Surf's Up (film)

Surf's Up
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Ash Brannon Chris Buck
Produced by	Chris Jenkins
Screenplay by	Chris Jenkins Ash Brannon Chris Buck Don Rhymer
Story by	Chris Jenkins Christian Darren
Starring	Shia LaBeouf Jeff Bridges Zooey Deschanel Jon Heder Mario Cantone James Woods Diedrich Bader
Music by	Mychael Danna
Editing by	Ivan Bilancio
Studio	Sony Pictures Animation Sony Pictures Imageworks
Distributed by	Columbia Pictures
Release date(s)	June 8, 2007 (2007-06-08)
Running time	85 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$100 million
Box office	$149,044,513

Surf's Up is a 2007 American computer-animated mockumentary family comedy film directed by Ash Brannon and Chris Buck. It stars the voices of Shia LaBeouf, Jeff Bridges, Zooey Deschanel and Jon Heder among others.

In production since 2002 at Sony Pictures Animation, it was the studio's second theatrical feature. The film premiered in the United States on June 8, 2007, and was distributed by Columbia Pictures.

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.

Plot

A documentary crew follows the events of Cody Maverick (Shia LaBeouf), a teenage rockhopper penguin who has wanted to be a professional surfer ever since a visit from surf legend Zeke "Big Z" Topanga several years ago. When a scout arrives to find entrants for the "Big Z Memorial" surfing contest, Cody jumps at the chance despite lackluster support from his family. Enroute to the contest, Cody befriends another entrant, Chicken Joe (Jon Heder).

The entrants arrive at Pen Gu Island, the site of the contest, where Cody meets -- and immediately falls in love with -- Lani (Zooey Deschanel), a female penguin who is a lifeguard. He also meets Tank "The Shredder" Evans (Diedrich Bader), an egotistical penguin who has won the Big Z Memorial nine times since it was held after Z's disappearance during a previous match.

Cody sees Tank disrepecting Big Z's memorial shrine and immediately challenges him to a surfing duel, which Tank easily wins while Cody nearly drowns. Lani rescues Cody and takes him to her uncle, the "Geek" (Jeff Bridges), to help Cody recover. Cody wakes up and panics when he can't find the souvenir necklace he got as a kid from Big Z. Geek downplays the necklace, but decides to return it when he later finds it in his hut.

Geek finds Cody sitting on an koa log and offers to teach him to 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 away from the contest. When Cody gets to the beach, he discovers that Geek is Big Z, the same surfer he had idolized all those years, and asks Z to teach him to surf. Reluctantly, Z agrees, but says that Cody has to make his own board first.

The attempt doesn't go well, however, as an impatient Cody doesn't listen to Z's advice about using long, smooth strokes and makes a board that shatters as soon as he tries to enter the water. Frustrated, he storms off, running into Lani, who eventually persuades him to return. That night, a calmer, more patient Cody works on a new board, finishing it by morning.

Z compliments Cody on his board, but when Cody is eager to start training, Z instead has him do seemingly menial tasks unrelated to surfing. Only after Cody tells Z he's "having fun" does Z finally take him into the water, telling him to surf the waves with long, smooth strokes, just like making the board. Cody then asks Z if he'll come watch the contest, but Z refuses, saying he faked his disappearance because he realized he couldn't compete with Tank. Upset that Z just gave up, Cody leaves, meets up with Chicken Joe, and gets back to the contest just as it begins.

Tank easily makes the finals, as do Cody and Joe, the latter turning out to be a natural born surfer. During the finals, however, Tank tries to cause Joe to wipe out. Cody intervenes at the last minute, sending him and Tank out of bounds. Tank wipes out and is rescued by Lani while Z, who had been secretly watching Cody's performance, helps Cody get back to the beach.

Z and Cody find out that Chicken Joe won by default since Tank and Cody were disqualified. Cody no longer cares about winning, however, having decided he'd rather just have fun instead. Z reveals himself to the audience and invites all the spectators to surf. Cody finishes his interview and joins the rest of his friends in the water.

During the end credits, the film crew interviews Cody's mother and older brother Glenn. Cody's mom says she doesn't mind that Cody didn't win, but Glenn still sees Cody as a loser, causing his mom to lecture him. In disgust, Glenn ends the interview, and is later seen carelessly tossing the crew's expensive equipment out the window, saying "Go back to Hollywood!"

Voice cast

• Shia LaBeouf as Cody Maverick - A seventeen year old Northern Rockhopper Penguin who is determined to win the tenth annual Big Z Memorial Surf Off.
• Jeff Bridges as Ezekiel 'Big Z' Topanga/Geek - The uncle of Lani and a former surfer who Cody first met when he was a young penguin. After been beaten in surf off with Tank Big Z went into hiding and went under the name of Geek but at the end of the film came back into the public eye.
• Zooey Deschanel as Lani Aliikai - The niece of Big Z and Cody's love interest who works as a lifeguard.
• Jon Heder as Chicken Joe - A wannabe surfer who befriends Cody when they go to the Big Z Memorial Surf Off.
• Mario Cantone as Mikey Abromowitz - A talent scout who is sent out to find wannabe surfers.
• James Woods as Reggie Belafonte - an otter who used to manage Big Z but later managed Tank. His character is loosely based on boxing promoter Don King.
• Diedrich Bader as Tank "The Shredder" Evans - The main antagonist. A surfer who has won the Big Z Memorial Surf Off nine times and was the reason Big Z went into hiding.
• Rebecca Honig as Mila Savanah
• Dana Belben as Edna Maverick - Cody and Glen's mother.
• Brian Posehn as Glen Maverick - Edna's son and Cody's older brother.
• Kelly Slater as Himself
• Rob Machado as Himself
• Sal Masekela as SPEN Announcer
• Reed Buck as Arnold
• Michael McKean as Rock (deleted scenes) (uncredited)
• Jane Krakowski as Sheila Limberfin (deleted scenes) (uncredited)
• Mindy Sterling as Doris Flipkitz (deleted scenes) (uncredited)

Music

Soundtrack

Surf's Up: Music from the Motion Picture
Soundtrack album by Various Artists
Released	June 5, 2007
Genre	Film soundtrack
Label	Columbia Records

Surf's Up: Music from the Motion Picture was released on June 5, 2007. The following 14 songs are on Sony's official film soundtrack. But after another was added in itunes song called: Get Delirious by Lil 'Chris. This will include 15 official songs.

