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Surf's Up

Play trailer 2:30 Poster for Surf's Up PG Released Jun 8, 2007 1h 25m Kids & Family Comedy Adventure Animation Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
79% Tomatometer 147 Reviews 70% Popcornmeter 250,000+ Ratings
Surfing means everything to teenage penguin Cody Maverick (Shia LaBeouf). Followed by a documentary film crew, he leaves his home in Antarctica for Pen Gu Island, site of the the Big Z Memorial Surf Off. Cody wants to be respected and admired, and he believes that winning the competition will bring him what he craves. However, an encounter with washed-up surfer Geek (Jeff Bridges) teaches Cody about what is truly important.
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Surf's Up

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Critics Consensus

Surf's Up is a laid back, visually stunning animated movie that brings a fresh twist to some familiar conventions. Its witty mockumentary format is fun and inventive, and the CGI is breathtakingly realistic.

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Critics Reviews

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Time Out Rated: 4/5 Nov 18, 2011 Full Review TIME Magazine Not a comedy tsunami, just consistent ripples of laughs and good vibes. Sep 9, 2008 Full Review Paul Byrnes Sydney Morning Herald It's fun for a while, but the script doesn't have the structure to sustain 85 minutes. Rated: 3/4 Sep 21, 2007 Full Review Megan Basham WORLD On the surface, this may not sound like a particularly original idea, but director Ash Brannon handles the "documentary" framing device so well, adults may forget they are watching a cartoon. Oct 16, 2018 Full Review Brandy McDonnell The Oklahoman What truly sets Surf's Up apart is the natural dialogue. The filmmakers brought the actors together to record their lines, an unusual step for an animated movie. The extra effort pays off. Rated: 3.5/4 Aug 14, 2018 Full Review Pablo Villaça Cinema em Cena O estilo mockumentary confere charme a esta animação, que também se beneficia da dublagem perfeita de Bridges e de uma técnica impressionante (a animação de fluidos é fabulosa). Rated: 3/5 Sep 17, 2008 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Juan C The BEST 1,25hrs i Saw on my life Rated 5 out of 5 stars 07/03/25 Full Review Stephen C Funny in 1 hour and 25 minutes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Rated PG for Some Rude Humor and Mild Language!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Rated 5 out of 5 stars 06/20/25 Full Review Nim T Great cast with a surprise of the voices of Zooey Deschanel, Jeff Bridges, and Shia LaBeouf. The movie was short but nevertheless gave a animated story that was strong. It described a young penguin seeking out a dream to be a good surfer due to idolization of former surfer Z. The story felt surreal as certain audience members think the movie gave them hope, to which I agree to a degree. However, because I had watched Happy Feet many years ago, it was a little disappointing where the story could've had just a little more scene between Lani and Cody, because without Lani being a major force, Cody could not have continued his dream and being recognized as a surfer. The movie has its great visual effects, despite the simplicity of taking place in just a few settings. Overall, deserves the 4/5 stars and is a good childhood film to watch. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 06/04/25 Full Review Audience Member Such a great chill vibe and some heartfelt moments with funny surfing antics by mostly pretty good ad-lib voice acting. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 05/11/25 Full Review gta and more B Its an almost a five for me, when i was a child, I started to see something like 10 minutes of the movie and i didn't catch it because it was a documentary style, which today i really liked, so i watched this movie again and everything is literally perfect about it, the story the message the vibe, this movie could hit everyone because everyone got the same story just a little different, the ending could ended a little differently but it was still amazing and best for me, the "villain" the "hero" the characters everything is good, even this movie is animated you can feel and sense the chemistry between some characters, this movie hit me the most, go watch Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 05/02/25 Full Review Gianni M One of my favorite movies from my chidhood, peak Rated 5 out of 5 stars 04/23/25 Full Review Read all reviews
Surf's Up

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Cast & Crew

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Ash Brannon

Director

Chris Buck

Director

Shia LaBeouf

Cody Maverick

Jeff Bridges

Geek

Zooey Deschanel

Lani Aliikai

Jon Heder

Chicken Joe

Movie Clips

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Surf's Up

Surf's Up: Official Clip - A Surefire Cure Surf's Up: Official Clip - A Surefire Cure 2:40 Surf's Up: Official Clip - Building Cody's Board Surf's Up: Official Clip - Building Cody's Board 2:51 Surf's Up: Official Clip - Cody vs. Tank Surf Off Surf's Up: Official Clip - Cody vs. Tank Surf Off 2:48 Surf's Up: Official Clip - Big Z Returns Surf's Up: Official Clip - Big Z Returns 2:23 Surf's Up: Official Clip - Chicken Joe's Hot Tub Surf's Up: Official Clip - Chicken Joe's Hot Tub 1:12 Surf's Up: Official Clip - The Competition Begins Surf's Up: Official Clip - The Competition Begins 2:13 Surf's Up: Official Clip - Let's Surf! Surf's Up: Official Clip - Let's Surf! 3:02 Surf's Up: Official Clip - The Final Wave Surf's Up: Official Clip - The Final Wave 2:24 Surf's Up: Official Clip - Surfing Documentary Surf's Up: Official Clip - Surfing Documentary 3:06 Surf's Up: Official Clip - Lava Boarding Surf's Up: Official Clip - Lava Boarding 2:40 View more videos

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Surf's Up

Surf's Up: Trailer 2 Surf's Up: Trailer 2 2:30 Surf's Up: Trailer 1 Surf's Up: Trailer 1 2:18 View more videos
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Surf's Up

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Movie Info

Synopsis Surfing means everything to teenage penguin Cody Maverick (Shia LaBeouf). Followed by a documentary film crew, he leaves his home in Antarctica for Pen Gu Island, site of the the Big Z Memorial Surf Off. Cody wants to be respected and admired, and he believes that winning the competition will bring him what he craves. However, an encounter with washed-up surfer Geek (Jeff Bridges) teaches Cody about what is truly important.
Director
Ash Brannon, Chris Buck
Producer
Christopher Jenkins
Screenwriter
Don Rhymer, Ash Brannon, Chris Buck, Christopher Jenkins
Production Co
Sony Pictures Animation
Rating
PG (Some Rude Humor|Mild Language)
Genre
Kids & Family, Comedy, Adventure, Animation
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Jun 8, 2007, Wide
Release Date (Streaming)
Jan 2, 2014
Runtime
1h 25m
Sound Mix
Dolby SRD, DTS, SDDS
Aspect Ratio
Flat (1.85:1)
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