- Allegedly Optimistic Ending:
- Oscar could very well be sued for fraud, and given the extent of those sponsorships and brand deals, for everything he's got and then some. Understandably, the film glosses over this for the sake of the moral and a happy ending.
- The sharks don't stop eating fish at the end, they just hunt outside of this particular reef.
- Alternate Character Interpretation:
- Did Frankie slap Lenny in his final moments because he ruined the moment? Or was it because of the scientific errornote ?
- Despite knowing from the start that Oscar is an impulsive, dishonest Attention Whore, Sykes is seemingly fully convinced when Oscar claims to have killed Frankie, and he spends much of the film brushing off blatant evidence to the contrary until Lenny and Oscar admit the truth to him themselves. Was Sykes truly grabbing the Idiot Ball, or was he was simply in denial and desperate for some kind of leverage over Lino?
- Alternative Joke Interpretation: When Don Feinberg offers to sing "the Titanic song" (presumably "My Heart Will Go On"), the others present react to with horror. Is the punchline a potshot at the song, or that Feinberg would butcher the song (and by extension, these tough sharks liking Celine Dion)?
- Aluminum Christmas Trees: Katie Current is based on a real person called Katie Couric.
- Angst? What Angst?:
- Even when Oscar sees Lenny's reaction firsthand and later befriends him, Frankie's death doesn't visibly affect Oscar. Granted, he wasn't the one who killed Frankie and the shark was going to turn him into an entree, but one would think he'd feel just a bit guilty or unhappy about becoming famous as a result of someone's death.
- Although Lenny blames himself for his brother's death, he doesn't take issue with Oscar profiting off of the incident. Lenny even helps him keep up the ruse.
- The public, sponsors and all (who would have solid grounds to sue him for fraud), bears no ill-will to Oscar when he reveals the truth. To be fair, this is after Oscar demonstrated that he can handle a shark, he more or less makes peace between sharks and fish, and the movie needs to impart an easy lesson about honesty to children.
- Ass Pull: Lola and the sharks kidnap Angie to kick off the climax, but Lola's connection with the sharks wasn't foreshadowed. The narrative justifies it as revenge for Oscar denying her advances, but since the sharks eat fish indiscriminately, the alliance was still hard to believe for many; granted, Lola is a lionfish, a fish known for its venomous spines, but that's not exactly made clear.
- Base-Breaking Character:
- Angie is either a sympathetic and rational character who brings out the best in Oscar, or Unintentionally Unsympathetic for acting like a Clingy Jealous Girl and for putting an unrealistic amount of faith in him.
- Is Lenny one of the funniest characters or its most annoying one? Was his queer-coding a rare, positive example of an LGBTQ+ character or was it too heavy-handed?
- Big-Lipped Alligator Moment: The scene of a shopkeeper who supposedly makes sushi out of his fellow fish to sell to others really only exists as a throwaway Black Comedy gag, and neither the character nor the implied cannibalism are brought up again in the film.
- Bile Fascination: Most viewers are either DreamWorks fans who want to see if the film's truly one of their worst, or animation history buffs to see if 2004's Academy offerings were that dire.
- Broken Aesop: The film tries to have an aesop about honesty and appreciating what you have rather than chasing material wealth. Oscar certainly claims to have learned this lesson, but you can't deny the direct and indirect benefits. His fake persona even helps him defeat a shark for real. According to the movie, lying makes sure:
- You will become rich and famous for a short time.
- Your best friend will admit that she loves you and she'll forgive you for treating her like she didn't matter until the last second.
- You net another best friend and you mend his broken relationship with his father.
- And of course, you'll be easily forgiven by everyone (even your enemies) and be rewarded with a cool new job. It’s as if nobody really cared about Oscar spreading such significant lies or committing fraud.
- Captain Obvious Aesop: Liars never prosper as there are always consequences, and doing it for fame and fortune is not worth the trouble. However, even with the obvious message, the film never fully reconciles how Oscar's life became even better because of his lies.
