2007 American computer-animated mockumentary comedy film
Surf's Up
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![](//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/6/6a/Surfs_upmp.jpg) Theatrical release poster
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Directed by
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Screenplay by
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Story by
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- Chris Jenkins
- Christian Darren
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Produced by
| Chris Jenkins
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Starring
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Edited by
| Ivan Bilancio
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Music by
| Mychael Danna
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Production
companies
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Distributed by
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Release date
|
- June 8, 2007
(
2007-06-08
)
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Running time
| 85 minutes
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Country
| United States
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Language
| English
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Budget
| $100 million
[3]
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Box office
| $152 million
[4]
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Surf's Up
is a 2007 American animated
mockumentary
comedy film
produced by
Columbia Pictures
and
Sony Pictures Animation
, and distributed by
Sony Pictures Releasing
. It was directed by
Ash Brannon
and
Chris Buck
from a screenplay they co-wrote with
Don Rhymer
and producer
Chris Jenkins
, based on a story by Jenkins and Christian Darren. The film stars the voices of
Shia LaBeouf
,
Jeff Bridges
,
Zooey Deschanel
,
Jon Heder
, and
James Woods
. It is a
parody
of surfing
documentaries
, such as
The Endless Summer
and
Riding Giants
, with parts of the plot parodying
North Shore
. Real-life surfers
Kelly Slater
and
Rob Machado
have vignettes as their penguin surfer counterparts. To obtain the desired hand-held documentary feel, the film's animation team
motion-captured
a physical camera operator's moves.
Surf's Up
was released in the United States on June 8, 2007, by
Sony Pictures Releasing
, and received generally positive reviews from critics, with praise for the animation and humor.
[5]
The film grossed $152 million worldwide against a budget of $100 million.
[6]
It was nominated for
Best Animated Feature
at the
80th Academy Awards
. A sequel, titled
Surf's Up 2: WaveMania
, was released
direct-to-video
in the United States on January 17, 2017, and theatrical in select countries.
[7]
Plot
[
edit
]
In a mockumentary, teenage
northern rockhopper penguin
Cody Maverick, living in Shiverpool,
Antarctica
, with his mother Edna and his older brother Glen, has dreamed of becoming a professional
surfer
ever since meeting the famous surfer
emperor penguin
Zeke “Big Z” Topanga many years ago. When talent scout
shorebird
Michael Abromowitz arrives to find entrants for the Big Z Memorial surfing competition on Pen-Gu Island, Cody manages to prove his worthiness. En route to the contest, Cody befriends another entrant, Chicken Joe, a genial but slow-witted
rooster
surfer from
Sheboygan, Wisconsin
.
The entrants arrive at Pen-Gu Island, where Cody meets and immediately falls in love with Lani Aliikai, a female
gentoo penguin
who is a
lifeguard
. He also meets the mean-spirited
king penguin
Tank "The Shredder" Evans, who has won the contest nine times since it was first held after Big Z's presumed death during a previous match ten years ago. Cody sees Tank vandalizing Big Z's memorial and furiously challenges him to a duel. Tank wins while Cody nearly drowns and is stung by a
sea urchin
named Ivan, breaking a number of his spines. Lani rescues him and takes him to her uncle Geek, to help Cody recover from his injuries. Cody wakes up, but cannot find the souvenir necklace given to him by Big Z. Geek then finds it in his hut.
While returning the necklace, Geek finds Cody sitting on a
koa
log and offers to help him make a surfboard. They attempt to take the log back to Geek's house, only to lose control of it and end up on a beach far away from the house. When Cody gets to the beach, he discovers a shack full of old trophies and surfboards, which used to belong to Big Z. After observing Geek walking solemnly into the shack, he realizes that Geek is actually Big Z himself. Excited, Cody asks him to teach him how to surf. Big Z reluctantly agrees, but tells Cody he has to make his own board first.
The attempt goes disastrously, however, as an eager Cody refuses to listen to Big Z's advice and crafts a rough and unstable board that shatters upon hitting the water. Exasperated, Cody storms off and runs into Lani, who eventually persuades him to return. Cody spends the night working patiently on a new board.
Big Z compliments Cody on his new board, and Cody is ready to start training. Big Z instead has him do menial tasks seemingly unrelated to surfing. Finally, when Cody starts having fun, Big Z and Lani teach him how to surf the waves. Afterward, Cody asks Big Z if he will come to watch the competition, but he refuses, revealing that he faked his death because he realized he couldn't compete with his new rival Tank, and that he had become too focused on winning. Angry that his own idol gave up, Cody throws the necklace into the sea, meets up with Joe, and gets back to the competition just as it begins.
