History YMMV / SharkTale

* {{NarmCharm}}: {{Creator/Robert De Niro}}'s voice acting during the scene in which Lenny reveals himself to be alive to his father, Don Lino sounds unintentionally laughable when he calls him out for lying to him and being friends with Oscar whom he believes killed Frankie. However, the emotions Don Lino displays after he discovers Lenny is alive and is actually friends with Oscar are anger and sadness in one, and the music played during the scene sounds so melancholic, which make the scene somewhat emotional.

** Don Feinberg doesn't do anything evil at all. There is more good in him than Don Lino.

** Oscar hitting [[Franchise/{{Madagascar}} Marty]] in the face became a popular joke after Creator/WillSmith punched Creator/ChrisRock in the face at the [[UsefulNotes/AcademyAwardsCeremonies 2022 Oscars]].

* QuestionableCasting: Martin Scorcese of all people as Sykes, having never previously acted in a voiceover role nor accepted another since this film. Despite this, his performance as Sykes is considered almost unanimously to be one of the best things in the movie.

* DesignatedHero: Many reviewers and audiences have commented on the fact that Oscar is clearly meant to be something of a [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold likable asshole]], but mostly comes off as [[UnintentionallyUnsympathetic a regular asshole]] who does very little that's good and a whole lot that's bad. For example, he sells his best friend Angie's prized family heirloom and uses the money to bet on a horse race instead of settling his debt with Sykes, for which Angie gives him [[EasilyForgiven no kind of reckoning whatsoever]]. His only motivation is fame, while he whines about [[{{Wangst}} his steady job at the whale wash where he still has fun and gets along with just about everyone there]]. This is also apparent in the video game, where he is shown as too lazy and cheap to pay his own rent.

* DoNotDoThisCoolThing: Oscar learns not to lie, but it's apparent he got all this awesome stuff out of it. He even gets to keep his penthouse in the video game.

* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot: Oscar constantly complains about his neighborhood and the movie is supposed to show us that there wasn’t anything wrong with it, even though they never show us what his neighborhood is like. They don’t even show us his house. This is surprisingly rectified in the video game, where he gets kicked out of his apartment for never paying his rent and we get to see more of the Southside Reef.

** Chapter 18: "Ixnay on the Arkshay" is a ludicrously difficult StealthBasedMission that involves Oscar having to sneak through all of Reef City with Lenny. Not only is it extremely tricky to avoid the police officers patrolling the area, you're hounded by a photographer who tries to take your picture every few seconds, with getting caught resulting in instant death and a trip back to the nearest checkpoint. The level is also [[MarathonLevel incredibly long]], which will likely lead to a lot of deaths and restarts if you're going for the bonus and elite objectives.

* BileFascination: Nowadays, it's almost impossible to discuss bad animated movies without mentioning this one (especially since it was nominated for an Academy Award), so any animation fan or critic worth their salt will likely be required to watch the movie to witness the supposed horribleness by themselves.

* BileFascination: Nowadays, it's almost impossible to discuss bad animated movies without mentioning this one (especially since it was nominated for an Academy Award), so any animation critic worth their salt will likely need to watch it to witness the supposed horribleness by themselves.

* BileFascination: Nowadays, it's almost impossible to discuss bad animated movies without mentioning this one (especially since it was nominated for an Academy Award), so any critic worth their salt will likely need to watch it and see what's so horrible about it.

** [[https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/598582660729929763/666502606683635723/fish.gif This GIF of a zoom-in on Sykes' face]] has been used across Discord and other message boards as a DoubleTake reaction or a NoJustNoReaction to "questionable" content.

* WTHCastingAgency: Martin Scorcese of all people as Sykes, having never previously acted in a voiceover role nor accepted another since this film. Despite this, his performance as Sykes is considered almost unanimously to be one of the best things in the movie.

* SpecialEffectsFailure: There are quite a few shots in the movie where the lighting and shading effects aren't applied evenly, which has the side effects of casting the character designs into even sharper relief.

* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic: The game prides itself with its soundtrack, not only featuring licensed tracks like MC Hammer's "U Can't Touch This" and the two game exclusive remixes of Rose Royce's "Car Wash", but also features an absolutely high-octane original score handled by Kevin Manthei ([[NotMakingThisUpDisclaimer Yes]], [[WesternAnimation/InvaderZim THAT]] [[VideoGame/UltimateSpiderMan2005 Kevin]] [[WesternAnimation/GeneratorRex Manthei]]).

* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic: The game prides itself with its soundtrack, not only featuring licensed tracks like MC Hammer's "U Can't Touch This" and the two game exclusive remixes of Rose Royce's "Car Wash", but also features an absolutely high-octane original score handled by Kevin Manthei ([[NotMakingThisUpDisclaimer Yes]], [[WesternAnimation/InvaderZim THAT]] [[VideoGame/UltimateSpiderMan Kevin]] [[WesternAnimation/GeneratorRex Manthei]]).

