"Shark Tale" site updated with looks at some of the characters

[SheepFactory]

they should release a teaser already. I suppose we have to wait till shrek 2 to see the first teaser.

[tevih]

Hm... I dont really have a good feeling about this movie... Models so far look a bit lame and slapped-together... will story hold it all up?

[barpoet]

I have to admit the characters look OK and the movie will probably be good. But Jeez Get a NEW IDEA , Animation is more about developing characters than it is about animating! Anyone can copy someone else get off the money train and take a risk with something new.

[hobbes17r]

This movie might be fun in the end (can't deny that they shelled out for the voice talent, har har...); I just hope it's the last time we see this kind of idea crowding from Dreamworks. It's my impression that Katzenberg has a large creative influence over what kind of movies his studio decides to make, and I kind of wonder what all these talented artists and filmmakers would be coming up with if they didn't have the restriction of serving specific anti-disney/pixar ambitions.

Somehow I fear the trend will continue, though I'm curious: How does Dreamworks continue to know what's next in the pipe from Disney? I can understand how they knew about A Bug's Life given the timing of Katzenberg's departure from Disney, but how did they know about Nemo? Are they maybe just learning about the 'competing' projects a little later, thus explaining why Shark Tale has such a later release date? And if that's the case, does it suggest that the timing difference will soon remove the possibility of future idea crowding?

[ACFred]

Hobbes, while I also hate it when studios come out with similar films, it isn't simply a phenomena caused by DreamWorks.

Look at the film Disney is distributing for Core. I think it's called Wild! or something like that. It's a total knock off of PDI's Madagascar-- MUCH more similar than Shark Tale and Nemo (fish & water is where the similarity ends). Disney should be ashamed for this blatent rip off, but that might be my bias showing. Story-wise, though, Shark Tale is nothing like Nemo, although I can see how there can easily be confusion in the market.

And look at Sony Animation's first announced film. It's a bunch of forest creatures who have to band together in order to fight the evil hunter. Sounds awfully similar to Over the Hedge, although not a lot has been released on OTH, so I can't say any more than there are similarities.

It's hard to tell who is really responsible for this duplication of story genre. I've heard a couple of different things, including the fact that the pool of writers is fairly small and that they end up pitching the same ideas to any studio that will listen. I don't know how true that is, but I'd love it if each studio would try to cultivate their ideas separate from the influence of the others. Seeing how small this industry is and how quickly news travels, especially within the upper management circles, I'm not sure if it's possible.

For as long as companies take to decide which film to green-light, this duplication is obviously blatant....and unfortunate.

[tevih]

Could it just be a matter of technology? I think it's no coincidence that Toy Story was the first featuer length movie by pixar. There is a reason they didn't write a story about a furry animal who lived in wet gooey steamy swamp... :p

Maybe "underwater" is the latest to hit the studios, and dreamworks just didn't get there fast enough?? Besides, I'm sure dreamworks and pixar all have their sources of information and copy each other...

I'm just not thrilled with the quality of what I saw dreamworks has for shark tale...

[PhilOsirus]

Could it just be a matter of technology? I think it's no coincidence that Toy Story was the first featuer length movie by pixar. There is a reason they didn't write a story about a furry animal who lived in wet gooey steamy swamp...

EXACTLY! I've been saying this for a while. First we saw movies about moving toys (everything can look like plastic/fake). Then about insects (cause it couldn't be about fish due to lack of good technology for 3D water worlds, and can't be about the animal kingdom because of lack of good looking furr, and can't be about humans because of Fina Fantasy-ish reasons). Then we get Monsters Inc and Ice Age (ok, not much of a link, but furr appears for the first time). Then Nemo, Basshole, Sharktale (because of the new technology). I think it is very normal.

Now I doubt that the upcomming films will still be simillar since we now have technology that is good enough to do practicly any kind of story.

[Dragon]

ACFred,
Hmm.... Disney is copying Madagascar? Actually... wasn't Madagascar announced after Disney started the now cancelled project Wild Life (not to be confused w/ Core's "The Wild")?
Anyway, There does seem to be a trend. We will soon have 2 rat movies on the big screen batteling it out.

[hobbes17r]

Originally posted by ACFred
Hobbes, while I also hate it when studios come out with similar films, it isn't simply a phenomena caused by DreamWorks.

I'd certainly agree with you - With the number of new studios popping up, capitalization on established themes may even increase, should investors in new studios occasionally take a financially conservative approach to projects. I only intended to point out that Dreamworks tends to be the most high-profile player on that stage, and ostensibly so for heavily political reasons.

"Of course I'm just a caveman, and I understand very little of your complicated ways..."

What is the deal with Madagascar vs The Wild, anyway? I was under the impression that The Wild came first, but props to PDI if that speculation was off-target...

[Fasty]

Without being mean and without exaggeration, that is the ugliest official website for a movie I have ever seen.

[FloydBishop]

The artists and animators on the show are usually not the ones who create the web site, or have any say in what it looks like. This is usually handled by a third party that the main studio uses. I wouldn't judge the film by it's website.

That being said, as movie sites go, it does seem a bit sub par.

[phrankypoo]

Dragon does have a point there about the trend of studios copying.... Disney just announced Wilbur Robinson....which is about a boy genious.....its already be panned as a Jimmy Neutron ripoff....here is a quote about the movie ...


"A Day with Wilbur Robinson comes to life in this comedy-adventure tale that follows one fateful day in the life of a boy-genius " :wip:

[BRODSKY]

The Story comes from a William Joyce book thats been around for a long time. They are not ripping DNA.

Atleast Disney is not shifting around their whole production schedule just to beat Pixar to the screen with a rat movie.

[birditious]

well disney wouldnt normally book a movie against pixar seeing as it their own product. Of course that's not true anymore, but disney does consistently market movies against dreamworks products. releasing DVD's on opening weekends, and moving the incredables around to compete against sharktale. The mouse is not known for tolerating competition lightly, or for compassionate buissiness practices.

[AJ]

Anything with Peter Falk can't be bad.


(That is, in fact, the 11th commandment...)

[vfx]

Wow, that website has potential but currently looks pretty crap! And um why has no one mentioned the whole new york (real human buildings) underwater thing!! Ok, I thought that taking a human genre (Gangster) and apply it to cg fish sounded cool, but why make it look like they live in a (BRICK) city! uggghhhh! Totally lost me there I'm afraid!

[ACFred]

It's coral, vfx.

[FloydBishop]

Anyone remember "Fish Police"?

It was a Hanna Barberra cartoon that ran in prime time on CBS.

The characters in "SharkTale" are much closer to this than they are to those in "Finding Nemo"...

http://www.rubenchavez.com/Media/Traditional%20/Hanna-Barbera/FishPolice1.jpg

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