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 Surf's
Up is an animation action-comedy that will be released in
Chennai on August 3, 2007. Brilliantly conceived and executed,
the film has everything packed into it - action, comedy,
emotion, sentiment, heroism, courage and sacrifice.
The film delves behind the scenes of the high
octane world of competitive surfing. The film profiles teenage 'Rockhopper
penguin Cody Maverick' (Shia LaBeouf), an up-and-coming surfer,
as he enters his first pro competition.
Followed by a camera crew to document his
experiences, Cody leaves his family and home in Shiverpool,
Antarctica, to travel to Pen Gu Island for the Big Z Memorial
Surf Off. Along the way, Cody meets Sheboygan surfer Chicken Joe
(Jon Heder), famous surf promoter Reggie Belafonte (James
Woods), surf talent scout Mikey Abromowitz (Mario Cantone), and
spirited lifeguard Lani Aliikai (Zooey Deschanel), all of whom
recognise Cody's passion for surfing, even if it's a bit
misguided at times.
Cody believes that winning will bring him the
admiration and respect he desires, but when he unexpectedly
comes face-to-face with a washed-up old surfer (Jeff Bridges),
Cody begins to find his own way, and discovers that a true
winner isn't always the one who comes in first.
Columbia Pictures presents this Sony Pictures
Animation film. Directed by Ash Brannon and Chris Buck, it has
screenplay by Don Rhymer and Ash Brannon & Chris Buck &
Christopher Jenkins. Story is by Christopher Jenkins and
Christian Darren, while it is produced by Christopher Jenkins.
Music is by Mychael Danna. Imagery and animation is by Sony
Pictures Imageworks, Inc.
"As soon as there was the first wave, there
was the first surfer. All you needed was a piece of driftwood,
or a block of ice... and you were off, you were riding. They
were hooked, man, they were hooked - they couldn't stop. And
they just passed it on and passed it on, handed that surf gene
down all the way through the days. Up 'til recent times, you had
your old dudes, your 'hang six' cats, these old guys that used
to lay down with huge, humongous boards. These guys were the
pioneers. But nobody saw what surfing could really be until Big
Z did it.
"Who was Big Z? You're asking the right guy,
you got that far. Z is everything. Big Z is surfing. There may
as well not have been an ocean before Z. They invented the ocean
for him. He lived so hard because he wasn't afraid to die. He
came to Antarctica when I was just a kid. Man, it was the
biggest thing that ever happened here. And suddenly there he
was. Just floating over the water, just hovering, like
weightless. He could have walked up to anyone...and he walks
right up to me. And he gives me this awesome, one of a kind Big
Z necklace. Then he tells me, 'No matter what, find a way,
'cause that's what winners do'. He was the greatest. Everyone
looked up to him, respected him, loved him. And one day... one
day I'm gonna be just like him." - Cody Maverick, up-and-coming
surfer and star of Surf's Up.
About the production
Surf's Up is a fresh, fun animated comedy
that immerses audiences in the competitive world of surfing
penguins. For producer Christopher Jenkins, that hilarious
starting point led to a breakthrough in how to present the story
of up-and-coming surfer Cody Maverick.
"The notion of surfing penguins really got me
thinking. What if, instead of being a straightforward fantasy
narrative, Surf's Up went into the world of animation with a
hypothetically authentic camera, as if it were taping live
interviews and ostensibly no script?" says Jenkins.
"What would these surfing penguins tell us if
they were given a chance? From there it was a short step to
realising the potential of this coupling - the imagination of
animation paired with the realism and immediacy of today's
real-life video."
Directors Ash Brannon (co-director of Toy
Story 2) and Chris Buck (director of Tarzan) quickly realised
the cleverness in the idea: relying on the conventions and style
of reality television and documentary film-making. Surf's Up
would have an immediacy and relevance that set it apart from the
pack. Using that technique, the directors brought into focus the
characters, story and art direction - the heart of the film.
That intimate cinematic style perfectly
supported the story that developed from the inspiring concept of
surfing penguins devised by veteran animation executives Sandra
Rabins and Penney Finkelman Cox.
At the centre of the story, the film-makers
placed the relationship between Cody, a young, up-and-coming
surfer who thinks that becoming a champion will bring him the
respect he feels he deserves, and Big Z, the onetime Iegendary
surfer who everybody thinks has passed on, but in fact has been
living alone as a hermit for the past decade.
"Having lost his father, Cody is clearly
looking for a father figure, and the legend of Big Z had filled
that void; because Z was a champion, that's what Cody thought he
wanted to be, too. But when Cody enters Z's life, Z is forced to
come to terms with his past and face life as a champion whose
glory days are over," says director Ash Brannon.
"When Cody finds out that Z is still alive,
they naturally fall into those father-son roles - the good and
the challenging - and both realise that nothing could matter
less than a trophy. It's their passion for being out on the
waves that counts most."
To absorb audiences into Cody's world, every
detail had to be appropriate to the experience. "One of our main
goals was to take the viewer to a tropical location," said
director Chris Buck. "We wanted to recreate that feeling you get
when you step off the plane in a place like Tahiti or Hawaii,
and you're hit by that amazing scent and air and even by how
different the light is. You really know that you're somewhere
special."
An ensemble of talented actors form the voice
cast of Surf's Up. Leading the way is Shia LaBeouf, who takes on
the role of Cody Maverick. He is joined by four-time Academy
Award nominee Jeff Bridges, playing Big Z; Zooey Deschanel as
Lani; Jon Heder as Chicken Joe; James Woods as Reggie; Mario
Cantone as Mikey; and Diedricn Bader as Tank.
Because of the behind-the-scenes nature of
the film, it was necessary that the characters speak in a
natural way - including improvised and overlapping dialogue. In
a typical animation voiceover session, actors are alone in the
booth as they record their characters' lines. This allows the
animators, editors and sound designers more flexibility in
splicing together different performances. For Surf's Up, the
film-makers made the highly unconventional choice to record many
scenes with several actors in the booth at once. "A performance
is completely different when you have the other actors there in
the room with you - you get a sense of what they're doing and
react to each other in a natural way," says LaBeouf. "For a
movie like Surf's Up - which is supposed to go behind the
scenes, showing what happens in the natural environment, it was
essential, and I'm glad we had the creative freedom to find the
magic."
The result is a film that reinforces Sony
Pictures Animation's philosophy of promoting the film-makers'
creativity and vision. Following the division's successful
launch last fall with the animated hit 'Open Season', Sony
Pictures Animation has proven to be a home for great talent.
"As a surfer and a dad, I knew how much fun
it would be to share those experiences with an audience in our
film's unique style," says Yair Landau, president of Sony
Pictures Digital and vice-chairman of Sony Pictures
Entertainment. "Over the past five years, we have built a
story-driven animation studio powered by Imageworks' 15 years of
visual effects artistry. That's all on the screen in Surf's Up,
a beautiful demonstration of who we are and where animation is
headed."
"Surf's Up is a gorgeous production that
enables audiences to share the lives of delightful characters,"
adds Sandra Rabins, executive vice-president of Sony Pictures
Animation. "Every detail of their world can be seen and enjoyed,
from the smallest grain of sand to the magnificent beauty of the
setting sun. It's like going to the beach without getting wet!"
R Rangaraj
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