- Cliché Storm: Shark Tale follows the blueprint drawn by many children's films about honesty with little deviation: an average Joe dreams of fame, lies to everyone about his heroics, get involved in a romantic subplot borne of poor communication and because this is a kids' movie, everyone lets him off the hook when he tells the truth.
- Critic-Proof: While critics hated it, the film remained #1 at the box office for three weeks straight.
- Crosses the Line Twice:
- A reef fish opening a sushi restaurant should be horrifying, but since nobody visits and the sharks are too big to sit at a table, he comes off as a fool.
- Lola mercilessly beating Oscar by slamming him into the penthouse window just for dumping her is pretty cruel in on itself, but the fact Oscar's been a self-centred jerk the entire movie, combined with both the other fishes' apathetic reactions (with Sykes even calling it "young love") and the goofy face Oscar makes at the end makes the entire scene utterly hilarious to watch.
- Designated Hero: Oscar is supposed to be read as a Jerk with a Heart of Gold who needs to learn how to balance his friends and his ambitions, but many viewers found his attempts at fortune too despicable to get behind (betting Angie's family heirloom at the racetrack is an oft-cited example) and his central motivation weak.
- Designated Villain:
- Don Feinberg is one of the mafia sharks, but he doesn't do anything evil at all, especially since he gives his condolences to Don Lino after Frankie's death and funeral. There's far more good in him than in anyone else in this movie.
- Luca also counts. For an octopus, he's too stupid to be considered a villain after Sykes was fired.
- Do Not Do This Cool Thing: Because the narrative doesn't give Oscar any material consequences for lying, it unintentionally sends a message that lying gets you cool stuff.
- Draco in Leather Pants: Lola has been praised by some viewers for how honest and upfront she is about being a superficial gold digger, with these same viewers either reframing or dismissing all of her other misdeeds throughout the film to make her seem not as bad. It doesn't help that Oscar, who is her victim, isn't particularly sympathetic, especially among viewers who watched the film as kids and returned to it as adults with a better understanding of the film's events, further giving these same viewers the impression that her actions toward him are a form of karma for his shallow personality.
- Easily Forgiven:
- Oscar doesn't exactly hold the fact that Sykes ordered him murdered against him, even going so far as to let Sykes and the would-be killers Ernie and Bernie profit off of his new image; he also doesn't mind entering a relationship with Lola even though she called him a "nobody" earlier in the film and continues to be her boyfriend even while she is constantly belittling and abusing him. Justified as he's probably too busy enjoying his new clout to hold any grudges.
- Also, everyone forgives Oscar easily for lying about being the Shark Slayer. Somewhat justified, as he managed to actually defeat Don Lino and even brokered a peace between the reef and sharks.
- Ensemble Dark Horse:
- Even the film's harshest critics praised Martin Scorsese's performance as Sykes, a bullheaded but well-meaning boss who gets his share of funny moments.
- Luca's considered one of the funniest characters for his Laughably Evil shtick.
- Ethnic Scrappy: Ernie and Bernie are widely seen as Jamaican stereotypes. Their bells and tentacles are designed to resemble Jamaican hats and dreadlocks, they like to play jokes, sound like they’re high, and they, of course, sing a Bob Marley song. At the very least, they're played by actors who are actually Jamaican (Bob's eldest son Ziggy as Ernie) and a part-Jamaican (Doug E. Doug as Bernie), respectively.
- Fan Nickname:
- Owing to the Ink-Suit Actor aspects of the designs, many have taken to referring to the characters as [actor name] fish - e.g. Will Smith Fish, Robert De Niro Shark, and so on.
- Sykes is often called Puff Daddy thanks to two of his lines and the film's referential humor.
