Shark Tale
Shark Tale is a 2004 American animated comedy film[1] produced by DreamWorks Animation. The film was directed by Vicky Jenson, Bibo Bergeron, and Rob Letterman, from a screenplay written by Letterman and Michael J. Wilson. The film features an ensemble cast that includes the voices of Will Smith, Robert De Niro, Renée Zellweger, Jack Black, Angelina Jolie, and Martin Scorsese. It tells the story of an underachieving fish named Oscar (Smith) who falsely claims to have killed the son of a shark mob boss Don Lino (De Niro) in an attempt to advance his community standing. Oscar teams up with the mobster's younger son Lenny (Black) to keep up the facade.
This article is about the film. For the video game based on the film, see Shark Tale (video game).Shark Tale
Michael J. Wilson
Rob Letterman
- September 10, 2004 (Venice)
- October 1, 2004 (United States)
90 minutes[2]
United States
English
$75 million[3]
$374.6 million[3]
Shark Tale premiered at the Venice Film Festival on September 10, 2004, and was theatrically released in the United States by DreamWorks Pictures on October 1. It made $374.6 million worldwide against its $75 million budget, finishing its theatrical run as the ninth-highest-grossing film of 2004. The film received mixed reviews from critics. Advocacy groups criticized the film for its use of Italian-American stereotypes. It was nominated for Best Animated Feature at the 77th Academy Awards.
Plot[edit]
In the Southside Reef, a lonely bluestreak cleaner wrasse named Oscar, who, in his childhood, dreamed to be a tongue-scrubber at the Whale Wash, like his late father Earl until his classmates cruelly made fun of him for it, fantasizes about being rich and famous, but owes money to his boss and the Whale Wash's owner, a pufferfish named Sykes. His best friend, an angelfish named Angie, offers him a pearl that was a gift from her grandmother to pawn and pay his debt. Meanwhile, Don Lino, the boss of a mob gang of sharks, orcas, sailfish, and octopuses, which Sykes works for, dislikes that his son Lenny is a vegetarian, and orders his eldest son, Frankie, to mentor Lenny.
Oscar brings the money from the pearl to a seahorse race to meet Sykes the next day, but hears that the race is rigged and bets it all on a seahorse named "Lucky Day". Lola, a gold-digging lion fish, sees this and flagrantly seduces Oscar. Sykes is annoyed that Oscar bet the money, but he hopes that Oscar might win. Lucky Day, which revealed that the race was rigged against him, eventually takes the lead, only to trip and lose short of the finish line. Sykes loses his temper and orders his two Jamaican henchmen jellyfish, Ernie and Bernie, to deal with Oscar. While the two taunt the helpless Oscar, Frankie sees them and urges Lenny to eat Oscar, but Lenny instead frees Oscar and tells him to escape. Furious and fed up with his brother's tenderness, Frankie charges at Oscar, but suddenly an anchor from above the surface falls on his neck, killing him. Devastated and blaming himself for his brother's demise, Lenny leaves.
With no other witnesses, Oscar takes credit for killing Frankie and quickly rises in fame as the "Sharkslayer" and moves to the "top of the reef" to live in luxury, while Sykes becomes his manager and forgives his debt. At the same time, Lino has everyone search for Lenny and the "Sharkslayer". Oscar encounters Lenny who, aware of Oscar's lie, begs Oscar to let him stay at his place to avoid returning to his father. Angie soon finds out about Oscar's lie and threatens to tell everyone, but he and Lenny convince her to be quiet. The next day, Oscar and Lenny stage a battle involving Oscar "fighting" off Lenny, thus cementing Oscar's popularity and making the sharks believe that Lenny has been killed too, infuriating Lino. Lola kisses Oscar on camera, making Angie jealous. That night, as Lenny disguises himself for his new life as a dolphin, Oscar and Angie get into a heated argument, where she reveals that she had romantic feelings for Oscar even before he became the "Sharkslayer". A remorseful Oscar sadly reflects on his selfishness and dumps Lola, who beats him up in anger.
Oscar visits the Whale Wash laden with gifts for Angie, only to discover that Lino has kidnapped her to stage a meeting, which Lola is also attending in revenge for being dumped. Lino threatens to eat Angie if Oscar does not surrender, but Lenny "eats" Angie to save her. He soon regurgitates her, and Lino realizes the "dolphin" is Lenny. Enraged, Lino chases Oscar through the reef. Oscar flees to the Whale Wash, accidentally trapping Lenny in the machinery before also trapping Lino. Everyone cheers for Oscar, but he finally confesses the truth behind Frankie's death while urging Lino to respect Lenny's lifestyle. Lino reconciles with Lenny and accepts him, and states that he and his gang bear the city no ill will. Oscar forsakes all the wealth he has acquired, becomes co-owner of the Whale Wash (which is now frequented by the gang members), and reconciles, begins a romantic relationship and lives happily with Angie in the reef.
