....	foley mixer
Michael J. Broomberg	....	foley artist
Matthew P. Hanson	....	assistant sound editor (as Matt Hanson)
Gary A. Hecker	....	foley artist
Jason King	....	supervising foley editor
Tateum Kohut	....	sound re-recording mixer
Howard London	....	original dialogue mixer
Martin Lopez	....	sound designer (as Martin J. Lopez)
Chris Navarro	....	adr mixer
Steven Ticknor	....	sound re-recording mixer
Steven Ticknor	....	supervising sound editor

Visual Effects by
Mir Z. Ali	....	technical director: SPI
Bill Anastas	....	digital production manager
Andrew Anderson	....	character setup technical director
John B. Anderson	....	senior shader writer
Jesse Andrewartha	....	visual effects artist: lighting and compositing
Ray Arnett	....	character animator
Steve Avoujageli	....	effects animator
Leslie Baker	....	senior technical director: lighting and compositing
James Bancroft	....	character set up
Joachim Barnreuther	....	visual effects artist: lighting and compositing
Kelly Barschig	....	recruiter: SPI
Lynn Basas	....	senior technical director: lighting and compositing, SPI
James Battersby	....	visual development artist
Jean-Paul Beaulieu	....	lighting & compositing
Jean-Paul Beaulieu	....	look development technical director
Jeff Benjamin	....	senior production services technician
John Bevelheimer	....	matte painter
Steven Blakey	....	visual effects animation lead (as Steve Blakey)
Christopher Blazick	....	senior production services technician
David Bleich	....	matte painting supervisor (as David R. Bleich)
Jorge Bobadilla Jr.	....	technical director: lighting and compositing (as Jorge Bobadilla)
Scott Bogoniewski	....	lighting technical director: SPI
Chris Bolwyn	....	technical director: hair and feathers
Erik J. Borzi	....	senior technical director: lighting & compositing, SPI
Todd Boyce	....	effects animator
Jamaal Bradley	....	character animator
Rob Bredow	....	visual effects supervisor
Suzy Brown	....	texture painter
Max Bruce	....	digital artist
Ron Bublitz	....	character pipeline technical director
John Butiu	....	senior character modeler: SPI
Grady Campbell	....	lighting technical director
Stephen Candell	....	character setup lead
Georgia Cano	....	visual effects artist: lighting and compositing
Deborah Carlson	....	effects animation lead: SPI
Onny P. Carr	....	look development lead (as Onny Carr)
Onny P. Carr	....	visual effects artist: lighting and compositing (as Onny Carr)
Brian Casper	....	hair/feathers technical director
Oscar G. Castillo	....	technical director: hair and feathers (as Oscar Castillo)
Laurent Charbonnel	....	lead shader writer
François Chardavoine	....	software engineer: SPI
Alan Chen	....	look development technical director
Alan Chen	....	visual effects artist: lighting and compositing
Joong-ryang Choi	....	hair/feathers technical director (as Joong Choi)
Kyudon Choi	....	character setup technical director
Amy Christensen	....	lighting artist
Benjamin Cinelli	....	senior character animator
John Clark	....	animator
John Clark	....	layout artist
John Clark	....	technical animation lead
Brian A. Coffee	....	lead technical animator
Michael Condro	....	layout
David Conlon	....	technical director: lighting and compositing
Bertrand Cordier	....	senior lighting technical director: SPI
Matt Cordner	....	effects animation lead
J.C. Cornwell	....	digital trainer
J.D. Cowles	....	compositing supervisor
Garrett Cox	....	visual effects
Robert W. Crain	....	senior lighting and compositing technical director
Jennifer Cranfill	....	development specialist
Jeff Croke	....	animator
Sumit Das	....	character pipeline supervisor
David R. Davies	....	effects animation lead
Justin Diamond	....	environment modeler
Joe DiCesare	....	matte painter (as Joseph DiCesare)
Danny Dimian	....	computer graphics supervisor
R. Stirling Duguid	....	computer graphics supervisor: SPI
Frederic Durand	....	visual effects artist: lighting and compositing (as Frederick Durand)
Noel Eaton	....	senior production services technician
Keridan Elliott	....	character setup lead
Kent Estep	....	digital effects artist
Patrick Finley	....	digital effects artist: lighting and compositing
Jack Finlin	....	animation coordinator
Darren P. Fisher	....	technical director: lighting & compositing (as Darren Fisher)
Michael Ford	....	character setup supervisor
Jenny Fulle	....	visual effects executive producer
