I'm not a surfer - though a part of me would most definitely LOVE doing it! I just don't think I was "cut" for it somehow...Anyway, Sony Animation is releasing it's new animated feature next year. Ok, there's still some time to go, but the first trailer is online, and boy, does it look awesome!! My good friend Renato dos Anjos is animating the lead character, and doing a great job as usual... :)
The characters show excellent design, and the story promisses to tap into what I think is really cool about surfing.
You can relate to the characters' thrill for riding the waves, and the whole thing about the story seems to talk about doing that not through the movie-selling "radical sports" trend, but it looks like it's more about the true "vibe" of surfing - of enjoying the feeling of being alive and being in sync with the water, the sky, the whole energy of creation that surrounds you as you ride the waves...
If that's what Sony aims to build this movie on, I wanna be first in line!
I'm tired of the same crappy ideas some studios insist investing on. So I'm hoping there's a new trend in animation comming up... Less farting ogres and more characters with true personality and spirit. I end up enjoying those movies that make me leave the theater thinking about my life, and characters I can relate to in a positive way.
I'm not talking about "shinny, happy cartoons"... I'm talking about a Woody that feels jealous and rejected, about a Buzz that is egocentric and detached, a Sully that questions the purpose of his existence, a Lightning McQueen that hits rock-bottom to find out what life is really about, a Mater who is happy about who he is no mater what, a Chicken Little who craves for acceptance, and so on.
All of these are funny and entertaining. But they also have "spirit", content, "stuff"!
I hope Sony has found a way of doing that in Surf's Up. Otherwise, this will be a waste of the whole "surf vibe"...
Meanwhile, I'll go on experiencing the "vibe" vicariously through some surfing friends of mine!
Cheers!