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Reggae Got Soul"	311
2.	"Drive"	Incubus
3.	"Stand Tall"	The Dirty Heads
4.	"Lose Myself"	Lauryn Hill
5.	"Just Say Yes"	Ken Andrews
6.	"Forrowest"	Forro in the Dark
7.	"Pocket Full Of Stars"	Nine Black Alps
8.	"Into Yesterday"	Sugar Ray
9.	"Big Wave"	Pearl Jam
10.	"Wipe Out"	Big Nose
11.	"Run Home (Instrumental)"	Priestess
12.	"What I Like About You"	The Romantics
13.	"You Get What You Give"	The New Radicals
14.	"Hawaiian War Chant (Ta-Hu-Wa-Hu-Wai)"	Bob Wills & His Texas Playboys
15.	"Get Delirious"	Lil' Chris

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. Two songs by Green Day, "Welcome to Paradise" and "Holiday", are used for background music in the film. However, 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.

Score

Surf's Up: Original Ocean Picture Score
Soundtrack album (Original Score) by Mychael Danna
Genre	Film score
Label	Sony

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.

All songs written and composed by Mychael Danna. 

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Legends"
2.	"Sports Network Presents"
3.	"You're In"
4.	"Big Z's Shrine"
5.	"Taking on Tank"
6.	"The Geek"
7.	"Stuck With This Guy"
8.	"I Don't Have a Way"
9.	"Log Roll"
10.	"The Board Shack"
11.	"Cody Struggles"
12.	"Lani and Cody"
13.	"Waterfall"
14.	"In the Bogus"
15.	"Training"
16.	"The Has Been"
17.	"The Big Z Memorial"
18.	"First Round"
19.	"Shredding"
20.	"Winning Is..."
21.	"Boneyards"
22.	"Losers"
23.	"Pointed the Way Back"

Box office

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 eventually grossed $58,867,694 in North America and $90,176,819 in the other territories, making the total worldwide gross $149,044,513.

Critical response

Surf's Up has received generally positive reviews from critics, and the film is 'Certified Fresh' on Rotten Tomatoes, with a 77% approval rating among reviews. Some noted that in spite of it coming so soon after many films featuring penguins (The Pebble and the Penguin, March of the Penguins, Madagascar, and Happy Feet), it was able to stand out on its own. This was an improvement from Open Season, Sony Pictures Animation's previous film, which received mixed reviews.

It was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Animated Feature in January 2008. While Ratatouille (the eventual winner) and Persepolis were widely regarded as being certain nominees, some thought that the third nominee in this category would be The Simpsons Movie.

Awards

Surf's Up was nominated for 10 Annie Awards including two won. It lost all other awards to Ratatouille. The nominations including:

• Best Animated Feature: Sony Pictures Animation
• Animated Effects: Deborah Carlson(won)
• Animation Production Artist: John Clark (won)
• Character Animation in a Feature Production: Dave Hardin
• Character Animation in a Feature Production: Alan Hawkins
• Character Design in an Animated Feature Production: Sylvain Deboissy
• Directing in an Animated Feature Production: Ash Brannon & Chris Buck
• Production Design in an Animated Feature Production: Marcelo Vignali
• Storyboarding in an Animated Feature Production: Denise Koyama
• Writing in an Animated Feature Production: Don Rhymer and Ash Brannon & Chris Buck

It was also nominated for the 80th Academy Awards for Academy Award for Best Animated Feature but lost to Ratatouille.

Promotion and merchandise

• 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

• On June 8, 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 Air Heads 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 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

Surf's Up was released on high-definition Blu-ray Disc, PSP UMD Video and DVD in the United States on October 9, 2007. It is sold in both Widescreen and Fullscreen versions.

• Wal-Mart had copies of the DVD paired with an exclusive "soundtrack CD sampler" and plastic Big Z necklace.
• Toys R Us received select copies of the DVD with a "create your own surfboard" kit.
• Best Buy sold a box set that included the widescreen DVD and four character figurines. Cody, Lani, Chicken Joe, and Geek stand about three to four inches and have rolling "surfboards."
• Circuit City had a box set including a plush Cody, fullscreen DVD, and wrist band.
• Vons supermarkets, a division of Safeway, had a promotion during October, 2007 (the release of the DVD) in which one purchases $50 of select items and the customer receives a free DVD of Surf's Up
• Blockbuster had copies of the DVD that came with Surf's Up boxer shorts.
• The DVD release includes The ChubbChubbs! and The ChubbChubbs Save Xmas.

See also

• 2007 in film
• List of animated feature-length films
• List of computer-animated films

External links

• Official website
• Official DVD website
• Surf's Up at the Internet Movie Database
• Surf's Up at AllRovi
• Surf's Up at Rotten Tomatoes
• Surf's Up at Metacritic
• Surf's Up at Box Office Mojo
• Behind-the-Scenes with Sony Pictures Animation - articles about the film production, mostly technical
• Surf's Up at the 35th Annie Awards