Penguins. I don’t like them (childhood nightmare, don’t ask) but lots of people do. They’re cute, they dress in black and white outfits, and they walk funny. Trust Hollywood to cash in on this. Now, after March of the Penguins, Madagascar, and Happy Feet, comes the animated flick Surf’s Up.
Surf’s Up is a mockumentary that tells the story of fatherless Cody Maverick (Maverick Senior had an unfortunate confrontation with the business end of a whale). Cody (voiced by Shia LeBeouf) is an up-and-coming surfer living in Shiverpool, Antarctica. When surf talent scout Mikey Abromowitz (voiced by Mario Cantone) visits the area, Cody gets recruited to compete in the Annual Big Z Memorial Surf-Off, an homage to Z, a deceased surfing legend whom Cody has idolized since childhood.
Will Cody get some bad sets at the Surf-Off? Find out after the jump.
Followed by a camera crew to document his experiences, Cody meets several rag-tag characters along the way, including a mid-western surfer Chicken Joe (voiced by Jon Heder), famous surf promoter Reggie Belafonte (voiced by James Woods), zesty lifeguard Lani Aliikai (voiced by Zooey Deschanel), and the egotistical nine-time surfing champ, Tank “The Shredder” Evans (voiced by Diedrich Bader). Cody is reluctantly mentored by Geek (Jeff Daniels), an aged former surfer and island recluse. Through Geek, Cody learns some important lessons about life and surfing. Will Cody become the kind of surfer that his idol Big Z would be proud of? This inspirational tale proves anything is possible when you put your heart into it.
Surf’s Up has a run time of 85 minutes and is suitable for all ages. This Blu-ray release presents the film re-mastered in High Definition (HD) and is packed with special features including:
- Not a Single Drop of Real Water — filmmaker and cast interviews, making-of footage, and video diary from the production crew
- All Together Now: Surf’s Up Voice Sessions — split-screen footage of the main actors voicing their characters
- Surf Like A Pro — hints and tips from surfing celebrities on how it’s done
- Meet the Penguins — shows the real life penguins used to create the animated models
- Arnold’s Zurfinary — a collection of the surf slang used in the movie
- Audio commentary — by the directors and producer
- Deleted scenes
- Music video — “Lose Myself” by Lauryn Hill
- Image galleries — contains stills of the characters and locations
- Two animated shorts — “Chubbchubbs” and “Chubbchubbs Save Xmas”
Surf’s Up was kindly supplied for review by Nelmari Claassens, SterKinekor Entertainment Marketing Manager for Sony Pictures. Go to www.bluraydisc.co.za to view the latest Blu-ray news, reviews and competitions featured on SterKinekor Entertainment’s newsletter. Sony Pictures can be found on the Web at www.sonypictures.com.
