SURF'S UP

US, 2007, 85 minutes, Colour.
Voices of: Shia La Beouf, Jeff Bridges, Zooey Deschanel, Jon Heder, James Woods, Diedrich Bader, Mario Cantone, Kelly Slater, Rob Machado.
Directed by Ash Brannon and Chris Buck.

What an enjoyable film. One can't guarantee what age group of children will enjoy it best, but it has a great appeal for adults and not just the surfing community, though they will find it a treat.

Two years ago, the penguins marched. Last year they danced with happy feet. This year they are surfing. Is this the era of the penguins? Despite coming in third, Surf's Up is a most welcome addition to the study of the Antarctic and what penguins do when we are not looking!

The very smart thing about Surf's Up is presenting it like a documentary (and at times a mockumentar). There are interviews, talking heads (with the voices of some actual surf champions doing the commentary voiceover), station logos, microphones getting into the frame. There are also plenty of penguins wanting to be on TV and a few other fauna as well.

The animation is clear and bright, especially the icescapes of Antarctica and the huge waves building up and breaking.

The focus of the documentary is Cody Maverick, a young penguin, considered a bit of a loser who has lost his father but had an epiphany when former surf champion Big Z gave him a medal personally when Z visited Antarctica. Cody's vocation was settled except that he has to work in the fish sorting pile, has a large unsympathetic brother who puts him down during interviews and a very busy mother, chopping fish.

When he gets the opportunity to go to a tropical island for the championships (by chasing a bird scout who travels by whale and being pulled aboard by Chicken Joe, a surfer from the American Midwest), it is the dream of a lifetime. But, he also gets the opportunity to meet a lifeguard penguin, Lani, and fall in love with her, to meet Big Z again as well as his rival, Tank. And the biggest con-animal agent you could find, Reggie Belafonte.

So, plenty of action in the waves, some soul-searching and the moral that winning isn't everything.

The voices are a delight. Shia La Boeuf is just right as Cody. Jeff Bridges reminds us of the Dude in The Big Lebowski as Big Z. The unmistakeable voice of James Woods brings Reggie Belafonte to perky life. Zooey Deschanel is Lani and Jon Heder is the scatty Chicken Joe.

For what it set out to do and for entertainment, just right.

1.The appeal? The popularity of penguins? The subject, the style, the humour, the spoof?

2.The animation style, the penguin characters, the other animals? The locations, the Antarctic, the tropics? The waves and the surf? Realistic? The songs, the themes, the lyrics, Jeff Bridges and the final song about ukeleles?

3.The documentary framework, the interviews, characters and parody? The archives of old film sequences? ESPAN broadcasts? The logo coming on at various times? The cameras and microphones? Cody as the subject, his life, Glen and his mother and their comments, his mother at work cutting the fish? The absent father? The work with the sardines and sorting the fish? Surfing? Considered a loser? His memories of Z and giving him his medal? The whale, Mickey and his search for talent? Tank and his victory over Z? The island? Reggie Belafonte and his push? The quest, the interviews, privacy, reactions?

4.The star voices and their familiarity, style, dramatic interaction, comedy?

5.Cody as the hero, an aw-shucks kind of young penguin? His life, working on the heap of fish, Glen and his jealousy, doing raspberries at him, mother and her concern, his memories of Z? The scout, following the whale, determined to get aboard, Chicken Joe and his friendship, rescuing him? Reggie Belafonte and his exploitation? Lani and her being a lifeguard, continuously saving Arnold? Tank, his trophies, his mother? The competition, Cody and his failure, being rescued by Lani, the thorn in his foot? Going to Geek and the urine treatment for his wound? The talking with Geek, getting the log, the process of making the surfboard, Lani, the tubes? The relationship with Lani? Discovering that Geek was Z? The training, the skills? Z giving up, Cody throwing away the medal, sad? Chicken Joe finding him? The race, Tank and Joe? Tank and his defeat? His attacking them during the run-off wave? Helping Chicken Joe? Z rescuing him? Coming ashore, Reggie giving the speech and tribute, the happy ending?

6.Z, the old penguin, the champion, the film footage, the reports, the race? Losing to Tank? Deciding to disappear? The memorial to him? Living in the jungle, helping Cody, the memories of the past, the log, going to the other beach, training him? Cody and his disillusionment? His return, the final rescue?

7.Lani, the lifeguard, Arnold, helping Cody, the afternoon together with the tubes?

8.Reggie Belafonte, James Woods' voice, exploitive? Mikey and his not wanting to see Cody? His making a mistake?

9.Chicken Joe, the jokes, the voice, his skills, winning?

10.The penguin audience, the fans?

11.The interviewers, real surf experts voicing with penguin appearances? The television programs, the television patter?

12.The waves, the final competition, the message about winning and losing? The achievement? The final credits postscript with Glen and his mother being interviewed?

13.A satisfactory entertainment for adults and for children?