Jason Galeon	....	visual effects artist: lighting and compositing
Christopher Otto Gallagher	....	animation technical director: SPI
Gregory Galliani	....	lead environmental modeler: SPI (as Greg Galliani)
Jonathan Garcia	....	senior production services technician (as Jonathan F. Garcia)
Maria Giannakouros	....	software developer: SPI
Shane Glading	....	lighting technical director
Rick Glenn	....	visual effects: animator
David Godwin	....	technical director: lighting and compositing
Ramiro Gomez	....	character setup technical director
Allen Gonzales	....	matte painter
Juan Gonzalez	....	layout artist
Amy R. Gordon	....	visual effects coordinator
Dipankar Goswamy	....	effects animator
Dipankar Goswamy	....	visual effects senior technical director
Victor Grant	....	effects animator
Svetla Gressak	....	visual effects artist: lighting and compositing
Kevin T. Hahn	....	look development technical director
Brian Hall	....	software engineer
Brian Hamblin	....	technical manager: SPI
Dae-Ho Han	....	animation support
John H. Han	....	effects animator (as John H. Han)
Todd Hara	....	visual effects artist: lighting and compositing (as Todd T. Hara)
Matthew Hausman	....	effects animation supervisor (as Matt Hausman)
Alan Hawkins	....	character animator
Ryan Heniser	....	shader writer (as Ryan S. Heniser)
Karl Herbst	....	lead lighting artist
Karl Herbst	....	look development lead
Nicole Herr	....	digital character animator: SPI
Nick Hiatt	....	matte painter: SPI
Nick Hiatt	....	texture painter: SPI
Andrew Hofman	....	effects animator
Matt Hollingsworth	....	texture painter: Sony Pictures Animation
Carl Hooper	....	effects animation supervisor
Ryan Hopkins	....	senior effects technical director
Dave R. Howe	....	senior technical director: color and lighting
Walter F. Hyneman	....	additional computer graphics supervisor
Rod Ibanez	....	hair/feathers lead technical director (as Rodrigo Ibanez)
Adriana Jaroszewicz	....	training and artist development
Ian Jenkins	....	digital artist: lighting and compositing, SPI
Kevin J. Jolly	....	visual effects editor: SPI
Kurt Judson	....	visual effects artist: lighting and compositing
Chris Juen	....	digital producer
Nori Kaneko	....	motion graphics
Nori Kaneko	....	texture paint lead
Moon-Jung Kang	....	lead character modeler (as Moon Jung Kang)
Miku Kayama	....	senior color and lighting technical director
Jeffrey Kember	....	effects animator
Marvin Kim	....	modeling supervisor
Seunghyuk Kim	....	effects animator (as Seung Hyuk Kim)
Michael Kimmel	....	senior character animator
Tom Kluyskens	....	effects animation lead
Stephen Kowalski	....	senior systems architect
Keiko Koyama	....	digital effects animation coordinator: SPI
Zsolt Krajcsik	....	effects animator
Zsolt Krajcsik	....	senior technical director
Daniel Kramer	....	computer graphics supervisor
Piotrek Krawczyk	....	look development technical director
Michael Kuehn	....	character setup technical director
Luis Labrador	....	senior character modeler: SPI
Ken Lam	....	senior technical director: lighting and compositing, SPI (as Kenny Lam)
Lea Lambert	....	lighting associate production manager
Mike Lasker	....	technical director: lighting and compositing (as Michael Lasker)
Dan Lavender	....	color & lighting artist
Nicola Lavender	....	senior technical director: color and lighting
Aaron M. Lawn	....	shader writer (as Aaron Lawn)
E.J. Lee	....	effects animator
Hae-Jeon Lee	....	visual effects
John J.S. Lee	....	lighting technical director: SPI (as John J. Lee)
Richard Lee	....	environmental modeler
Carlos D. Lemus	....	effects animator (as Carlos Donis Lemus)
Daniel Leung	....	visual effects artist: lighting and compositing
Fredrik Limsater	....	effects animator
Robin A. Linn	....	director of animation production
Kimberley Liptrap	....	senior technical director: color & lighting
Tim Llewellyn	....	senior technical director: color and lighting
Christine Lo	....	visual effects artist: lighting and compositing (as Christine J. Lo)
Franklin Londin	....	digital effects animator
Jason Madsen	....	senior production services technician
Joe Mandia	....	senior character animator
Justin Marshall	....	environmental modeler
Stephen Marshall	....	effects animation lead
Andres Martinez	....	digital artist
Wendy Mashburn	....	digital production management: SPI
Lauren Matheson	....	lead production services technician
Steve Matson	....	matte painter
