DreamWorks' Apology For Shark Tale

 

In 2004, DreamWorks Animation released their first sequel to the movie that changed animation and put them on the map, Shrek 2. They had also agreed to go with computer animation from now on, since they along with Disney were struggling with their hand drawn animated movies. Having already released Antz, the first two Shrek movies and they had a film called Madagascar coming soon (in the words of Kelly Asbury in the Shrek 2 DVD commentary, rest in peace buddy), DreamWorks decided to release an underwater parody of The Godfather or other gangster media, that shouldn’t sound too bad, seeing how their first film with Aardman, Chicken Run was based on The Great Escape or the Holocaust in general, (that must’ve been a lot of kids exposures to this hard time before they studied about it at age 11 or over in school) and it was a critical and financial hit, the kids would enjoy seeing sea creatures, seeing how Pixar’s Finding Nemo had done really phenomenally the previous year or if they enjoyed SpongeBob (especially since he was coming to the movies for the first time that same year) or maybe even if they enjoyed playing Freddi Fish (who remembers solving underwater mysteries with her and her friend Luther on the PC as kids?), they’d have an all star cast like the Fresh Prince himself, Will Smith and the always talented and funny Jack Black, fresh off of School Of Rock and one of the directors would be Vicky Jenson who also directed the first Shrek, what could go wrong? A lot.

This lead to one of their most infamous movies, Shark Tale. While it did do well financially (being on top of the box office for 3 weeks and also because of when they released it. Fun fact, DreamWorks originally intended to release it on November 5^th but because a certain superhero movie from Pixar was set to be released that day, DreamWorks moved it to the beginning of October to avoid competition, probably smart on their part, the movie was already doomed to be compared to Finding Nemo, probably best not to be in competition with Pixar’s new film coming up) it did very poorly critically, became DreamWorks’ most low rated movie on Rotten Tomatoes (now beat by that godawful Megamind sequel, stick to the Button Of Doom short, that’s a proper sequel, short but does well on expanding Megamind’s character). The movie was criticized for it’s ugly animation, horribly unlikable protagonist, poor use of pop culture references, it’s desperate attempt to be Shrek, and for it’s “offensive” stereotypes of black people, Italian American people and gay people (as ERod The Blockbuster Buster and Joey Tedesco of the Cartoon Palooza pointed out in their reviews) and for being too dark, even for a family movie.

Now, if any of you had seen my previous stories, you probably remember me saying that I do have a soft spot for it, but I do agree with a lot of the complaints it received.

Now I would like to explain the plot lines, the main plot is a rags to riches story, where the protagonist is unsatisfied with living a low class life, he ends up becoming rich, and after a while, he realizes the rich life and materialism is too shallow and his friends are what make him rich. One of the subplots involves a father who is very traditional and is having a hard relationship with his son because he’s different or “gay”, the son feels hurt and like a disappointment to his father and in the end he feels better about who he is and the father realizes that sticking to traditional values only is not worth losing his son and accepts him for who he is. There is also a love triangle subplot, where one character falls for someone who is shallow and loves them for the wrong reasons, later the character finds out that their friend is the right one for them because they have genuine love for them.

The rags to riches plot is done poorly (if you’ve seen one of my previous stories you saw me talk about how The Greatest Showman told that kind of story better), the father-son plot is actually very heartfelt and probably should’ve been the main focus and the love triangle subplot blows, for reasons I will explain.

I’m sure a lot of people wished that the movie was more about Lenny due to being more likable and sympathetic (at least his voice actor got the spotlight from DreamWorks a few years later), his strained relationship with his dad could be relatable to those that are struggling to come out of the closet or it could be a touch on toxic masculinity (as Dazz Reviews pointed out in his review), relatable to guys who are told to be more “manly.” Plus a lot of folks agreed that the romantic subplot was done poorly. Well, little did we all know, that in 4 years DreamWorks would release a movie that had similar plot elements, minus the rags to riches plot.

