Shark Tale
Also known as: Sharkslayer (Working Title)
- Studio
- DreamWorks SKG
- Animation studio
- DWA Glendale
- Distributor
- DreamWorks Distribution
Synopsis
Lenny is the son of Lino, the big boss of the shark mafia. Unfortunately, Lenny is a timid vegetarian whose non-conformity -he is the opposite of his vicious brother Frankie -brings shame to the family. Oscar is a fast-talking little fish with big dreams who always manages to charm his way out of trouble. He works for the scheming puffer fish Sykes at the local Whale Wash alongside his loyal companion and voice of reason Angie. After Oscar takes responsibility for heroically slaying a shark gangster, who was, in fact, killed in an anchor accident, he teams up with Lenny to stage another scene of vigilante justice in the urban reef to impress his nautical neighbours. For a while, Oscar lives large on everyone's praise, but soon, his little white lies get him in great white trouble.
Characters
Oscar, Lino, Lola, Angie, Lenny, Sykes, Sweetness, Don Feinberg, Luca, Frankie, Bernie, Ernie, Katie Current
Credits
Directing
- Director
- Eric Bergeron (as Bibo Bergeron), Vicky Jenson
- Co-directed By
- Rob Letterman
Producing
- Producer
- Bill Damaschke, Janet Healy, Allison Lyon Segan
- Executive Producer
- Jeffrey Katzenberg
Writing
- Writer
- Michael J. Wilson, Rob Letterman
Animation
- Animator
- Ken Stuart Duncan, Lionel Gallat, Fabrice Joubert, Fabio Lignini, William Salazar (Supervising Animators)
Voices
- Voice
- Will Smith (Oscar), Robert De Niro (Don Lino), Renee Zellweger (Angie), Angelina Jolie (Lola), Jack Black (Lenny), Martin Scorsese (Sykes), Chris Tucker (Sweetness), Peter Falk (Don Ira Feinberg), Vincent Pastore (Luca), Michael Imperioli (Frankie), Doug E. Doug (Bernie), Ziggy Marley (Ernie), Katie Couric (Katie Current)
Music
- Music
- Hans Zimmer
- Music Supervisors
- Darren Higman, Laura Wasserman
Editing
- Editor
- Nick Fletcher (Supervising Editor)
Crew
- Production Designer
- Daniel St. Pierre
- Art Directors
- Samuel Michlap, Seth Engstrom
- Visual Effects Supervisor
- Doug Cooper
- Supervising Sound Editor (Dolby Digital/DTS/SDDS)
- Richard Anderson
- Casting
- Leslee Feldman
Production notes
Premiered at the Venice Film Festival. Theatrical release date: October 1, 2004.
Original title: "Sharkslayer." This title was thought to be too violent for the film.
The name of aging shark gangster Don Brizzi was changed to Don Feinberg after the Italic Institute of America lobbied DreamWorks. Don Lino, Robert DeNiro's character, had a similar name change, dropping the "Don" to just Lino in April.
Soundtrack:.
Original title: "Sharkslayer." This title was thought to be too violent for the film.
The name of aging shark gangster Don Brizzi was changed to Don Feinberg after the Italic Institute of America lobbied DreamWorks. Don Lino, Robert DeNiro's character, had a similar name change, dropping the "Don" to just Lino in April.
Soundtrack:.
- "Car Wash (Shark Tale Mix)," Written by Norman Whitfield, Contains additional lyrics by Missy Elliott, Performed by Christina Aguilera featuring Missy Elliott, Produced by Missy Elliott and Ron Fair, Christina Aguilera appears courtesy of The RCA Records Label, Missy Elliott appears courtesy of The Gold Mind/Elektra Records, Contains a sample of "Car Wash," Performed by Rose Royce, Courtesy of Geffen Records, Under license from Universal Music Enterprises.
- "Theme from Jaws," Written by John Williams.
- "Ready, Ready," Written by Omarr Rambert and Mark Kinchen, Performed by O.Banga, Courtesy of Overbrook Productions.
- "Baby Got Back," Written by Anthony Ray, Performed by Sir Mix-a-Lot, Courtesy of American Recordings, LLC and The Island Def Jam Music Group, Under license from Universal Music Enterprises.
