Trivia for
Shark Tale (2004) More at IMDbPro »

• According to Hans Zimmer, he asked producer Jeffrey Katzenberg that he couldn't deal with any more epic films, but wanted to do a fun animated movie instead, and so got the chance to compose for this film.
  
  
• For each international release, the role of the news reporter "Katie Current" was recast to a prominent female news anchor of that country: In the Australian version it is Tracy Grimshaw, former co-anchor of the Australian "Today" (1982) show; in the UK version it is 'Fiona Phillips', presenter of "GMTV" (1993); and in the Italian version it is Cristina Parodi, anchor-woman of "Verissimo".
  
  
• The original title was "Sharkslayer", but it was changed to "Shark Tale" about a year before release because Jeffrey Katzenberg thought the title might scare families away (the title still appears in some early promotional material). The change is clear in the movie, as in the song before the credits, the singers interlock between calling the movie "Sharkslayer" and "Shark Tale".
  
  
• The film contains various references to the sea film Titanic (1997), and it is hinted that the sharks are in fact hiding out on that ship:
  - Dawson's drawings of (a suitably clothed) Rose can be seen on two occasions: in Don Lino's office and at the restaurant dinner;
  - Angie presents Oscar with a pink-pearl necklace, referring to Rose's necklace;
  - the lifebuoys at Frankie's funeral read "R.M.S Titanic" ;
  - Don Feinberg mentions singing "that Titanic song" much to the sharks' annoyance;
  - and near the end Oscar chides the sharks about "living in a love boat."
  
  
• The film, centering on sharks, contains references to producer Steven Spielberg's film Jaws (1975):
  - the famous theme score is played four times in the film: when Lenny approaches the worm, when the opening credits roll, and Frankie and Lenny hum it at separate times;
  - Oscar punches Lenny through a "Jaws" poster, and Lenny leaves a hole similar to the iconic gaping maw;
  - and the license plate Lenny spews out is the same one from the film (both even have the same number: 007981).
  
  
• When Oscar goes to the time clock, there's a note on the wall saying "If you don't come in Saturday, don't bother..." A reference to a famous memo Jeffrey Katzenberg sent to execs while he was with Disney.
  
  
• The magazine that Mrs. Sanchez is reading at the race track features an ad for a movie called "The Hook", which is a parody of The Ring (2002). The tagline is "Before You Die, You Eat. The Hook." The same ad appears on a magazine Angie is reading later in the film.
  
  
• After Oscar's mock victory over Lenny, the crowd chants "Oscar Bumaye". In Ali (2001), where Will Smith plays the title character, the crowd chants "Ali Bumaye" during Ali's boxing match in Zaire.
  
  
• In the middle of the fight against the shark, Oscar repeats famous movie quotes: "Are you not entertained" from Gladiator (2000); "You can't handle the truth" from A Few Good Men (1992); and "You had me at hello" from Jerry Maguire (1996), to which Angie raises an eyebrow. Angie is voiced by Renée Zellweger, who starred in Jerry Maguire (1996) and said that line.
  
  
• Lenny tells Frankie that he's cold because he's cold blooded. In fact, Great White Sharks are one of four types of shark that are warm blooded.
  
  
• Some of the actors - notably Robert De Niro and Martin Scorsese, and Will Smith and Jack Black, and Smith and Renée Zellweger - recorded their lines together.
  
  
• Some of the 'fishified' products are "Coral Cola", "Gup", "Fish King", "Old Wavy" and "Newsreef".
  
  
• In the racetrack sequence, there are more than 16,000 computer animated 3D characters in the stands.
  
  
• The shark gangster voiced by Peter Falk was originally called Don Brizzi. Bowing to pressure from the Italic Institute of America, an organization protesting Hollywood's stereotyping of Italians as mobsters and gangsters, Dreamworks agreed to change the name of the character to Don Feinberg just before release.
  
  
• At one time Christopher Walken was considered for the voice of Luca the Octopus and Sacha Baron Cohen was considered for one of the Jellyfish.
  
  
• The original voice for Don Lino was supposed to be James Gandolfini, but he dropped out and was replaced by Robert De Niro.
  
  
• As the voice of Ernie the Jellyfish, Ziggy Marley sings the song "Three Little Birds" - a song written by his father, Bob Marley. But Ziggy changes birds to fishes.
  
  
• Anthony Anderson was cast as a sperm whale, but the role's suggestive dialogue got his character cut down. Anderson has only a few non-risqué lines: when the whale meets Angie, and when Oscar cleans the whale's eye.
  
  
• Martin Scorsese (Sykes) had directed Robert De Niro (Don Lino) and Michael Imperioli (Frankie) in the gangster film Goodfellas (1990).
  
  
• The film hints that Don Lino is Jewish, as he remarks "Oy vey..." and confers with Don Ira Feinberg (a definitely Jewish character). Robert De Niro had starred in Once Upon a Time in America (1984), about a band of Jewish-American gangsters.
  
  
• Sykes brags to Don Lino that he's now "untouchable." This is a reference to the period drama The Untouchables (1987), which starred Robert De Niro as a big mafia boss.
  
  
• The Shrimp yells "Say hello to my little friends!" a reference to the famous final line from the gangster film Scarface (1983).
  
  
• Classifying the characters in terms of species, Oscar is a bluestreak cleaner wrasse (which explains his whale-cleaning status), Angie is a marine angelfish, Sykes is a porcupinefish, Lola is a lionfish, Don Feiberg is a leopard shark, and Crazy Joe is a hermit crab.
  
  
• During the end credits, Crazy Joe the hermit crab taps on Head of Artistic Development Frank Gladstone's name and yells out "What! You see this guy? He hardly worked on the movie at all! Always on the phone yakking yakking yakking...".
  
  

• SPOILER: While Lenny is a self-confessed vegetarian, he eats his best friends Oscar and Angie (although temporarily).
  
  

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