It had the “gay” son story being the main focus and a love triangle subplot that actually worked. But what if I told you that this movie happened to be a sequel and that sequel would be Madagascar Escape 2 Africa (funny enough the first Madagascar was DreamWorks’ follow up to Shark Tale), like how Zootopia was like Disney’s apology for Chicken Little, some could say Madagascar 2 was DreamWorks’ apology for Shark Tale. Well, that’s why we’re here today, to show how Madagascar Escape 2 Africa is DreamWorks’ new and improved Shark Tale, well, let’s begin.

Lenny The Shark/Alex The Lion

Now both Lenny and Alex do have a few things in common, they’re both animals that people or other animals would fear due to their fierce nature, they’re both voiced by Jewish actors that can give you a good laugh, one of them is known for screaming, making funny noises and having infectious energy (Jack Black as Lenny) while the other is known for their snarky, or sarcastic deliveries and playing characters that can have a short fuse with hilarious and sometimes relatable results (Ben Stiller as Alex). Both characters are different from their species, with Lenny being a vegetarian shark and Alex is more of a dancer/performer than a survivor or a fighter (apart from the time he went savage in the first movie similar to what happened to Bruce when he smelled Dory’s blood in Finding Nemo), much to the disappointment of their loving but traditional fathers. Their differences cause a strain in their relationship, they have a fight which eventually leads to the son leaving, hurt by their fathers’ insulting words, from Lenny overhearing Don Lino saying hurtful words about him and Zuba outright saying to Alex that he’s not a real lion after failing to fight, the sons later lament about their dads never accepting them or being a disappointment. Also, at one point, the father is warned that he could lose his son if he takes him for granted and doesn’t accept them for who they are, they’re still their son no matter what. Then, when the sons unexpectedly reunite with their dads, the dads see how others love their sons for who they are and this is what gets them to realize that their sons’ happiness is more important than following traditions and then, they finally accept their sons for who they are. Here’s the reunion and conflicts resolutions in detail.

In Shark Tale’s case, it was when Oscar aka Will Smith fish traps both Lenny (by accident) and Don Lino in the whale washing equipment, then he confesses to his lies, telling everyone that it was really an anchor that killed Frankie and then he tells the elder shark that while his son is not like other sharks, others love him for who he is and he should too. I will admit that Oscar’s speech doesn’t really work nor does it feel believable considering his horrible actions throughout the movie, it makes his “nice and caring” acts very insincere, as I said before, (along with a few other comments I saw on YouTube) it would’ve been more effective if Lenny had spoken up for himself (could’ve been a nice little coming of age tale about learning to stand up for yourself and gaining self confidence I’m sure we can all relate to that, especially when it comes to standing up to our elders), though to be fair, he does explain to his father why he ran away from home briefly, or if someone was to speak for Lenny, it could’ve been Angie since she was the better friend to him (plus if she had to be with anyone I think Lenny should’ve been the guy for her, because he was honest and caring towards her, everything Oscar wasn’t) but even with that it doesn’t take away what comes afterwards. That moment when Don Lino comes to his senses and embraces his son telling him that he truly loves him no matter what, which makes Lenny very happy, it never fails to warm my heart.

In Madagascar 2’s case, when the humans try to cook Alex, Zuba (who found out from Makunga the antagonist, who was really trying to put him in danger or worse killed) comes to the rescue and tries to fight the people but before the African tour guide can shoot him, Alex comes up and shows his dance moves which impresses everyone, especially the tourists from New York. Zuba at first is a bit confused by this, but as soon as he sees how much those people love him for who he is, he’s so impressed that he tries to do it himself, a bit poorly I’ll admit, but A for effort. This is what makes Zuba realize his son is great for who he is, it’s such a nice moment. Sure, Nana (the old lady that attacked Alex) ruins the moment, but it’s a nice moment regardless.

I’d say both “gay son” stories work darn well, Madagascar 2 has the benefit of being the main focus but I think both movies did well with their allegories for struggling to come out of the closet or touches on toxic masculinity, it took guts for DreamWorks to do those kinds of stories, especially in the 2000s so kudos!