- Heartwarming in Hindsight: Don Lino, played by Robert DeNiro, accepts his heavily queer-coded son Lenny. In real life, DeNiro would later show support for
his trans daughter. - Jerkass Woobie:
- Don Lino may be the most dangerous killer in the reef, but he genuinely loves his family and prioritizes preparing his sons to take over his position, falling into complete despair when his oldest son is unceremoniously killed and his youngest disappears. The climax juxtaposing him with Lola, a shallow jerk by her own admission who's killing Oscar for purely selfish reasons, drives this home.
- Sykes is short-tempered and takes drastic measures to protect his company, but it's hard not to sympathize with his desperation to protect himself, his business and his employees from Lino's wrath, especially when the film's events keep putting him in worse positions.
- Jerks Are Worse Than Villains: Oscar gets a lot more vitriol than the sharks for his lying, insensitivity and poor judgement. Although Don Lino's gang eat fish, they're a tight-knit group motivated by avenging Frankie.
- Memetic Mutation:
- This GIF of a zoom-in on Sykes' face◊ has been used across Discord and other message boards as a Double Take reaction or a "No. Just… No" Reaction to "questionable" content.
- A shot of Oscar's mouth open from where he opens a chest is used to depict receiving highly-anticipated gifts.
- Oscar hitting Marty in the face became a popular joke after Will Smith slapped Chris Rock in the face at the 2022 Oscars.
- This GIF of a zoom-in on Sykes' face
- Mexicans Love Speedy Gonzales: Despite the jellyfish being Jamaican stereotypes, they have their fair share of Jamaican fans.
- Moral Event Horizon: Lola crosses it by arranging for Don Lino to kidnap Angie and gleefully threaten her life if Oscar doesn't comply.Lola: You know, Sharkslayer, there's only one thing I like better than money: Revenge!
- Narm:
- The mood of Frankie’s funeral is initially presented as genuinely sad as the family throws his wrapped body off the cliff edge, but any attempt to be moving and emotional is cut short when they also show his corpse unceremoniously floating up to the surface.note
- After Oscar argues with Angie, the "Get it Together" montage where he swims through town is supposed to show him understanding that he's become too materialistic and selfish. It does so with a barrage of the film's real-life product placement, as if the film's unaware of the scene's purpose.
- Narm Charm: Robert De Niro's voice acting during the scene in which Lenny reveals himself to be alive to his father. Don Lino sounds unintentionally laughable when he calls him out for lying to him and being friends with Oscar whom he believes killed Frankie, but the emotions Don Lino displays after he discovers Lenny is alive and is actually friends with Oscar are anger and sadness in one; and the music played during the scene sounds so melancholic, which make the scene work.
- Offending the Creator's Own: Ernie and Bernie are widely seen as obnoxious Jamaican stereotypes, but their respective voice actors (Ziggy Marley and Doug E. Doug) are fully (the former) and part (the latter) Jamaican.
- Play-Along Meme: "X Circle X X Double Left Square Right Trigger Down Square Square" is a nonsensical cheat code from a throwaway line. This inspired many gamers to pretend that entering the code in any game will create a ridiculous outcome, even if said game doesn't use a PlayStation controller.
- Pop-Cultural Osmosis: Christina Aguilera's cover of "Car Wash" is more popular than the original song for those who grew up with the film.
- Questionable Casting: Martin Scorsese as Sykes is by far the most bizarre casting choice in the film, having never previously acted in a voiceover role (and wouldn't accept another until 2026's The Mandalorian and Grogu). Despite this, his performance is near-unanimously considered to be one of the best things in the movie.
- Rainbow Lens: Lenny's subplot evokes many queer issues and experiences. When the film starts, Lenny feels different from the other sharks and his dad doesn't appreciate him being a vegetarian. He later confesses his lifestyle to Oscar, then wants to make it known to anyone, this scenario written in such a way that it can be interpreted as coming out of the closet. Lenny even wants to identify himself as a dolphin instead of a shark, which can be seen as a parallel for crossdressing or being transgender.