Shannon McGee	....	senior technical director: color & lighting
Paul McGhee	....	digital intermediate colorist
Gustav Melich	....	effects animator
Gustav Melich	....	senior technical director: SPI
Erick Miller	....	lead character technical director: Wave System, SPI
Lucas Miller	....	software engineer
Sosh Mirsepassi	....	software engineer
Evangeline Monroy	....	lighting associate production manager
Troy Moore	....	senior production services technician
Hiroshi Mori	....	rough layout artist/animatic
Frank Mueller	....	character pipeline
Michael Muir	....	technical director: Sony
Enrique Munoz	....	visual effects artist: lighting and compositing
Raj Naiksatam	....	senior technical director
Daniel Naulin	....	effects animator (as Daniel Patrick Naulin)
Kerry Nordquist	....	texture painter
Miguel Oaxaca	....	lighting associate production manager (as Miguel A. Oaxaca)
Erik Ober	....	look development technical director
Erik Ober	....	visual effects artist: lighting and compositing
Carolyn Oros	....	character pipeline
Siegfried Ostertag	....	effects animator
Andrea Lackey Pace	....	manager of production services
Keith Paciello	....	animator
Ivo Panayotov	....	robot technician
Brett Paton	....	character animator
Carlos Pedroza	....	technical director: layout
Jeffrey Pohl	....	associate production manager
Jayson Price	....	senior character animator
Thomas Pushpathadam	....	effects animator (as Tom Pushpathadam)
Winston Quitasol	....	lighting technical director/compositor: SPI
Matthew Rampias	....	technical director: lighting & compositing
J. Robert Ray	....	software engineering
Gregory Wade Reynolds	....	effects animator
Sam Richards	....	pipeline architect
Brian Ripley	....	digital texture painter (as Brian F. Ripley)
Terrence Robertson-Fall	....	character pipeline
Gwendelyn Robson	....	animator
Saba Rofchaei	....	technical director: hair and feather (as Saba Roufchaie)
Brendan Ryan	....	digital production coordinator
Mike Sandrik	....	lighting lead (as Michael Sandrik)
Mike Sandrik	....	look development lead (as Michael Sandrik)
David Schaub	....	senior supervising animator: SPI
Jeff Schu	....	animator: SPI
Sande Scoredos	....	training & artist development
Brian D. Scott	....	character animator
Jeremy Selan	....	software engineer
Mathew Selby	....	software engineer
Priyes Shah	....	digital effects artist: lighting and compositing
Keith Sintay	....	senior animator
Douglas James Smith	....	look development lead
Jeremy Squires	....	effects animator
David Stodolny	....	senior character animator
Mark Story	....	effects animator
Sungwook Su	....	visual effects
Lisa Suzuki	....	layout lead
Jonathan Swartz	....	senior production services technician
Kenji Sweeney	....	lighting & compositing
Kenji Sweeney	....	look development lead
Eric Tablada	....	visual effects artist: lighting and compositing
Aaron Tankenson	....	recruiter: SPI
Joseph Thomas	....	layout artist
Mary Rachel Thompson	....	animation production manager
Peter Tieryas	....	character setup technical director (as Peter Samuel Tieryas)
Daniele Tosti	....	visual effects artist: lighting and compositing
Noelle Triaureau	....	matte painter
Paula Tudorof	....	lighting associate production manager
Beth Tyszkiewicz	....	effects animation coordinator
Gaston Ugarte	....	environmental modeler
Pete Upson	....	layout artist
Jeff Vacanti	....	animator
Bert Van Brande	....	CG supervisor
Dana Vanhove	....	digital production management
Christopher Wachter	....	effects animator (as Chris Wachter)
Christopher Walsh	....	character animator
Victor Wang	....	software engineer: SPI
Mike Webster	....	visual effects artist: lighting and compositing
Barry Weiss	....	senior staff member
Barry Weiss	....	senior staff: SPI
Craig Welsh	....	visual effects artist: lighting and compositing
Mark Wendell	....	senior technical director: color and lighting
Dan Weston	....	software engineer
Sean White	....	technical director: hair and feather
Alex Whitney	....	animator
Guy Wiedmann	....	visual effects editor
Jeff Willette	....	effects animator
Aaron Wilson	....	effects animator
Matthew Kiyoshi Wong	....	effects animator
Michael Yazijian	....	texture painter: Sony Pictures Animation (as Mike Yazijian)
Doug Yoshida	....	senior technical director: lighting and compositing (as Douglas Yoshida)
Melva Young	....	visual effects artist: lighting and compositing
Mitch Zeitlin	....	video editorial coordinator: SPI