Plus, notice this, Alex the lion shares similarities to both of Jack Black’s DreamWorks characters! We already talked about how similar he is to Lenny but he also has a similar origin story to Po, I mean think about it. Both characters had different names at birth (Po’s birth name was Lotus and Alex’s birth name was Alakay), but then they got separated from their parents when they were babies when put in life threatening or dangerous situations, in crates or baskets, they got found somewhere, (Po was found at Mr. Ping’s noodle shop and Alex was found at sea in New York), they were adopted, were given new names and then years later, they reunited with at least one of their birth parents. Sure, Kung Fu Panda 2 came out after Madagascar 2, but wow! Who would’ve guessed?

Love Triangles

Now, another thing Shark Tale and Madagascar 2 have in common is that at one point, one of the characters are put in a love triangle, where said character has to decide, who is the right one for them? Is it the one who loves them for shallow reasons, like their wealth or looks, or should is it the ones who always loved them, regardless of their wealth and looks and was always there all along? However, this time, unlike the gay son story, only one of them works while the other, doesn’t. There’s also a bit of a coincidence, the characters that are caught in the triangles, their voice actors are Will and Jada Pinkett Smith, who would’ve thought?

Don't expect me to make a joke based on what happened on a particular night.

Now, let’s talk about both subplots.

In Shark Tale, part of Oscar’s rags to riches story also had him finding the perfect girl.

At the beginning of the movie, when we first meet Angie, we see that she secretly has a crush on Oscar, for reasons unknown and Oscar’s too blind by his ambition to be rich to see it. Angie does everything for him, like covering for his tardiness at work, and of course, when he gets in trouble for putting his boss into debt and has to pay him by tomorrow. Beforehand, she tries to tell him that living on top of the reef isn’t the key to being a somebody only for him to ignore that.  Then, Angie performs a very selfless and generous move, she gives him a pink pearl that her grandmother gave her, so he can sell it and pay back Sykes, shouldn’t be so bad, right? Wrong! Oscar is about to give the money to Sykes, but then he overhears that the seahorse race is rigged and he bets it! What the hell dude?! This is what you do when your best friend tries to get you out of a tough jam?! You, ungrateful, pinheaded, selfish idiot! Or to quote Adam Sandler in 50 First Dates, “What an asshole!” This gambling attracts the attention of a gold-digging lionfish names Lola, who Oscar is immediately smitten by. He tries to talk to and hang out with her, but once she lets it slip to Sykes that he bet 500 grand, and Sykes gets really angry, Lola leaves and dismisses Oscar as a nobody, but not without admitting she’s superficial, and yet Oscar still wants her, more on that later.

After a series of mishaps, from the seahorse Oscar bet on losing and as punishment he gets tortured by the jellyfish, and nearly getting eaten, Oscar claims to have killed a shark and becomes famous. When he is interviewed about it, he shoves Angie aside and Lola sees him on an underwater Times Square screen and is impressed with how rich he would be and decides to be with him. When Oscar gets the penthouse he’s dreamed of, Angie comes by and gifts him a lava lamp, then he shows her how beautiful the top of the reef is. Then, it looks like he’s going to propose to her, but he actually gifts her with her grandmother’s pearl with a necklace and friend zones her. Then Lola shows up and pulls him away and Oscar goes along with her without any second thought, our hero ladies and gentlemen!