Tank makes it to the finals, as do Cody and Joe. In the semifinals, Tank battles with Cody, with Tank trying to knock him off his board, but Tank falls off his own board and loses. During the finals, however, Tank appears and tries to throw Joe off his board. Cody intervenes at the last minute, sending himself and Tank into an area of the beach known as the Boneyards, which consists of dangerously sharp rock outcroppings and has killed many surfers who have ventured there.
Tank punches Cody off his board before crashing and is rescued by Lani. Big Z, who had secretly been watching Cody's performance, rescues Cody from a gigantic wave and helps him get back to the beach safely.
Big Z and Cody find out that Joe won by default since Tank and Cody were disqualified. However, Cody accepts the loss, having decided he would rather just have fun instead. Big Z reveals himself to the spectators and invites all of them to surf at his beach, where he joins Cody in tube-riding. Cody finishes his interview with a reflection of the past events and then joins the rest of his friends in the water.
Cast
[
edit
]
- Shia LaBeouf
as Cody Maverick, a 17-year old
rockhopper penguin
who dreams of being a
surfer
.
- Jeff Bridges
as Zeke "Big Z/Geek" Topanga, Cody's idol and a famous surfer
emperor penguin
.
- Zooey Deschanel
as Lani Aliikai, a
Gentoo penguin
lifeguard and Cody's love interest.
- Jon Heder
as Chicken Joe, a friendly, airheaded
rooster
from
Wisconsin
.
- Mario Cantone
as Mikey Abromowitz, a talent scout
shorebird
.
- James Woods
as Reggie Belafonte, an arrogant
sea otter
, the competition promoter.
- Diedrich Bader
as Tank "The Shredder" Evans, a
king penguin
and Cody's rival.
- Dana Belben
as Edna Maverick, Cody's mother.
- Brian Posehn
as Glen Maverick, Cody's older brother.
- Kelly Slater
as the penguin version of himself
- Rob Machado
as the penguin version of himself
- Ash Brannon
as himself
- Chris Buck
as himself
- Sal Masekela
as himself
- Reed Buck as Arnold
- Reese Elowe as Kate
- Jack P. Ranjo as Smudge
- Maddie Taylor
as Ivan, a
sea urchin
Music
[
edit
]
Surf's Up: Music from the Motion Picture
was released on June 5, 2007. The following 14 songs are on the Sony's official film soundtrack.
[8]
Title
| Writer(s)
| Artist
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1.
| "Reggae Got Soul"
| Frederick Hibbert, Warrick Lyn
| 311
| 3:09
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2.
| "
Drive
"
| Alex Katunich, Brandon Boyd, Chris Kilmore, Jose Pasillas II, Michael Einziger
| Incubus
| 3:52
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3.
| "Stand Tall"
| Dustin Bushnell, Jared Watson, Stan Frazier, Steve Fox
| Dirty Heads
| 3:11
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4.
| "
Lose Myself
"
| Lauryn Hill
| Lauryn Hill
| 4:35
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5.
| "Just Say Yes"
| Ken Andrews
| Ken Andrews
| 3:40
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6.
| "Forrowest"
| Jorge Continentino, Mauro Refosco
| Forro in the Dark
| 4:44
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7.
| "Pocket Full of Stars"
| David Jones, Hayley Hutchinson, James Galley, Martin Cohen, Sam Forrest
| Nine Black Alps
| 3:32
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8.
| "Into Yesterday"
| Stan Frazier, Steve Fox
| Sugar Ray
| 4:11
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9.
| "Big Wave"
| Eddie Vedder, Jeff Ament
| Pearl Jam
| 2:57
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10.
| "
Wipe Out
"
| Robert Berryhill, James Fuller, Patrick Connolly, Ronald Wilson
| The Queers
| 1:41
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11.
| "Run Home (Instrumental)"
| Daniel Watchorn, Michael Dyball, Michel Heppner, Vincent Nudo
| Priestess
| 3:37
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12.
| "
What I Like About You
"
| Jimmy Marinos, Mike Skill, Walter Palamarchuk
| The Romantics
| 2:57
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13.
| "
You Get What You Give
"
| Gregg Alexander, Richard Knowels
| New Radicals
| 4:57
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14.
| "
Hawaiian War Chant (Ta-Hu-Wa-Hu-Wai)
"
| Leleiohaku, Ralph Freed
| Bob Wills & His Texas Playboys
| 3:14
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Total length:
| 50:17
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According to the film's end credits, the version of "Wipe Out" heard in the film is actually performed by the punk band
The Queers
. The official soundtrack includes this version under the
pseudonym
"Big Nose", presumably for marketing purposes.
