The animated mock documentary "Surf's Up" is a delightfully rendered summer diversion in which a tiny Rockhopper penguin named Cody Maverick aspires to be a surfing champion.

Young Cody (voiced by Shia LaBeouf) is discovered in his native Shiverpool by a shrill, showbiz savvy shorebird named Mikey Abromowitz, who whisks him off to the idyllic island of Pen Gu to compete in the Big Z Memorial Surf-Off. Once there, Cody is mentored reluctantly by a surfing legend, the bigger-than-life but extremely laid-back King Geek (Jeff Bridges).

Directed by Ash Brannon and Chris Buck, "Surf's Up" parodies sports documentaries and television surf coverage, instilling the movie with an X Games vibe. The surfing action replicates and at times surpasses the real thing, and the fabricated "vintage footage" is a wonder to look at. Interviews with Cody and his family conducted by a comically intrusive documentary crew lead up to the flightless little bird's inevitable showdown with Emperor penguin Tank "the Shredder" Evans, nine-time winner of the Surf-Off.

Visually, the movie benefits from impressively inventive technical animation-from the crystalline waves to the sandy beaches, every detail suggests a parallel reality where penguins really do surf.

While many of the riffs in the mock documentary might be lost on the little tykes, everyone should enjoy the film's feel-good message of perseverance, friendship and finding your own wave.

documentary (n.) 纪录片

to aspire (v.) 立志;渴望

to whisk someone off to 迅速带走;迅速拿走

idyllic (adj.) 如诗如画的;风景秀丽的

bigger than life 大名鼎鼎的;名声响亮的

to parody (v.) 模彷;窜改

fabricated (adj.) 虚构的;捏造的

crystalline (adj.) 透明的;似水晶的

tyke (n.) 小孩子;顽童

perseverance (n.) 坚持;毅力