Surf's Up (2007)

Yes, there are too many animated penquin movies... but don't miss this one
"Surf's Up" was much better than the goofy trailer suggested it would be. Sure there's silly "surfer dude" humor, but it's not overused. But more importantly, the movie has detail and subtlety across the board. Examples? The mock documentary feel of the film allowed the animators to periodically insert very clever "historic footage" of famous surfers of years past, first in scratchy black & white then in that Super-8 grainy color stock (they really made it look like that!) we older viewers remember from home movies in the pre-video era. These "old clips" were really clever and fun.

Then I was delighted at discovering how the actors and producers used improvised, overlapping, Altman-esque dialogue throughout the movie, instead of a hard and fast script like most animated films (the generous special features confirmed this creative decision; the producers wanted the actors to "run with the ball" and take the characters where they wanted to take them). This dialogue approach definitely gave the move a more real, organic feel.

Visual details throughout the main body of the film are amazing, too: some of the beach scenes are bright and sunny, but others have an overcast feel with a slight mist in the air, just like, well... real beaches look sometimes. And all the expertly-rendered scenes with the ocean, the big waves, and the surfing are dramatic and awe-inspiring.

Finally, the story has subtle, intelligent things to say about friendship, hope, the pitfalls of ambition, and other interpersonal subjects. Yep, I'm talking about this movie about surfing penguins!

Do yourself a favor, if you avoided "Surf's Up" in theaters because (like me) you thought it would be a silly effort that pandered to kids, definitely check it out on DVD.

Great Surprise!
I just bought a Blu-ray player and wanted to but a movie to try out.
Not only was this a grest trial movie but it was entertaining as well.

The surfing penguins and chicken don't make sense to me but the overall story and plot worked.

It was fun and funny.

Although I wasn't expecting much, I was delightfully surprised.

GREAT voiceover work!
GREAT animation!

After typing this review, I'm ready to watch it again!

Great movie
I was not sure what to expect when I bought this movie, another penguin movie...But I truly loved it, it was much better than I had anticipated