[9]
[10]
Two songs by
Green Day
, "
Welcome to Paradise
" (the version from the album “
Dookie
”) and "
Holiday
" in an instrumental version, are used for background music in the film.
[11]
Neither song appears on the official soundtrack album. In the primary teaser trailer, the song "
Get on Top
" by the
Red Hot Chili Peppers
can be heard in the background. "
Welcome to Paradise
" was also used in the second trailer promoting
Surf's Up,
as well as "
Three Little Birds
" by
Sean Paul
featuring
Ziggy Marley
. The DVD and Blu-ray behind-the-scenes featurette entitled "Making Waves" features the song "The Water", performed by
Venice
. This also does not appear on the "Surf's Up" soundtrack, but can be found on Venice's "Garage Demos Part 2: Fast Stuff" CD.
Surf's Up: Original Ocean Picture Score
was composed for the film by
Mychael Danna
and it was released on a limited edition (of a thousand units) 23-track CD.
[12]
Release
[
edit
]
Marketing
[
edit
]
To promote the film's release, surfboard wax bearing the film's logo and a rendering of Cody was given out at the 2006
San Diego Comic-Con
. It was attached to Open Season, which came out on September 29, 2006. On June 8, 2007,
McDonald's
issued eight
Surf's Up
toys in their
Happy Meals
for one month. In the Australian market, a few small
plush
characters of Cody, Lani, Chicken Joe, and Geek replace some of the toys in the US lineup. There was also a tie-in with the candy
Airheads
which introduces a "New Wave" flavor (pineapple) and four collectible
lenticular
motion surf board shaped pieces.
Build A Bear
stores sold plush toys of the film's protagonist, Cody Maverick. Patrons could "build" their own Cody as well as dress him up in an array of surf-themed clothing and other accessories in Build A Bear workshops. They could also purchase Cody and accessories at the official site. Several plushes from Nanco intended for claw machines can also be found and purchased in varying sizes (from 6 inches to 11 inches to 17 inches). Characters available: Cody, Lani, Tank, Geek, Big Z, Chicken Joe, and Reggie Belefonte. A rare set of larger (Geek measures 15 inches) and higher quality plushes had been made available at the premiere's after party. Won either through available games, or given away with gift sets for attendees. Cody, Lani, Arnold and Geek were created and so far no plans for the dolls to be sold commercially have appeared. A series of children's 100 piece puzzles are available as well depicting various characters and setups. Five inch waterproof plush tub toys released by
Jakks Pacific
in minimal quantities to most major retailers. Five characters were produced, including Cody, Tank, Big Z, Arnold, & Chicken Joe. Each character has an attached washcloth/surfboard, but sport questionable likenesses (and in the case of Chicken Joe, entirely off model, bearing more of a resemblance to Mikey). Along with the release of the film, a companion
Surf's Up
video game
was released by
Ubisoft
for all the current video gaming systems on the market. All versions of the game are the same with mild graphical differences, with only the
Nintendo DS
version changing the overall format.
Home media
[
edit
]
Surf's Up
was released on
Blu-ray
,
UMD
Video and
DVD
in the
United States
on October 9, 2007. The DVD and Blu-ray included two animated short films:
The ChubbChubbs!
and
The ChubbChubbs Save Xmas
, the latter of which premiered with this release.
[13]
Reception
[
edit
]
Critical response
[
edit
]
Surf's Up
has a 79% approval rating on
Rotten Tomatoes
based on 147 reviews; the average rating is 6.67/10. The site's consensus reads: "
Surf's Up
is a laid-back, visually stunning animated movie that brings a fresh twist to some familiar conventions. Its witty mockumentary format is fun and inventive, and the CGI is breathtakingly realistic."
[5]
Metacritic
gave the film a score of 64 out of 100 based on 26 reviews.
[14]
Audiences surveyed by
CinemaScore
gave the film a grade "A?" on scale of A+ to F.
[15]
Some reviews noted that in spite of it coming so soon after many films featuring penguins (
March of the Penguins
,
Madagascar
, and
Happy Feet
),
Surf's Up
was able to stand out on its own.
Roger Ebert
of the
Chicago Sun-Times
reviewed: "The originality of the documentary format coupled with the splendid CGI effects qualifies
Surf's Up
as not just another penguin movie."
[
better source needed
]
[16]
The Dallas Morning News
critic Nancy Churnin agreed: "Sorry, cynics,
Surf's Up
is a charmer. And if the birds look somewhat familiar, they have something fresh to say about friendship and what winning is all about."
[
better source needed
]
[17]
While
James Berardinelli
of ReelViews said: "If you have to see one penguin movie, this is it",
[18]
Roger Moore of
Orlando Sentinel
gave the film a positive score, noting that it was "beautifully animated, terrifically acted and edited in a way that hilariously mimics those
Endless Summer
surf documentaries."