In a mid-credit scene, Lola arrives at the penthouse to apologize to Oscar, only to encounter his deranged hermit crab friend, Crazy Joe, instead.
Production[edit]
The film was officially announced and began production in April 2002, under the title of Sharkslayer,[9][10] with Vicky Jenson (Shrek) and Bibo Bergeron (The Road to El Dorado) directing from a screenplay by Michael J. Wilson (Ice Age), as well as Mark Swift and Damian Shannon. By September 2003, the film had been retitled Shark Tale, to make it sound less violent and more family friendly.[11][12] Bill Damaschke, the producer of the film, explained the title change: "In the beginning, we set out to make a movie a little more noir, perhaps a little darker than where we've landed."[13] Shark Tale is the first all computer-animated film produced at DreamWorks Animation's Glendale facility, which previously animated the studio's hand-drawn animated movies, as well as the first computer-animated film by DreamWorks Animation to not be produced by Pacific Data Images.[10]
James Gandolfini was initially set to voice the kingpin shark, named Don Lino, but he dropped out, with Robert De Niro taking over the role.[10][14]
The film was produced concurrently with Finding Nemo, another animated film set underwater, which was released a year and a half earlier. DreamWorks Animation's CEO, Jeffrey Katzenberg, defended the film, saying that "any similarities are mere coincidence. We've been open with the Pixar people, so we don't step on each other's toes."[14]
Marketing[edit]
The film had promotional support from Burger King, Kellogg's, General Mills, Coca-Cola and Hewlett-Packard.
Reception[edit]
Box office[edit]
Shark Tale grossed $160.9 million in the United States and Canada and $213.7 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $374.6 million.[3] It was the ninth-highest-grossing film of 2004.[21]
Shark Tale opened at #1 with $47.6 million, which was, at the time, the second-highest opening for a DreamWorks Animation film behind Shrek 2 ($108 million).[22] It remained the #1 film in the U.S. and Canada for its second and third weekends.[23]
Critical reception[edit]
On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 35% based on 182 reviews, with an average rating of 5.20/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Derivative and full of pop culture in-jokes."[24] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 48 out of 100 based on 36 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[25] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A−" on an A+ to F scale.[26]
Roger Ebert gave the film two out of four stars, observing, "Since the target audience for Shark Tale is presumably kids and younger teenagers, how many of them have seen the R-rated Godfather and will get all the inside jokes? Not a few, I suppose, and some of its characters and dialogue have passed into common knowledge. But it's strange that a kid-oriented film would be based on parody of a 1972 gangster movie for adults." He also opined that younger viewers would have trouble enjoying a film about adult characters with adult problems, such as an elaborate love triangle and a main character wanting to clear his debt with loan sharks, and compared it to more successful fish-focused animated features like Pixar Animation Studios' Finding Nemo, which Ebert felt featured a simpler plot that audiences could more easily identify with.[27] Richard Roeper commented that although the film was not on the same level as Finding Nemo, it was a film worth seeing.[28]
Todd McCarthy of Variety was critical of the film's lack of originality: "Overfamiliarity extends to the story, jokes and music, most of which reference popular entertainment of about 30 years ago" noting that the script combines The Godfather and Jaws, with a dash of Car Wash. McCarthy calls Smith's character "tiresomely familiar", and Zellweger's "entirely uninteresting", but praises the vocal performance of Martin Scorsese.[29] Kirk Honeycutt of The Hollywood Reporter said the film was not as good as Shrek, but called it "an overly jokey but often quite entertaining spoof that should please families everywhere."[30]
Social commentary[edit]
Shark Tale was criticized for perpetuating negative stereotypes of Italian-Americans in its antagonists.[31][32][33] Politician Bill Pascrell said: "The prevailing message is negative and they have to be held out to dry for it. I'm a very proud Italian-American. When you stereotype me, it's like making fun of my grandparents".[31] Columbus Citizens Foundation issued a statement condemning the stereotyping of people with Italian names as gangsters.[34] Dona De Sanctis, deputy executive director of the Order Sons of Italy in America, said: "We were very concerned about this type of stereotyping being passed on to another generation of children."[31] John Mancini, the founder of the Italic Institute of America, protested the movie, stating: "We're concerned about what preteens are learning from the outside world. They don't associate other groups as criminals, they only know Italians as gangsters. Our goal here is to de-Italianize it."[32] The protest was coordinated by the Italian American One Voice Coalition of New Jersey.[31] DreamWorks reacted by changing the name of Peter Falk's character from Don Brizzi to Don Feinberg. However, Mancini demanded that everything Italian—character names, the mannerisms, the forms of speech—be dropped.[33] The American Family Association, a Christian conservative organization, raised concerns about Shark Tale, suggesting that it was designed to promote the acceptance of gay rights by children.[35][36][37]
Accolades[edit]
The film was nominated for Best Animated Feature at the 77th Academy Awards, but lost to Pixar's The Incredibles.