Camera and Electrical Department
Mark Fellman	....	still photographer

Animation Department
Hunter Athey	....	animator
Anders J.L. Beer	....	senior animator
Joshua Beveridge	....	animator (as Josh Beveridge)
Jamaal Bradley	....	animator
Cody Cameron	....	story artist
Michael Condro	....	layout artist
Stefaan Contreras	....	technical animator
Jeff Croke	....	animator (as Jeffrey Croke)
James Crossley	....	animator
Sylvain Deboissy	....	character designer
Renato Dos Anjos	....	supervising animator
Jason Doss	....	pipeline technical director
Mark R.R. Farquhar	....	animator
Jack Finlin	....	animation coordinator
Robert Fox	....	animator
Kevin Freeman	....	animator
Derek Friesenborg	....	animator
Rick Glenn	....	animator
Ramiro Camilo Gomez	....	technical director
Steven Pierre Gordon	....	animator
Bill Haller	....	animator
Dave Hardin	....	character animator
Jordan Harris	....	animator
Steve Harwood	....	animator
Nicole Herr	....	animator
Seth Hippen	....	animator
Ethan Hurd	....	animator
Chris Hurtt	....	supervising animator
Kaan Kalyon	....	story artist
Michael Kimmel	....	animator
Michael Kuehn	....	character technical director
Eric Lees	....	animator
Jason Lethcoe	....	story artist
Jeff Lin	....	animator
Joe Mandia	....	animator
Gavin Moran	....	animator
Dani Morrow	....	layout artist
Matthew J. Munn	....	animator
Peter Nash	....	supervising animator
Carolyn Oros	....	character pipeline
Patrick Osborne	....	animator
Keith Paciello	....	animator
Brett Paton	....	animator
Kris Pearn	....	story artist
Christopher Poplin	....	rough layout artist
Jayson Price	....	animator
Andreas Procopiou	....	animator
Patrick G. Ramos	....	animation associate production manager
Tim Ranck	....	animator
Jeff Ranjo	....	head of story
Gwendelyn Robson	....	animator
Sandra Ryan-Moran	....	animator
Denis Samoilov	....	animator
Denis Samoilov	....	senior animator
Henry Sato Jr.	....	animator
Jeff Schu	....	animator
Brian D. Scott	....	animator (as Brian Scott)
Sue Hyunsook Shim	....	animator
Keith Sintay	....	animator (as Keith A. Sintay)
Ron Smith	....	animator
Chad Stewart	....	supervising animator
David Stodolny	....	animator
Jeff Vacanti	....	animator
Pepe Valencia	....	animator
Roger Vizard	....	animator
Michael C. Walling	....	animator
Christopher Walsh	....	animator
Larry White	....	animator
Alex Whitney	....	animator
Dougg Williams	....	animator
James C.J. Williams	....	layout supervisor
John Wong	....	animator
Katie Cheang	....	animator (uncredited)
James Chiang	....	animator (uncredited)
Sebastian Kapijimpanga	....	animator (uncredited)

