Ash Brannon
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Connections, in both directions
And if the filmmakers are guilty of borrowing, they borrow from the best - witness a Greek chorus of penguin chicks straight out of Aardman's "Creature Comforts."
As visually arresting as "Surf's Up" is, it's the story -- refreshingly devoid of snarky "Shrek"-like pop culture references -- and the characters that make it come to life.
Far from condemning it as the next Shrek , though, I'd say the worst thing about Surf's Up is that it's clever enough to leave you expecting more--and inoffensive enough (unless scenes of a primitive tribe of cannibal penguins can somehow be traced back to Native-fear flicks or intolerance towards Polynesians) to leave you wishing some of the "nuggets" its anachronistic Chicken Joe (Jon Heder, in the first performance of his career that didn't leave me wanting to punch his mother) mentions were in more obvious display in the filmmakers.
In the process, they deliver the kind of wit we had hoped for from Shrek the Third but didn't get.
Both directors came out of Disney: Chris Buck goes back as far as The Fox and the Hound (1981) and has extensive credits in cel animation but slim computer animation credits.
Penguins have been having a good couple of years at the cineplex: They became celebrities in March of the Penguins, they tap-danced in Happy Feet, and starting today they'll be riding the waves in Surf's Up.
The fact that everyone's talking about global warming also makes the timing right, especially since March of the Penguins made a hundred million clams.
Are they more endearing than the very cool birds of “March of the Penguins”?
Though it doesn't have the rousing musical numbers of Happy Feet or the fascinating saga and emotion of March of the Penguins, Surf's Up is yet another entertaining film featuring penguins.
The obvious, if commercial high-end, subject matter benchmarks for Surf's Up are 2005's $125m-grossing documentary March Of The Penguins and last season's $380m worldwide smash Happy Feet, which won the Academy Award for Best Animated Film.
Damn those Happy Feet —and, for that matter, March of the Penguins .
I guess it's fair to say that Ash Brannon (Toy Story 2) and Chris Buck's mockumentary Surf's Up is a successful send-up of the Endless Summer-style documentary recently revived by Stacy Peralta's Riding Giants --but its triumph as such is relegated to so microscopic a genre that its usefulness as satire is negligible.
It's a tiki shrine of surfer cultism, with funny and fond spoofs of beach boy documentaries like “Riding Giants” (during a huge curler, we hear the voices of actual surfers).
Strange as it sounds, though, Surf's Up exists at the unlikely intersection between those films and recent arthouse surf-culture documentaries like Riding Giants and Step Into Liquid.
Unlike that other animated penguin movie "Happy Feet," climate change is of little concern to the animated critters that populate the movie as they move easily between the icy waters of Antarctica and the balmier climes of Pen Gu Island where most of the action takes place.
Penguins have been having a good couple of years at the cineplex: They became celebrities in March of the Penguins, they tap-danced in Happy Feet, and starting today they'll be riding the waves in Surf's Up.
But wait: Somewhere between the overrated "Happy Feet" and all those recent documentaries about young, blond jocks of various boards (skate, surf, snow and boogie), "Surf's Up" turns out to be a pretty nifty family movie, with enough of a new-old look and fresh vocal talent to make it a refreshing break from the current slew of summer retreads.
Penguins don't tap dance either but the idea worked pretty well for Happy Feet.
Are they cuter than the cartoon birds of “Happy Feet”?
Though it doesn't have the rousing musical numbers of Happy Feet or the fascinating saga and emotion of March of the Penguins, Surf's Up is yet another entertaining film featuring penguins.
Based on a Chinese graphic novel, “Rock Dog” borrows from “Kung Fu Panda” and “Ratatouille” so heavily and equally that it feels like those movies gave birth to a slightly underachieving cinematic child.
Based on a graphic novel by Chinese musician Zheng Jun, this animated Chinese-American co-production cribs freely from “Kung Fu Panda,” “Ratatouille,” “The Muppets,” and “Flashdance,” taking those influences and flattening them out into an easy-listening version of the classic rock star origin story.
Bodi is never able to muster the “Kung Fu Panda” style mystic power his father tries to teach him as a part of the elaborate defense system he has put in place to protect the sheep from the Mafia-type wolves (led by Lewis Black as Linnux).
Headed by Chris Buck (2007's " Surf's Up ") and Jennifer Lee (writer of 2012's " Wreck-It Ralph ," making her directorial debut), "Frozen" reminds, if doesn't quite match, 2010's glorious "Rapunzel"-inspired " Tangled ," right down to its fairy tale inspiration and delicious musical leanings.
