Movie · 2004 · Animation, Action, Comedy, Family · 1h 30m · PG · English
Curator score: 1.6/10 (749.2K ratings)
Behind every little fish is a great white lie.
Overview
Oscar is a small fish whose big aspirations often get him into trouble. Meanwhile, Lenny is a great white shark with a surprising secret that no sea creature would guess: He's a vegetarian. When a lie turns Oscar into an improbable hero and Lenny becomes an outcast, the two form an unlikely friendship.
Ratings
Curator score: 1.6/10
IMDb: 6.0/10
Letterboxd: 3.01/5
Rotten Tomatoes: 35%
Metacritic: 48
TMDB: 6.0/10
Director
Vicky Jenson, Bibo Bergeron, Rob Letterman
Production
DreamWorks Animation
Cast
Will Smith, Robert De Niro, Renée Zellweger, Jack Black, Angelina Jolie, Ziggy Marley, Martin Scorsese, David P. Smith, Doug E. Doug, Michael Imperioli, Vincent Pastore, Peter Falk, Katie Couric, Phil LaMarr, Shelley Morrison, David Soren, Bobb'e J. Thompson, Kamali Minter, Emily Lyon Segan, Lenny Venito
Curator Review
Verdict
A loud, very 2000s animated comedy with a strong voice cast, fast pop-culture energy, and a surprisingly effective odd-couple friendship at its core. It’s more interesting as a weird studio artifact than as a polished family classic, but its satire, visual style, and shameless silliness still make it easy to enjoy in the right mood.
Best for
Viewers who like early-2000s animated comedies with celebrity casting
Fans of fish-out-of-water stories and underdog fantasies
People who enjoy broad satire of gangster movies and celebrity culture
Kids and families who want a colorful, joke-heavy cartoon
Skip if
You want the emotional depth and craft of top-tier Pixar or DreamWorks
You’re allergic to dated pop-culture references and frantic humor
You prefer clean, timeless storytelling over messy, self-aware satire
You need a movie to be consistently funny rather than intermittently inspired
Overview
Shark Tale is one of those animated movies that feels like a studio swinging for maximum personality whether or not the result fully lands. The premise is simple and sturdy: a small fish lies his way into fame, then has to deal with the fallout, while a vegetarian shark becomes the film’s most memorable wildcard. That setup gives the movie a real comic engine, even when the jokes are uneven.
Worth noting
What makes it endure is the sheer oddness of its choices. The movie leans hard into mob-movie parody, celebrity voice casting, and a glossy, hyper-stylized underwater world that often looks more like a nightclub than a reef. It’s messy, but it’s rarely boring, and the best scenes have a manic confidence that makes the whole thing feel like a cult object in waiting.
Bottom line
It’s not a great animated film in the traditional sense, but it is a distinctive one. If you’re open to something brash, self-mocking, and a little bit ridiculous, Shark Tale can be a lot more entertaining than its reputation suggests.
Top Letterboxd reviews
Jay (2★) · 8148 likes
gay vegetarian lenny the shark was a character ahead of his time
ciara · 6115 likes
how do de niro and scorsese sleep at night knowing nothing they’ve ever done in their careers has topped this
James (Schaffrillas) (5★) · 5878 likes
MAY 👏 HIS 👏 STINKIN 👏 MAGGOT 👏 COVERED 👏 CORPSE 👏 ROT 👏 IN 👏 THE 👏FIERY 👏 DEPTHS 👏 OF 👏 HELL 👏
James (Schaffrillas) (5★) · 3683 likes
Caught this at the Music Box in Chicago. There was a drag queen dressed as Lola who introduced the film. The entire audience laughed at least 30 times, murmured excitedly when Scorsese's name appeared in the opening credits, and clapped a ton at the end. It wasn't even ironic, either. I think they all genuinely had a great time with the movie, which was weirdly beautiful to see?
Honestly, this movie isn't "good", but it might genuinely be one of… more