24 years later, a movie with similarities to The Godfather and Zootopia is a streaming hit. The Godfather is widely regarded as one of the greatest movies of all time, including on IMDb, where The Shawshank Redemption is the only film with a higher rating. As for Zootopia, it is frequently hailed as one of Disney’s best animated movies, grossed over $1 billion worldwide, and its sequel, Zootopia 2, became the second highest-grossing animated movie and tenth-best overall in box office history.
The Godfather‘s crime families and Zootopia‘s talking animal civilization come together in DreamWorks’ Shark Tale. The 2004 animated film revolves around Oscar (Will Smith), a fish who boasts about killing Franklin “Frankie” Lino (Michael Imperioli), the son of criminal kingpin Don Lino (Robert De Niro), and requires the help of the other son, Leonard “Lenny” Lino (Jack Black), to maintain the lie. Scorsese voices Mr. Sykes, a loan shark pufferfish and Oscar’s boss at Whale Wash. Shark Tale is now in ninth place on Netflix’s U.S. streaming chart after being in the platform’s top 10 for 18 consecutive days.
Why Shark Tale Is Conquering Netflix 24 Years Later
As a family-friendly movie with humor and lessons that can appeal to all ages, Shark Tale is a 24-year-old film well-suited for streaming. For those who grew up in the 2000s, it can provide nostalgia, but it is also fully entertaining for younger audiences now. The similarities to Zootopia and Zootopia 2 also make it a good sea creature-focused alternative, with this one set in the underwater civilization of Southside Reef.
Shark Tale‘s star-studded cast is another factor contributing to its current Netflix success. In addition to Smith, De Niro, Black, Imperioli, and Scorsese, the cast features Renée Zellweger as Angie and Angelina Jolie as Lola, and Katie Couric, Christina Aguilera, and Missy Elliot in minor roles.
Shark Tale Is A Rare Outing For Scorsese
As the director of movies like GoodFellas, The Departed, and Killers of the Flower Moon, voice acting and being in a family-friendly film is a rarity for Scorsese. One of the only other instances of this is The Mandalorian and Grogu, in which he voices Hugo Durant, a fry cook of the Ardennian species who has several humorous lines and reluctantly shares information with Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal, Brendan Wayne, and Lateef Crowder). The Mandalorian and Grogu is PG-13 and Shark Tale is PG, though, making the latter more family-friendly.
Given Scorsese’s history of directing crime movies and how tropes from the genre are cleverly incorporated into Shark Tale, it is fitting for him to be in the movie, regardless of it being far outside what he normally does. It also marks yet another collaboration between him and De Niro, and one that is often overlooked when looking at their long history of working together.
Shark Tale is now streaming on Netflix.
- Release Date
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October 1, 2004
- Runtime
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90 minutes
- Director
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Bibo Bergeron, Rob Letterman, Vicky Jenson
- Writers
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Lona Williams, Rob Letterman, Michael J. Wilson
- Producers
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Allison Lyon Segan, Bill Damaschke, Janet Healy