- Romantic Plot Tumor: Oscar and Angie's romance is often cited as one of the film's weakest aspects. Oscar's status as a Designated Hero make Angie's attraction to him too far-fetched for many, the characters have little chemistry or reason to get together, and removing it would not make much of a difference to the film's narrative.
- Ron the Death Eater: In the film, Oscar is an impulsive Social Climber with dreams of grandeur and no malicious intent whatsoever, who lets his ambitions cloud his judgement before he ultimately learns his lesson. Despite this, his greed, self-centredness and insensitivity are frequently singled out and exaggerated in reviews, fan works and parodies of the film, with some even regarding him as an outright Villain Protagonist.
- Rooting for the Empire: People who don't like Oscar root against him when Lola beats him up, or when Don Lino chases him.
- Signature Song:
- "Car Wash" by Christina Aguilera and Missy Elliot.
- To a lesser extent, "Good Foot" by Justin Timberlake and Timbaland.
- The song that people seem to remember most is Mary J. Blige's and Will Smith’s remix of "Got to Be Real", which was played in a lot of commercials for the film.
- So Bad, It's Good: Very few DreamWorks fans consider Shark Tale their best outing in good faith, but at the same time, its failed attempts at relevance and bizarre animation have made it an ironic gem a la Bee Movie.
- Special Effect Failure: There are quite a few shots in the movie where the lighting and shading effects aren't applied evenly, which has the side effects of casting the character designs into even sharper relief.
- Spiritual Adaptation:
- Some people think of it as SpongeBob SquarePants meets The Godfather and The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.
- Shark Tale is the closest thing to a Martin Scorsese mob movie for kids that will ever get made, even going so far as to have the actual man himself and his frequent collaborator Robert De Niro voice specific characters.
- Many people think of this as the closest we'll ever see Dear Evan Hansen as a cartoon.
- Squick:
- Some of the sharks hit on Lola, even though they routinely kill and eat smaller fish like her. An elderly shark even winks at her, and she's (also) disgusted by it.
- When Lola comes back to get back together with Oscar, she finds Crazy Joe, which is squick for both characters for different reasons.
- Strangled by the Red String: Oscar and Angie’s romantic subplot reads as being obligatory for the time and genre: the feelings start as one-sided on Angie's end while Oscar doesn't show any romantic interest in her until the climax.
- Strawman Has a Point: Oscar laughing off Angie advising him to tell everyone the truth about how Frankie died and admit that he's not actually a "Shark Slayer" is supposed to be seen as just yet another example of him being selfish and making bad decisions. But when Oscar managed to make the shark mob back off by faking Lenny's death, and it can be argued that his reputation is allowing the fish to live free. Also, since Oscar's been doing a lot of sponsorships, him revealing he lied would get him in the hottest legal water on the face of the Earth.
- Tainted by the Preview: The trailers turned many viewers away by showing off the film's uncanny designs.
- They Copied It, So It Sucks!: DWA releasing similar movies to their competitors was nothing new by this point, but they still were criticized for releasing another fish-centric kid's movie a year after Finding Nemo and a month before The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie. This film's backlash may be the reason this practice died down.
- They Wasted a Perfectly Good Character: Although characters allude to Don Lino's wife, we only see her at Frankie's funeral. How would she react to Lenny's life choices and disappearance, and how involved was she in the shark's plot?
- They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot:
- Although Oscar's complaints about living in the Southside Reef are supposed to fuel his dreams of fame and fortune, we don't actually see what the neighborhood's like or even his apartment. This is surprisingly rectified in the video games, where he gets kicked out of his apartment for never paying his rent and we get to see more of the neighborhood.
- Ironically, despite it being presented as a major plot point in all the advertising, Oscar and Lenny teaming up to fake Lenny's death and sell Oscar as a real sharkslayer barely gets any focus in the movie. They don't even properly meet until roughly halfway through the movie, and it takes 50 minutes (out of a 90-minute movie) before Lenny fakes his death. All of these factors mean that Oscar and Lenny's friendship doesn't get much development - even though having them bond could have helped Oscar's Character Development occur in a more organic way - and Lenny only spends a couple of scenes as "Sebastian" before the plotline is dropped for the climax.
