For some reason the powers that be think that on the back of The March of the Penguins (2005) and Happy Feet (2006) we won't be happy if we don't get our yearly penguin fix. So they have come up with other take on the waddling critters; at least the fluffy toy industry will be pleased.

17-year-old Cody Maverick (voiced by Shia LaBeouf) is a Rockhopper penguin. They are the penguins with the bright coloured feathers on their head and live on most of the islands in the Antarctic. They get their name because they can hop off rocks and crevices, but Cody has another huge talent: he is an accomplished surfer. So when a documentary crew travel to Cody's home island in Shiverpool, and talent scout Mike Abromowitz (voiced by Mario Cantone) picks him to compete in the Big Z Memorial Surf Off he is very excited. The famous surfer Big Z was a hero of Cody's ever since they met when Cody was little.

He was a great inspiration to Cody and his demise was a blow to the surfing world. So Cody leaves his family and heads off via a whale to the island of Pen Gu all set to compete in the great Surf Off competition and win it. He meets surf mad Chicken Joe (voiced by Jon Heder) and famous surf promoter Reggie Belafonte (voiced by James Woods) along the way and falls for pretty lifeguard Lani Aliikai (voiced by Zooey Deschanel). But it is only when he meets cocky Tank Evans (voiced by Deidrich Bader) that he realises the likelihood of him winning is nil. Just when Cody is at his lowest ebb he discovers Big Z (voiced by Jeff Bridges) isn't dead at all. It turns out that Big Z had only gone into hiding because he was afraid of failing in front of his fans. However he decides to take young Cody under his wing and train him up for the big event.

This mockumentary is hilarious, the penguins appear to be more human than the magical Mumble and his chums in Happy Feet. Using a documentary style is original in an animated film, and in many ways it really works, but it may need a little explaining to the very young. There are some delightful moments and this is a perfect family film. It also has the advantage of not playing on pop culture references, which in many films is now becoming an irritation. Another rarity is all the voiceovers are spot on, in particular LaBeouf. He is a really talented young star, who not only has a good voice for animation, but a great face for character parts.

In the coming years we are going to see a great deal more of him. Bridges doesn't immediately come to mind as suitable animation material, but he also stands out as Big Z. But we can't get away from the fact that penguins are now grossly overexposed and it is high time another cute critter gets a look in. 8/10