My boyfriend gave this DVD to me for Christmas because I love me some Shia LaBeouf and I had missed it in theaters.

Not another penguin movie?!?! Well, yeah, but not as bad as you might think. This film combines two of the more popular penguin flicks with the animation and talking penguins from Happy Feet and a documentary style from March of the Penguins to make a cute mockumentary about the penguin Cody (LaBeouf) who travels south from Antarctica to a surfing competition. While down there he takes a few blows to his ego in front of the lovely lifeguard Lani (Zooey Deschanel), who brings Cody to her uncle Geek (Jeff Bridges) to be mentored before the competition. While there, Cody, Lani, and Geek all get to know each other a little better and learn things about themselves. There's also a subplot with a character called Chicken Joe (Jon Heder), a chicken that hitches a ride down south to surf with the penguins and befriends Cody, that can be pretty grating at times. Chicken Joe is just a wacky character gone wrong; meant for comic relief and instead just distracts from the main subplot with Cody, Geek, and Lani. I would have preferred no Chicken Joe at all, and more of Cody's family, but it could be a matter of preference. The documentary style of the film makes for a unique take on what would have been just another kiddie penguin movie. I really enjoyed the three children penguins who offer hysterical "kids say the darndest things" quips throughout. That style paired with a great voice cast makes this film really quite funny and enjoyable.

Nominations:

Best Animated Feature
Penguins took this one home last year (Happy Feet), and while I really enjoyed this film, it pales in comparison to Ratatouille and is the weakest film in this category.