Later on, after Oscar and Lenny perform a fake “Sharkslayer” act so Oscar can look like a real badass and frighten the sharks away and so Lenny can disappear since he was having daddy issues, as Oscar enjoys the glory, he suddenly gets interrupted by Lola who kisses him in front of the camera, it ends up being shown on public television, Angie sees it and is furious! Later that night, she and Oscar have a big fight over Lola (with poor Lenny having to listen and trying to get them to stop) and eventually Angie finally reveals to him that she always loved him, even before he became famous, this causes Oscar to rethink his values. He realizes that he loves Angie and tries to dump Lola, only for her to get mad and beat him against the glass. When Oscar goes to tell Angie that he loves her, he finds out that the shark mafia kidnapped Angie and they want a sitdown. Oscar, along with Lenny (who’s disguised as a dolphin) and Sykes go to the sitdown to save her and after a series of Oscar digging himself deeper and screwing up more and shark chases, Oscar finally confesses to his lies, gets Lenny and his father to reconcile and make peace between the fish and sharks. Angie, impressed by his confession, goes to talk to him, Oscar tells Angie that he’s nobody without her, the two share a kiss and are happy together.

In the case of Madagascar 2, one of the subplots has Gloria wanting to find a boyfriend and Melman wants to tell Gloria how he feels about her.

In the prologue of Madagascar 2, it’s quickly established that Melman has had a crush on Gloria ever since they were kids, when Alex first came to the zoo, while Marty thinks he’s kind of a show-off, Gloria comments that she thinks Alex is kind of cute, and Melman shows discomfort towards that comment.

Though we never got an idea of Melman liking Gloria in the first movie it still is sweet, heck in the Christmas special, (which took place in between the first two movies, even though it came out a year after the second movie) there are a few subtle hints, like the part where a little girl named Abby sees the Zoosters and thinks they’re Santa’s helpers, she runs to hug all of them, once she hugs Gloria not only does the hippo return the hug but the other three find that very sweet, especially Melman probably.

Anyway, I’m getting off topic.

The filmmakers always wanted Melman and Gloria to be a couple, they thought about doing it in the first film, but felt it would be best to get to know these characters before going any further with that and I think that is a good idea. This is where the romantic story really begins.

When the Zoosters are on the plane, Gloria mentions that once they get back to New York, she might sign up for the breeding program, Melman nervously asks her if she is thinking of dating other guys and cue awkward silence when Gloria questions what he means. To avoid the subject, Melman goes to check on the beverages they ordered. Soon, when the plane runs out of fuel and falls, thinking they’re going to die, Melman shouts out that he loves Gloria, only for her to snore (since she had fallen asleep when Melman left to check on the drinks, and somehow didn’t wake up until they landed) and for Melman to make it sound different when Alex and Marty were staring at him.

When they arrive in Africa, Melman becomes a doctor, and this muscular hippo named Moto Moto, has the hots for Gloria, and she thinks he looks good too. Later on, Melman is told by the other giraffes that he has a disease and has only 2 days left to live, when he’s about to tell his friends, Gloria comes over excitedly telling them about her date with Moto Moto, Melman gets jealous and the two have an argument.

That night, when Gloria is on her date with Moto Moto, she soon realizes that he only likes Gloria for how huge and chunky she is, then Melman (encouraged by King Julien) goes to tell Gloria how he feels about her and acts polite, but when he’s about to leave and Moto Moto acts rude towards him, Melman immediately goes up to “Mototo” and makes it very clear that he’d better treat Gloria like a queen, he tells her the things he would give her like white orchids and toast with butter on both sides and that she has an amazing laugh. While Moto Moto is confused by all this, Gloria is amazed and that makes her realize that Melman is the guy for her.

One day, the watering hole is dried up and King Julien comes up with a really stupid way to get the water back by having someone jump into the volcano and get eaten by “water gods” to satisfy them enough to give them water. Melman volunteers since he thinks he’s dying and at least will go knowing Gloria will have water. When Gloria tries to talk him out of it, he tells her that it wasn’t the doctors or prescriptions that got him going, it was always seeing her everyday.

When Melman is about to sacrifice himself, Gloria runs to stop him, and when he nearly falls, she catches him and asks him if he really meant everything he said about her, which he says yes to. Gloria then pulls him up and tells him that it’s crazy that it took her going halfway around the world to see that the guy for her was always there, which makes Melman very happy and the two officially become a couple.