- "Far as We Felt Like Goin'," Written by Kenny Noland and Bob Crewe, Performed by The Pussycat Dolls, Courtesy of A&M Records, Under license from Universal Music Enterprises.
- "Three Little Birds," Written by Bob Marley, Performed by Sean Paul and Ziggy Marley, Produced by Stephen Marley, Sean Paul appears courtesy of VP Music Group, Inc./Atlantic Records, Ziggy Marley appears courtesy of The RCA Victor Group, a Unit of BMG Music, Original recording performed by Bob Marley, Courtesy of The Island Def Jam Music Group, Under license from Universal Music Enterprises.
- "Ladies Night," Written by Robert Bell, Ronald Bell, George Brown, Meekaaeel Muhammed, Claydes Smith, James Taylor, Dennis Thomas and Earl Toon, Performed by Kool & The Gang, Courtesy of The Island Def Jam Music Group, Under license from Universal Music Enterprises.
- "Ooh Child," Written by Stan Vincent, Performed by The Five Stairsteps, Courtesy of Buddah Records, Under license from BMG Film & TV Music.
- "Gold Digger," Written by Alonzo Lee, Shamar Daugherty, Christopher Bridges (Ludacris), Bobby Wilson and Arbie Wilson, Performed by Ludacris featuring Bobby V. and Lil' Fate, Produced by The Trak Starz, Ludacris and Lil' Fate appear courtesy of Disturbing Tha Peace/Def Jam South, Bobby V. appears courtesy of Disturbing Tha Peace Records.
- "Movin' On Up," Written by Janet Dubois and Jeff Barry.
- "The Prince (Wubble-U Remix)," Written by Lee Thompson, Daniel Woodgate, Carl Smyth, Graham McPherson, Christopher Foreman, Mark Bedford and Michael Barson, Performed by Madness, Courtesy of Virgin Records Limited and Warner Bros. Records Inc., By Arrangement with Warner Strategic Marketing.
- "Wind Beneath My Wings," Written by Larry Henley and Jeff Silbar.
- "Got to Be Real," Written by David Foster, David Paich and Cheryl Lynn, Performed by Mary J. Blige featuring Will Smith, Produced by Andre Harris and Vidal Davis, Mary J. Blige appears courtesy of Geffen Records, Will Smith appears courtesy of Overbrook Music.
- "Set It Off," Written by Steve Standard.
- "Secret Love," Written by Phillip "Whitey" White, Jared Gosselin and Samantha "Jade" Gibbs, Performed by JoJo, Produced by Whitey and Jared, JoJo appears courtesy of Da Family/Blackground.
- "Whoomp! (There It Is)," Written by Stephen Gibson and Cecil Glenn.
- "Good Foot" Written by Justin Timberlake and Timothy Z. Mosley, Performed by Justin Timberlake and Timbaland, Produced by Timbaland, Justin Timberlake appears courtesy of Jive Records, Timbaland appears courtesy of Blackground Records.
- "Yakety Sax," Written by Boots Randolph and James Rich, Performed by Boots Randolph, Courtesy of Columbia Records, By Arrangement with Sony Music Licensing.
- "Mack the Knife," Written by Kurt Weill, Bertolt Brecht and Marc Blitzstein.
- "Can't Wait," Written by Harvey Mason Jr., Damon Thomas, Antonio Dixon, Eric Dawkins and Steve Russell, Performed by Avant, Courtesy of Magic Johnson/Geffen Records, Under license from Universal Music Enterprises.
- "A Little Less Conversation (Junkie XL Remix)," Written by Mac Davis and Billy Strange, Performed by Elvis Presley, Courtesy of BMG Strategic Marketing Group, Under license from BMG Film & TV Music.
- "Get It Together," Written by Drew Ramsey, Shannon Sanders, India Arie Simpson (India.Arie), Dana Johnson and Mel Johnson, Performed by India.Arie, Courtesy of Motown Records, Under license from Universal Music Enterprises.
- "Sweet Kind of Life," Written by James Harris III, Terry Lewis, Cheryl Lynn, Bobby Ross Avila, Issiah J. Avila, Tony Tolbert and James Q. Wright, Performed by Cheryl Lynn, Produced by Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis.
- "In da Club," Written by Michael Elizondo, 50 Cent and Andre Young.