* CondemnedByHistory: While it was never a critical favorite, and it failed to make numbers internationally, it was still popular enough in domestic territories that if nothing else, it definitely found an audience. However, those who were kids when it was new grew up, and when they revisited the film, it was with a more critical eye, and it wasn't in its favor, with not even nostalgia being on its side. Nowadays, it's generally considered one of Creator/DreamworksAnimation's weakest films, if not the worst they ever made. Even those who still enjoy it only do so [[SoBadItsGood ironically]].

* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodCharacter: The funeral scene is the only moment in the entire film where we see Don Lino's wife. After that, she just vanishes.

* SoBadItsGood: The movie's rather heavy-handed attempts to appeal to youth in the mid-2000s has resulted in it becoming unintentionally hilarious to some audiences.

** The song that people seem to remember most is Creator/MaryJBlige and Music/WillSmith’s remix of "Got to Be Real", which was played in a lot of commercials for the film.

** The song that people seem to remember most is Creator/MaryJBlidge and Music/WillSmith’s remix of "Got to Be Real", which was played in a lot of commercials for the film.

* BreatherLevel: Chapter 22: "A Shark By Any Other Name Would Be Just As Fishy" is the last free-roam level and is fairly short and straight-forward, especially compared to the difficult Lenny boss before it and the incredibly finnicky dance stage afterwards.

** To a lesser extent, "Good Foot" by Music/JustinTimberlake and Timbaland.
** The song that people seem to remember most is Mary J. Blidge and Will Smith’s remix of "Got to Be Real", which was played in a lot of commercials for the film.

* SoOkayItsAverage: By the standards of most [=DreamWorks=] productions from the mid-2000s. Quite a few people who've seen it consider it a decent and/or forgettable film.

** A positive side has made people think of it as ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'' meets ''Literature/TheGodfather'' and ''Series/TheFreshPrinceOfBelAir''.

** In his youth, Oscar looked up to his father and wanted to work at the Whale Wash to proudly follow in his footsteps, but other kids his age harshly mocked him. This caused Oscar to develop serious insecurities about being a loser and a nobody, and led him him to believe that chasing fame and wealth was the only way to be a success in life. While he makes many reckless and selfish decisions in pursuit of these ultimately meaningless ambitions, his reasoning behind it is quite tragic.
* JerksAreWorseThanVillains: Despite being the main protagonist of the movie and being intended as a JerkWithAHeartOfGold, Oscar is often met with disdain from viewers for his constant lying, general insensitivity towards [[OnlyFriend Angie]] and his poor judgement leading him to make reckless decisions. The fish-eating mob boss Don Lino is viewed in a much more sympathetic light by comparison thanks to his [[EvenEvilHasLovedOnes love for his sons]] and his motivations revolving around [[PapaWolf avenging the death of one of them]]. The fandom has given the same love to the villainous GoldDigger Lola for her {{Fanservice}} and for [[TakeThatScrappy giving Oscar punishment for his actions during their short-lived relationship]]. This is especially ironic since Lola [[HateSink was actually INTENDED to be hated by viewers]].
* LGBTFanbase: Since Lenny is AmbiguouslyGay and Lola is full-on sexy (which helps that bisexual Creator/AngelinaJolie voiced her), there are notable people in that community to like Shark Tale.
* MemeticBadass: Fans ironically think of Oscar as a true badass, and it helps that his actor had been in several action films.

** Lola is also a fan-favorite thanks to her memorable quotes and [[MsFanservice appealing design]].

* EvilIsSexy: UnintentionalUncannyValley features aside, Lola is by far the most blatantly sexualized character in the film, while also being an emotionally abusive GoldDigger who is willing to have Angie murdered just to spite Oscar.

* FriendlyFandoms:
** Due to the similarities, fans who loved this movie are very likely to be fans of ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants''.
** Since they are kid's crime movies, ''Film/OsmosisJones'' seems to have fans that overlap with ''Shark Tale''.

* ClicheStorm: The protagonist [[IJustWantToBeSpecial dreams of fame]], [[LiarRevealed lies to everyone about being the hero,]] gets involved in a [[ObliviousToLove romantic subplot borne of poor communication]] and because this is a kids movie, [[EasilyForgiven everyone just lets]] [[{{Pun}} him off the hook.]] Turning the characters into humans and setting the movie on the surface would have no effect on the plot whatsoever.
* CriticalDissonance: Despite receiving mixed-to-negative reviews from critics and audiences alike, the film still got nominated for an Oscar for Best Animated Feature.

** Lenny is either a relatable character and good metaphor for gay people who is of the few things to like about the film and should have been the protagonist since the film is called ''Shark Tale'', or just as much of an idiot as the rest of the cast with an annoying shrill voice and the gay references being [[{{Anvilicious}} laid too thick and preachy to leave any sort of impact]].

** Lenny is either a relatable character and good metaphor for gay people, or just as much of an idiot as the rest of the cast, with the gay references being [[{{Anvilicious}} laid too thick and preachy to leave any sort of impact]]. Notable is that he was one of the few things professional critics and some audiences liked about the film. As time passed, the former is brought up more, to the point where quite a few say that he should have been the protagonist since the film is called ''Shark Tale''.