Editorial Department
Margaret Lily Andres	....	second assistant editor
James Bluma	....	assistant editor
Sean Dowey	....	editorial intern
Anthony Durazzo	....	first assistant editor
Noah Gift	....	avid engineer
Tarsus Jackson	....	editorial production coordinator
Steven Liu	....	associate editor
Paul McGhee	....	digital intermediate colorist
Royce Smith	....	film color timer
Mark Yeager	....	associate editor

Music Department
Chris Clad	....	violin
Mychael Danna	....	orchestrator
Nicholas Dodd	....	conductor
Nicholas Dodd	....	orchestrator
Vic Fraser	....	music preparation
Isobel Griffiths	....	music contractor
Brad Haehnel	....	score mixer
Russ Howard III	....	music programmer
Jen Monnar	....	music editor
Sheri Ozeki	....	music editor
Liza Richardson	....	music supervisor
Rob Simonsen	....	composer: additional music

Other crew
Lia Abbate	....	production coordinator
Dana Belben	....	script supervisor
John Charles	....	software manager: Sony DAC
Jason Cooper	....	assistant to directors
Tova Dann	....	assistant: Mr. Heder
Gale De Los Santos	....	digital resource technician
Noel Eaton	....	senior production services technician
Miguel Gardo	....	production assistant
Nate Hopper	....	senior creative executive
Michael Killoren	....	layout production coordinator
Nicole Koop	....	assistant accountant
Laura M. Meredith	....	intern: visual development
Marc Ostroff	....	production accountant
Karen N. Sickles	....	recruiter (uncredited)
Jessica E. Smialek	....	post production assistant (uncredited)

Thanks
Roger Allers	....	special thanks
Jill Culton	....	special thanks
Chris Miller	....	special thanks
Errol Morris	....	special thanks
Stuart Sumida	....	special thanks

Production Companies

• Sony Pictures Animation

Distributors

• Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE) (2007) (worldwide) (all media)
• Columbia Pictures (2007) (USA) (theatrical)
• Sony Pictures International (2007) (non-USA) (theatrical)
• Audio Visual Entertainment (2007) (Greece) (theatrical)
• Buena Vista International (2007) (Switzerland) (theatrical)
• Buena Vista Sony Pictures Releasing (BVSPR) (2007) (Russia) (theatrical)
• Columbia TriStar Films de Argentina (2007) (Argentina) (theatrical)
• Falcon (2007) (Czech Republic) (theatrical)
• Sony Pictures Releasing (2007) (Germany) (theatrical)
• Sony Pictures Releasing (2007) (UK) (theatrical)
• Sony Pictures Releasing (2007) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• Sony Pictures Releasing (2007) (Singapore) (theatrical)
• Sony Pictures Releasing (2007) (USA) (theatrical)
• SBS6 (2010) (Netherlands) (TV)
• Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (2008) (Germany) (DVD)
• Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (2008) (Germany) (DVD) (Blu-ray)
• Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (2007) (UK) (DVD)
• Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (2007) (UK) (DVD) (Blu-ray)
• Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (2008) (Greece) (DVD)
• Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (2008) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (2008) (Netherlands) (DVD) (Blu-ray)
• Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (2007) (USA) (DVD)
• Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (2007) (USA) (DVD) (Blu-ray)

Special Effects

• Sony Pictures Imageworks (SPI) (imagery and animation)

Other Companies

• BSX Records  score album released by (limited edition)
• Columbia Records  soundtrack
• Deluxe  prints
• Madison Gate Records  score album: digital
• Pacific Title  end titles
• Sony Music Soundtrax  soundtrack
• Sony Pictures Studios  post-production sound services
• Widget Post Production  adr recording facilities