Directed by Chris Buck ("Tarzan," "Surf's Up") and screenwriter Jennifer Lee ("Wreck-It Ralph"), "Frozen" is said to have been based on Hans Christian Andersen's 'The Snow Queen,' but Menzel's presence suggests even more similarities to the Broadway musical 'Wicked,' where one woman trying to do good is instead branded a monster.
The lackluster character work here is all the more surprising since it comes from Wreck-It Ralph co-writer Jennifer Lee, who gets sole screenplay credit on Frozen and also serves as co-director with Chris Buck (Tarzan and Surf’s Up).
Adapted and directed by Chris Buck (Tarzan, Surf's Up) and Jennifer Lee (a writer on Wreck-It-Ralph, making her directing debut), Frozen sometimes moves a little too quickly... the jokes require a lighting-fast payoff, such as a sudden punch or the sudden snatch of a carrot.
Directors Chris Buck (co-director of Tarzan and Surf's Up) and Jennifer Lee (co-screenwriter of Wreck-It-Ralph, who also wrote this script and here becomes the first female director on an in-house Disney animated feature) do a pretty decent job of hitting the required cues for youngsters' dream-come-true expectations while also introducing darker tones by way of a mentally tortured youthful queen and a two-faced royal suitor.
Co-directors Chris Buck (Surf’s Up) and Jennifer Lee (Wreck-It Ralph) have created a funny movie with a strong emotional core and impressive design.
Better is Reggie Belafonte (voice of James Woods, "Northfork"), an otter with Don King hair, who is a manipulative promoter with a cute, furry face.
Fans of "The Big Lebowski" will find it a particularly inspired piece of casting, proving that even as a two-dimensional character, The Dude abides.
And so is the idea of having Jeff Bridges voice a penguin who is a lot like Bridges' amusing burned-out character from "The Big Lebowski."
That can only be Jeff Bridges as Geek, who has a close relation to the late Big Z and rolls Dude inflections from “The Big Lebowski” right down his gut, a true Diamond Head of beer bellies.
Jeff Bridges, as the kid's mentor, reprises his Dude character from The Big Lebowski.
He stands out in a part that spins off his slacker Dude character from The Big Lebowski (without the criminal elements).
But most of the best gags are bound to go over their heads, unless their parents decided to expose them to movies like High School, This Is Spinal Tap and The Big Lebowski (more on that one later) early on in life.
Surf's Up eventually succumbs to underdog sports intrigue (more The Karate Kid than Hoosiers ), complete with undersized hero Cody (Shia Labeouf), love interest from the right side of the tracks Lani (Zooey Deschanel), muscle-brained enemy Tank (Diedrich Bader), and a Mr. Miyagi-cum-The Dude mentor, Geek (Jeff Bridges).
It's kind of like a feathery stoner version of The Karate Kid with the Big Lebowski as Mr. Miyagi.
Too often, animated films go for big-name actors instead of actors who are right for their parts, but "Surf's Up" has a great cast, including Jeff Bridges as a bitter surfing legend who takes Cody under his wing in a story that resembles "The Color of Money" and Zooey Deschanel, who brings her loopy appeal to the role of a love interest for Cody.
Robin Williams ’ genie in Aladdin and Ray Romano ’s woolly mammoth in Ice Age are a few who come to mind.
The over-caffeinated cartoon character would seem done to death ("Ice Age," "Hoodwinked"), but James Woods and the spindly legs of his character make it seem fresh.
Also hilarious are Woods as the Don-King look-a-like otter Reggie and Cantone (TV's Sex and the City) as the twittery shorebird recruiter Mikey, channeling Jon Lovitz ’s spotter from A League of Their Own .
Strange as it sounds, though, Surf's Up exists at the unlikely intersection between those films and recent arthouse surf-culture documentaries like Riding Giants and Step Into Liquid.
In honor of surfing classics such as Endless Summer and Step Into Liquid , Surf's Up winks at the genre as it focuses on a bunch of penguins before, during and after a prestigious surfing contest.
Ash Brannon worked on The Little Mermaid at Disney then joined Pixar to work on Toy Story and A Bug's Life.
Ash Brannon worked on The Little Mermaid at Disney then joined Pixar to work on Toy Story and A Bug's Life.
While the gist of its plot seems like a retread of last summer's Cars, these characters are endearing and comical enough to make one overlook that.
Cody's surfing hero, Big Z (voiced by Jeff Bridges), is presumed dead but turns up a burned-out recluse; it's pretty much the same character as Paul Newman's Doc Hudson in Cars .