- "I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch)," Written by Brian Holland, Lamont Dozier and Edward Holland Jr., Performed by The Four Tops, Courtesy of Motown Records, Under license from Universal Music Enterprises.
- "U Can't Touch This," Written by James Johnson, Kirk Burrell and Alonzo Mille.
- "Lies & Rumors," Written by D. Holton, D. Porter, O. Moore, V. Carlisle, R. Johnson and M. Chavarria, Performed by D12, D12 appears courtesy of Shady/Interscope Records..
Awards
Academy Award Nominee, Best Animated Feature, Bill Damaschke, 2005.
Nominee, Annie, Writing in an Animated Feature Production, Michael J. Wilson and Rob Letterman, 2005.
Nominee, Annie, Animated Effects, Scott Cegielski, 2005.
Nominee, Annie, Character Animation, Ken Duncan, 2005.
Nominee, Annie, Character Design in an Animated Feature Production, Carlos Grangel, 2005.
Nominee, Annie, Production Design in an Animated Feature Production, Armand Baltazar, 2005.
Nominee, Annie, Production Design in an Animated Feature Production, Samuel Michlap, 2005.
Nominee, Annie, Production Design in an Animated Feature Production, Pierre-Olivier Vincent, 2005.
Nominee, Golden Reel Award, Best Sound Editing in Feature Film (Animated), 2005.
Nominee, Visual Effects Society Award, Outstanding Performance by an Animated Character in an Animated Motion Picture, Renée Zellweger (Actress) and Ken Duncan (For the Angie Character), 2005
Nominee, Annie, Writing in an Animated Feature Production, Michael J. Wilson and Rob Letterman, 2005.
Nominee, Annie, Animated Effects, Scott Cegielski, 2005.
Nominee, Annie, Character Animation, Ken Duncan, 2005.
Nominee, Annie, Character Design in an Animated Feature Production, Carlos Grangel, 2005.
Nominee, Annie, Production Design in an Animated Feature Production, Armand Baltazar, 2005.
Nominee, Annie, Production Design in an Animated Feature Production, Samuel Michlap, 2005.
Nominee, Annie, Production Design in an Animated Feature Production, Pierre-Olivier Vincent, 2005.
Nominee, Golden Reel Award, Best Sound Editing in Feature Film (Animated), 2005.
Nominee, Visual Effects Society Award, Outstanding Performance by an Animated Character in an Animated Motion Picture, Renée Zellweger (Actress) and Ken Duncan (For the Angie Character), 2005
Reviews
Shark Tale
This review tries to avoid spoilers. It does not discuss the plot in detail etc.
After the slight disappointments with Sinbad and Shrek 2, it was delightful to see that Katzenberg hadn't entirely lost his vision seen in The Road to El Dorado and Shrek. Shark Tale has a good story and some very nice atmosphere all over. Especially the shark mafia (The Godfather comes to mind) is unlike anything seen in animated movies so far. The characters are nicely supported by the excellent voice actors. You must watch the original English version, not a dub.
The movie is packed with action. There are no musical sequences nor long "silent" parts. This doesn't prevent it from telling a nice story that actually feels like it is supposed to be there (unlike that of Shrek 2 *GRIN*). There are plenty of jokes and parody that either support the story or just fit in there otherways.
The animation is extremely beautiful. I have never before seen anything that beautiful. There are no mistakes that would pull me out of the movie-watching mode, back to cynical CG artist mode. There is plenty of detail, extremely smooth motion and other eyecandy.
The soundtrack is not to my taste. I don't listen to that kind of music. However, the music perfectly fits the movie, most of the time - there is one irritating joke that is an exception. It breaks the atmosphere and I don't think the joke was that good either.
Note: this is NOT a Finding Nemo rip-off (nor vice-versa). They are completely different movies and have quite different audiences (Finding Nemo is clearly aimed for kids).
Currently Shark Tale has very few votes and bad ratings in IMDb. Perhaps I am different from the majority. Either way, this is a must-see for everyone who likes animated movies. If you like this one, you'll definitely like The Road to El Dorado as well. It has some pretty long musical sequences by Elton John (!!!), but don't let that scare you off. Without those (and more of the actual movie instead) it would definitely be the best animation I have ever seen.