EXCLUSIVE: Ash Brannon and Chris Buck’s Academy Award-nominated animated mockumentary feature Surf’s Up is set for the small screen treatment.
Thunderbird Entertainment Group’s Atomic Cartoons is developing Surf’s Up: The Series, an animated show based on the Sony Pictures Animation and Columbia Pictures film from 2007. The comedy series will target kids aged 6-9 with 11-minute episodes.
Lienne Sawatsky, Dan Williams, and John Hazlett, the trio behind animated children’s series’ The Guava Juice Show, are writing the adaptation, and will serve as showrunners. Jennifer Twiner McCarron, CEO and Chair of Thunderbird Entertainment, will exec produce alongside Atomic Cartoons’ Joel Bradley and Aaron Behl and Sony’s Rick Mischel. Kitty Walsh will be co-executive producer for Atomic.
The original Surf’s Up starred the likes of Shia LeBeouf, Jeff Bridges, Zooey Deschanel, Jon Heder and and James Woods, and was nominated for an Oscar for Best Animated Feature 18 years ago. It parodied surf documentaries such as Riding Giants, following a teenage northern rockhopper penguin, Cody Maverick, who dreams of becoming a professional surfer by competing in the Big Z Memorial competition on Pen Gu Island.
The series will follow an over-confident teen penguin named Flip, who teams a zany bunch of young surfers in his attempt to become a surf legend. Things go spectacularly wrong and the wipeouts are spectacular, so they instead they build their own surf community on Pen Gu Island. Characters from the movie such as Cody, Big Z and Chicken Joe will return.
“Our team at Atomic is thrilled to be working on Surf’s Up: The Series and for the opportunity to introduce these adored characters to the small screen, reaching new and existing fans of the iconic animated film,” said Twiner McCarron, who is also the CEO of Atomic in addition to Thunderbird.
“Lienne, Dan and John are passionate about only two things in life – penguins and surfing,” added Behl. “It was undeniable that they were the write team – pun intended – to adapt Surf’s Up as a hilarious animated series.”
Atomic has bases in Vancouver, Ottawa and L.A., and is known for the likes of The Last Kids on Earth, Rocket Saves the Day and Mermicorno: Starfall, which is currently in production. It has also worked on brands such as LEGO, My Little Pony and CoComelon. Atomic’s parent, Thunderbird, is behind the likes of Super Team Canada, Molly of Denali, Highway Thru Hell, Kim’s Convenience, Boot Camp and Sidelined: The QB and Me, and operates TV sales division Thunderbird Distribution and Thunderbird Brands, which manages consumer products rights.
The plan is to market Surf’s Up: The Series internationally to land TV partners and consumer products lines.
“We’re excited to be partnering with Atomic and their long history of bringing great intellectual property to series animation,” said Sony’s Mischel. “Surf’s Up is iconic and we look forward to a whole new audience getting to know these characters.”