- Took the Bad Film Seriously: Three actors are often praised for their efforts:
- Jack Black makes a sincere effort to portray Lenny as a friendly yet vulnerable woobie, a notable departure from the loud-mouthed Jerkass characters he was known for at the time. His performance here partially inspired DreamWorks to cast him as one of his signature roles: Po from Kung Fu Panda.
- While still playing into her typecast at the time, Angelina Jolie plays Lola as appealing and surprisingly layered temptress, going from charming to genuinely intimidating at times. Like Jack Black, her performance here also partially helped Jolie get her role in Kung Fu Panda.
- Martin Scorsese has had many smaller acting roles before, primarily in his own films, but he had never had any involvement in animation before voicing Sykes. Despite this, Scorsese shines as a temperamental Jerk with a Heart of Gold, and is frequently cited even by detractors as the film's most engaging and entertaining character.
- Uncertain Audience: The movie is a kid-friendly parody of mob movies, likely trying to invoke Multiple Demographic Appeal with a colorful, lively underwater setting, a heavy dose of 2000s style and lingo, and inserting as many references to films like GoodFellas and The Godfather. The problem is that all of these elements got in the way of each other; kids wouldn't understand the mob plot or the old film references, while their parents would likely find the film derivative and crass.
- Unintentionally Unsympathetic:
- Despite the film wanting to portray Oscar as a Jerk with a Heart of Gold who ultimately learns the error of his ways, audiences still felt like Oscar never learned from his mistakes, even by the end of the film. Oscar's schemes, lack of good judgement, and general selfishness are the major reasons that audiences couldn't sympathize with him.
- Angie also gets this reaction. This partially stems from her poorly-explained interest in Oscar, but also because of the romance tropes she embodies being increasingly criticized: despite Oscar not showing romantic interest in her and her never telling him about her feelings, she expects Oscar to propose to her and takes offense to him kissing Lola.
- Unintentional Period Piece: Shark Tale is a perfect time capsule of 2004. Aside from the movie's heavy doses of mid-aughts lingo, fashion sensibilities, and the biggest brands at the time, it features celebrities who were at their peak among its cast: while Will Smith, Robert De Niro, Jack Black, Martin Scorsese and Angelina Jolie are still well-known, Katie Couric (at the time a host on Today before anchoring CBS' evening newscast) and Renée Zellweger faded from the spotlight years later (although the latter would make a comeback of sorts in the late 2010s and even appearing in Only Murders in the Building), and Peter Falk (whose final Columbo TV movie was made in 2003) would develop Alzheimer's before dying in 2011. The soundtrack also involves numerous artists who were really big at the time, but have since declined in popularity like The Pussycat Dolls and JoJo.
- Unintentional Uncanny Valley: A major criticism leveled against the animation is that the character designs use an Ink-Suit Actor approach on realistic fish. Angie, Lola, Sykes and the Sharks look fine for the most part, but not so much with characters like Oscar, Luca, Ernie, and Bernie.
- What Do You Mean, It's for Kids?: Despite having a colorful underwater setting in the vein of SpongeBob SquarePants, the film's actual plot is heavily influenced by crime films such as The Godfather. As such, the film tackles some mature subject matters such as violent loan sharks extorting a small business, a rather intense love triangle, and at least one occasion where the protagonist is nearly murdered after failing to pay his debts.
- Why Would Anyone Take Him Back?: It's hard to understand why Angie would be attracted to Oscar by the movie's end. He ignored all the signs that she liked him as more than a friend, pawned her family heirloom for money, and got her caught up in a scheme where a shark swallowed her.
- The Woobie: Lenny, who is afraid that his father won't accept him for his gentle behavior. He gets even more of this after experiencing his brother's death.
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/YMMV/SharkTale
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