In the ending, Zuba is officiating a wedding and you’d think it’s for Melman and Gloria but it’s actually for Skipper the penguin and his hula doll, then after the plane takes off, Melman tells Gloria that as long as he’s with her, he’s happy where he is, and Gloria starts laughing (which Alex and Marty find awkward) and Marty points out that love has no boundaries. And that concludes Melman and Gloria’s love story.

They continued to show this in the third movie from Melman calling Gloria, “Honey, the two rehearsing and performing a tightrope act and if you look closely at the scene where the Zoosters and the circus animals are celebrating their victory, you’d see Gloria actually kissed Melman! I saw that on Deviantart and I just squealed like crazy!

 

Romantic Verdict

Now I’m going to explain why one love triangle subplot does it better than other.

There are many reasons why the love triangle subplot in Shark Tale doesn’t work and here’s a few of them. Why the hell does Angie even like Oscar at all? He has not shown any respect towards her, he doesn’t have feelings for her, is constantly friend zoning her and has done terrible things to her, like using her pearl money to bet on a race or leaving her on the balcony without any second thoughts, he’s horrible!

Honestly, he’s probably better off with Lola because they’re both superficial and value money over love. I know I sound like a broken record, but again if Angie was to end up with someone, Lenny should’ve been the right guy for her since he was nice to her, he seemed to like her enough to tell her the truth and he was the one who comforted her after her fight with Oscar. Heck, in the movie novel, there was a small bit like that, it takes place after the fake fight, when Angie is reading the newspaper and Lenny asks her to pass him the blue spray paint, once he thanks her when she does, she thinks something like this, “Even Lenny is nicer to me than Oscar, I should fall for him,” at least something like that, the movie novels words, not mine.

So towards the end when Oscar seemingly falls for Angie, at this point it’s too little, too late, even his stunt to rescue Angie after the shark mob kidnapped her wasn’t out of love or selflessness, he was still being a cocky jackass, the stunt involved Lenny catching her in his mouth. This was dumb for 2 reasons.

1.    That could’ve put her in danger or worse killed her if she was inside his mouth for too long

2.    He knew full well that Lenny is a vegetarian and meat makes him queasy

So naturally, Oscar keeps acting like a jackass and annoying and the plan backfires, and even after all that, it’s baffling why Angie took him back, she should’ve stopped loving him after the pearl or the kiss. Plus as Mr. Enter said in his review, Angie basically directly or indirectly told Oscar, you don’t need to follow dreams, you just need me. Bad message for those who are content with being single or have big dreams (I’m not saying don’t find your special someone you can do it when you’re ready and do it because you want to). This romantic subplot makes me want to throw up.

Melman and Gloria’s relationship on the other hand, was well done. You could see how much Melman loves her and that scene where he gives Moto Moto clear instructions or advice on how to treat Gloria, you can see in Gloria’s eyes how touched she is and when she starts to fall for him, it feels believable.  Plus, while Melman does get jealous of Moto Moto, he does try to be polite and wants to make sure that if he can’t be with her, whoever is with her must treat her well, because he knows she deserves the best. Melman’s romantic moments help that he’s voiced by David Schwimmer aka Ross Geller (though Melman might be more selfless than Ross). I remember when I was younger I was disappointed that Melman was with Gloria because they weren’t the same species (weird though considering I did like Donkey and Dragon) but one night, when it was playing on TV, when a host talked about it, I realized it was better because Melman loved her for who she was while Moto Moto’s love was shallow. Moto Moto is the kind of guy that would date you because you look beautiful, but one day, he’ll see another girl who looks more “prettier” than you and then leave you without any second thoughts, that would have one heartbroken and running off in tears. Melman is the token boyfriend, he’d love you no matter what, he’d be your shoulder to cry on, he’d be part of both your struggles and success, would stay true to wedding vows and would treat you like a queen.

When you want to date someone, ditch your Moto Motos, and find your Melmans!

 

Conclusion

And that concludes my story on how Madagascar 2 is DreamWorks’ apology for Shark Tale.

Please feel free to voice your thoughts! Are there any similarities between these two movies I missed, please let me know!