[19]
Conversely, Bill Muller,
The Arizona Republic
'
s critic, disliked almost everything: "From the nondescript voices to routine animation to an over-written story, this movie spends much of its time gasping for air."
[20]
Box office
[
edit
]
The film opened at number four and grossed $5,804,772 at the box office on its opening day in North America. It grossed $17,640,249 in its opening weekend. The film grossed $58,867,694 in North America, and $93,138,019 in the other territories, making the total worldwide gross $152,005,713.
[4]
Accolades
[
edit
]
Sequel
[
edit
]
A direct-to-video sequel, titled
Surf's Up 2: WaveMania
, was released on January 17, 2017. The film stars
WWE
superstars
John Cena
,
Triple H
,
The Undertaker
,
Vince McMahon
, and
Paige
.
[23]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
"Surf's Up"
.
AFI Catalog of Feature Films
. Retrieved
October 20,
2017
.
- ^
a
b
"Surf's Up (2007)"
.
Allmovie
. Retrieved
August 31,
2020
.
- ^
"Surf's Up"
. The Numbers
. Retrieved
October 9,
2012
.
- ^
a
b
"Surf's Up"
.
Box Office Mojo
. Retrieved
October 9,
2012
.
- ^
a
b
"Surf's Up (2007)"
.
Rotten Tomatoes
.
Fandango Media
. Retrieved
October 9,
2012
.
- ^
"07q1_sony.pdf"
(PDF)
.
Sony
. Retrieved
January 15,
2021
.
- ^
"Surf's Up 2: WaveMania"
.
Box Office Mojo
. Retrieved
January 15,
2021
.
- ^
"Surf's Up (Music from the Motion Picture)"
. iTunes. June 5, 2007
. Retrieved
October 9,
2012
.
- ^
Surf’s Up
(DVD). Sony Pictures Animation/Columbia Pictures. 2007.
- ^
"Surf's Up (2007)"
. The Soundtrack Info Project
. Retrieved
December 30,
2010
.
- ^
"Surf's Up (2007)"
. The Soundtrack Info Project
. Retrieved
December 30,
2009
.
- ^
"Surf's Up (Original Motion Picture Score)"
. iTunes. January 29, 2008
. Retrieved
October 7,
2012
.
- ^
Desowitz, Bill (July 30, 2007).
"Surf's Up DVD to Include New ChubbChubbs Short"
.
Animation World Network
. Retrieved
October 9,
2012
.
- ^
"Surf's Up"
.
Metacritic
.
CBS Interactive
. Retrieved
October 9,
2012
.
- ^
"Cinemascore"
.
Archived
from the original on December 20, 2018.
- ^
Ebert, Roger (June 8, 2007).
"Critic Review - Chicago Sun-Times"
. Rotten Tomatoes
. Retrieved
October 9,
2012
.
- ^
Churnin, Nancy (June 8, 2007).
"Critic Review - Dallas Morning News"
. Rotten Tomatoes
. Retrieved
October 9,
2012
.
- ^
Berardinelli, James (June 9, 2007).
"Surf's Up"
.
Reelviews
. Retrieved
October 9,
2012
.
- ^
Moore, Roger (June 8, 2007).
"Surf's Up (4 stars out of 5)"
.
Orlando Sentinel
. Archived from
the original
on December 17, 2018
. Retrieved
December 17,
2018
.
- ^
Muller, Bill (June 8, 2007).
"Surf's Up"
.
Arizona Republic
. Retrieved
October 9,
2012
.
[
permanent dead link
]
- ^
"The 80th (2008) Academy Awards"
. Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS)
. Retrieved
December 22,
2015
.
- ^
"MPN: Natalia Guimaraes em premiacao infanto-juvenil"
. Estrelando
. Retrieved
September 10,
2022
.
- ^
Milligan, Mercedes (December 1, 2016).
"Catch 'Wavemania' in Sony's 'Surf's Up 2' Trailer"
.
Animation Magazine
. Retrieved
December 1,
2016
.
External links
[
edit
]
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|
Feature films
| Computer animated
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Live-action/
computer animated
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Stop-motion animated
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Upcoming films
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Television series
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Online series
| |
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Short films
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Franchises
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Associated productions
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See also
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|
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Best Individual Achievement for Effects Animation
(1997-2003)
| |
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Outstanding Achievement for Animated Effects
(2004-2009)
| |
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Outstanding Achievement for Animated Effects
in an Animated Production
(2010-2019)
| |
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Outstanding Achievement for Animated Effects
in a Live Action Production
(2011-2016)
| |
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Best FX - Feature
(2020-present)
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