Also Known As:

MPAA:

Rated PG for mild language and some rude humor

Runtime:

85 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

SDDS (8 channels) | Dolby Digital | DTS

Certification:

Singapore:G | UK:PG | Ireland:G | South Africa:A | Canada:G (all jurisdictions) | USA:PG (certificate #41481) | Malaysia:U | Portugal:M/6 (original version) | Portugal:M/4 (dubbed version) | Mexico:AA | Germany:o.Al. | Argentina:Atp | Chile:TE | South Korea:All | Switzerland:0 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:0 (canton of Vaud) | Netherlands:AL | Brazil:Livre | Taiwan:GP | Finland:S | Sweden:Btl | Denmark:A | Norway:A | Australia:G | Italy:T

Company:

Sony Pictures Animation

Trivia:

When Cody washes up on the beach while Z is training him, Z laughs and says "Wipeout." This is an homage to the beginning of the song "Wipeout" by The Surfaris, where a similar laugh and the word "wipeout" begins the song.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Cody faces off against Tank for the first time, Cody takes a wipe-out. We then see a few instant replays. On the second and third replay, we see Tank leaving the tube. One the fourth, however, he doesn't leave the tube.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Filmmaker:Quiet on the set. And we're rolling. Cody Maverick interview, take one.
Cody Maverick:So why are you guys here to interview me?

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "You Know What's Bullshit: Penguin Movies (#1.4)" (2007)

Soundtrack:

Lose Myself

A Nutshell Review: Surf's Up

It's easy to roll your eyes when you see yet another animated movie starring talking animals, and what more, talking penguins. Guess you can credit the popularity of our feathered friends from down south to award winning films like the documentary which started it all, March of the Penguins, and the other animated movies Madagascar (where they were scene stealers) and Happy Feet. But before you actually decide to pass on this one, Surf's Up a surprisingly refreshing tale set in the bright sunny beaches with laid back "dude" attitude, which doesn't seem to try too hard to please, and comes up just about right.

One of the good things about the movie is the voice talent featured. Like Happy Feet, it contains some recognizable names, but just as a reminder to our Legend of the Sea friends, big names doesn't necessarily equate to good voice acting. Shia LeBeouf (a name which we will see quite frequently over the next few months with Transformers and Disturbia) gets the lead role of Cody Maverick, a surfer penguin wannabe who dreams of making it big in the surfing community. His idol is Big Z (Jeff Bridges), a world champion who had made an impression on a young Cody. However, Big Z is presumed missing in action during one competition, and the new world champion, Tank Evans (Diedrich Bader) looks set to retain his status for the umpteenth time.

The supporting characters too are a delight, with Zooey Deschanel as a Baywatch lifeguard babe and James Woods as a sports tzar, and Jon Heder continues his stereotype by playing Cody's new best friend Chicken Joe, a chilled out surfing chicken who finds himself at probably the wrong place each time and associating with the wrong species.

What made this movie work is that the filmmakers recognize they have to come up with a narrative style that is different in order to engage, and given that it's a sports type movie, they went for a sports entertainment channel style, complete with replicating camera techniques including details like less than perfect wireless camera transmissions (love those on-board cameras, nevermind if it doesn't make complete sense or is illogical), over the top channel transition sequences, and you just gotta love those faux pas interviews with just about every character. If you can't get enough of baby penguins, the filmmakers too are shrewd enough to include these crowd favourite characters in endearing scenes.

With Father's Day mood all round, this movie is apt too for the season, given its theme of family, and bonding with (surrogate) father types. The humour injected ranges wide, from subtle lines and references, to the more obvious physical slapstick moments. I can't resist but to again advise our Legend of the Sea friends, this is what computer animation is about, with its depiction of photo realistic quality of the sun, sand and the sea, with realistic surfer moves, a simple story yet packed with adequate thematic moments, with song and music that don't irritate, but serve to move the narrative along smartly.

Recommended animated movie, despite the overused penguin characters. Stay until after the end credits for a short scene (there's also one played during the credits, so don't walk out of the hall just yet).