Shark Tale

This topic contains:

• overall comments and recommendations
• details about Shark Tale's classification and consumer advice lines
• a review of Shark Tale completed by Young Media Australia (YMA) on 19 September 2004.

Overall comments and recommendations

Shark Tale is a transportation of American culture to the ocean and full of stereotypes such as the Italian mafia, the loser/gambler who gets a lucky break, the loyal receptionist girlfriend, the seductress, etc. However the animation is very well done, it has a lot of humour and is quite entertaining. As such it will appeal to a wide audience

About the movie

This section contains details about the movie, including its classification by the Office of Film and Literature Classification (OFLC) and the associated consumer advice lines.

YMA review

This review of the movie Shark Tale contains the following information:

• a synopsis of the story
• use of violence
• material that may scare children
• product placement
• sexual references
• nudity and sexual activity
• use of substances
• coarse language
• the movie's message

A synopsis of the story

Oscar is a little fish in a very big pond. He works at the local Turtle Wax Whale Wash where his friend Angie works as a receptionist, but he longs to scale to greater heights and become a somebody living at the top of the reef. Oscar is in a lot of financial trouble, as he owes his boss puffer fish Sykes 5000 clams. When Sykes makes intimidating threats to Oscar that he must pay up, Oscar tells all his woes to his friend Angie. Unselfishly Angie gives Oscar her grandmother’s pearl to repay the debt but Oscar squanders it on an ‘absolute winner’ at the races.

Meanwhile Don Lino, the Boss of the Great White Sharks, is raising his sons Frankie and Lenny to take over the family business. However Lino is greatly embarrassed by Lenny who is ‘different’ to other sharks as he’s a vegetarian and refuses to kill for his food. Lino sends Frankie out to teach Lenny the ropes and the victim becomes unsuspecting Oscar. Lenny pretends to eat Oscar but when it’s obvious that he hasn’t Frankie comes in for the kill. At this point Oscar’s luck is dramatically turned around as Frankie is killed by a falling anchor.

Oscar becomes known as ‘the Shark Slayer’ and Protector of the Ocean. He plays this for all it is worth, becoming very famous and rising to the top of the social ladder. There he meets Lola, a seductive female fish who lures him away from Angie. Oscar is of course totally unaware that Angie loves him as a ‘nobody’ and falls for Lola. Things become complicated for Oscar when Don Lino vows vengeance for Frankie’s death and sends the ‘mob’ to find and destroy the ‘Shark Slayer’. Oscar befriends Lenny who has run away and together they learn a few lessons about life and have some important decisions to make.

Use of violence

Research shows that children are at risk of learning that violence is an acceptable means of conflict resolution when violence is glamourised, performed by an attractive hero, successful, has few real life consequences, is set in a comic context and / or is mostly perpetrated by male characters with female victims, or by one race against another.

Repeated exposure to violent content can reinforce the message that violence is an acceptable means of conflict resolution. Repeated exposure also increases the risks that children will become desensitised to the use of violence in real life or develop an exaggerated view about the prevalence and likelihood of violence in their own world.

There is some violence in this movie some set in a comic context:

• Oscar and Lenny fight in a game and Lenny pretends to swallow Oscar
• Lenny pretends to swallow Angie.

Other violence includes:

• Frankie kicks Sykes, flattening him onto a wall
• Ernie and Bernie, jellyfish brothers, beat up Oscar under Sykes’ orders
• Ernie and Bernie tie Oscar up in seaweed, gag his mouth and put electric shocks through him.
• The anchor lands on Frankie, killing him.
• Lenny pretends to die in the game
• Lola beats up Oscar because he doesn’t love her.
• The ‘mob’ kidnap Angie, tie her up and gag her.

Material that may scare children

Under eight

Children under eight are most likely to be frightened by scary visual images, such as monsters, physical transformations, the death of a parent or child abandoned or separated from parents, children or animals being hurt or threatened and / or natural disasters.

Children under the age of eight could be scared by the above-mentioned violence, particularly the death of Frankie. The following scenes may also disturb some children in this age group:

• Some of the sea creatures are quite scary looking, particularly an octopus with an alien’s head and the hammerhead sharks.
• Frankie and Lenny look very fierce and scary when they are chasing Oscar.
• Sykes puffs up really large with pointy spikes.
• When some fish are cleaning a whale’s teeth, the whale burps causing an enormous eruption like an earthquake.
• Oscar is shown with a black eye after being beaten up
• Don Lino tells his sons ‘when they see something, they kill it, they eat it’.
• The sharks hold a funeral for Frankie whom they let out of a coffin, wrapped in cloth.

Aged eight to thirteen

Children aged eight to thirteen are most likely to be frightened by realistic threats and dangers, violence or threat of violence and / or stories in which children are hurt or threatened

Children aged eight to thirteen would probably not be scared by this movie as they would understand that it is fantasy. However they could still be scared by Frankie being killed by the anchor.

Over the age of thirteen

Children over the age of thirteen are most likely to be frightened by realistic physical harm or threats, molestation or sexual assault and / or threats from aliens or the occult.

Children over the age of thirteen would not be scared by this movie.

Product placement

Research shows that children, particularly children under the age of eight, are vulnerable to product placement in movies. Even if the child doesn’t recall seeing a particular brand in the movie, they will choose that brand in preference to another, if they have just seen it used or displayed in a movie. This effect may be exacerbated if the product is highlighted as part of the story or if an actor or character they admire is seen to endorse or enjoy the product.

There is a large sign for Coral Cola which at a quick glance would be mistaken for the Coca Cola logo.

Sexual references

There are no sexual references. However, Lenny being a vegetarian and his father’s disgrace at that, is an obvious parallel with a parent’s possible attitude towards a gay son.

Nudity and sexual activity

There’s no nudity or sexual activity.

Use of substances

There is no use of substances in this movie.

Coarse language

There is no coarse language in this movie.

The movie's message

The take home message of this movie is that life at the top isn’t all that it appears.

Values parents may wish to encourage include selflessness, friendship and loyalty.

The following content could be used by parents to discuss with their children what their own family’s values are, and what the real life consequences can be of some actions and attitudes:

• stereotyping of characters particularly of females being receptionists, seductresses and of Italians belonging to the ‘mob’.
• gambling
• lying
• deceit
• taking credit for something falsely to get attention.