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Surf's Up | 2007 | PG | - 1.3.3

A penguin who doesn't feel like he fits in dreams of being a great surfer. Determined to leave the ice, he hitches a ride on a whale, and ends up in the tropics. There he can compete against the best surfers, as well as make new friends. With the voices of Jeff Bridges, Shia LaBeouf, Zooey Deschanel, James Woods and Jon Heder. Directed by Ash Brannon & Chris Buck. [1:25]

SEX/NUDITY 1 - A penguin talks about his trophies as if they were women ("I love the way my ladies look at me"), he caresses them, and coos over them; the penguin is then shown touching its chest in a suggestive manner.
 A chicken asks a penguin, "are you gonna kiss her or what?" when a male penguin talks to a female penguin.
 A beaver stands up and his crotch area is diffused as if hiding something. A chicken wears a grass skirt, and coconuts on its chest like a bra (the chicken is male). Female penguins have hearts painted on their buttocks.
 A male and female penguin shower together (nothing is implied). A male and female penguin hug.

VIOLENCE/GORE 3 - Two penguins are thrown by large waves into a treacherous body of water where there are many rock formations: one penguin is knocked unconscious (and is rescued), and the other clings to a rock formation.
 A penguin pulls out a long urchin tine from its flipper, it yells and talks about the poison coursing through its body, and another penguin urinates on the wound (we hear a trickle).
 A surfing penguin wipes out in a large wave (we hear it scream), three more huge waves crash onto it while it is trying to surface, and it strikes its head hard on a rock and floats unconscious (it is rescued). A surfing penguin is struck by a large wave and crashes onto a beach. A surfing penguin wipes out repeatedly.
 Two penguins push a large piece of wood up a steep hill, they lose their footing, the log rolls back down the hill, one penguin tries to stop it but it is eventually pushed over a cliff and it falls onto a beach below (it's OK).
 Several penguins place a chicken in a large cauldron of water over a flame (the chicken behaves as if it's a hot tub and it is implied that the penguins are preparing for a meal).
 A penguin surfs through an area with many younger penguins on surfboards and knocks each one down and into the water, while breaking their boards.
 A penguin is shown cutting fish in half with a sharp piece of ice (we see pink inside the fish). Several penguins blow darts at a chicken as it walks through a jungle.
 Two penguins argue; one punches the other, and one threatens the other. A penguin head-butts another penguin. A penguin is struck in the head by a snowball and falls down (it's OK). A rock falls on a chicken's head (a penguin says it has a concussion). A penguin falls off a surfboard and strikes its face on the ground (it's OK).
 We see a photograph of a killer whale with its mouth wide open as it jumps out of the water and toward a penguin, and we hear that the penguin was eaten. We see a picture of a chicken on a 6-pc. bucket of fried chicken and it is implied that a chicken's father was killed and eaten.
 A penguin is pushed out of a hammock and onto the ground. A penguin is thrown through the air when it is thrown off a whale's tail. A penguin jumps onto a surfboard, which breaks in half.
 We hear that a penguin surfer died and see a flashback to the accident (the penguin goes under a huge wave and does not surface). We hear that many surfer penguins have died in a particular area of water called the "Bone Yard" and we see it with many threatening pointy rock formations jutting out of the water.
 A penguin threatens another penguin by saying, "I'll kick your butt." There is talk of "there will be blood today" during a dangerous surfing competition and a penguin threatens another penguin by saying that it will "make you wish you'd never been hatched."
 A penguin lifeguard rushes into the sea to rescue a young penguin in trouble and remarks about similar instances with the same penguin. A chicken is sent high into the air when a whale spurts water out of its blowhole and the chicken stands directly over it (the chicken is OK).
 Two penguins slide down through chutes in caves (one screams), and one splashes into a liquid and is told that it is "glow worm poo."
 A sunbathing penguin is shown as deep orange, indicating a sunburn. A penguin burps loudly.

LANGUAGE 3 - 3 scatological terms (2 mild), a penguin says "it tastes like sh...," 4 anatomical terms (2 mild), a chicken says "I can feel it in my nuggets," 2 exclamations ("facacita," shut up), name-calling (loser, cocky, jerk, snowflake, pecker face, bum, blubber-ball, fish sticks, "dirty trash can full of poop").

SUBSTANCE USE - A chicken behaves as if he might be under the influence of a substance (it slurs his speech and he stumbles around).

DISCUSSION TOPICS - Dreams, aspirations, being different, death of a parent, fearing life, friendship, fearing death, humiliation, legends, respect, pride, competition, responsibility, potential, disappointment, winning/losing, teamwork, relationships between brothers.

MESSAGE - Follow your dream; winning isn't all there is.

CAVEATS

Be aware that while we do our best to avoid spoilers it is impossible to disguise all details and some may reveal crucial plot elements.

We've gone through several editorial changes since we started covering films in 1992 and older reviews are not as complete & accurate as recent ones; we plan to revisit and correct older reviews as resources and time permits.

Our ratings and reviews are based on the theatrically-released versions of films; on video there are often Unrated, Special, Director's Cut or Extended versions, (usually accurately labelled but sometimes mislabeled) released that contain additional content, which we did not review.


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