I thought I'd like this film. And it does sport quality: the colors, the expressive animation, the funny faces, cute sea puns, and the quick pace (well sort of).

Unfortunately, after the first five minutes all that juicy stuff kind of fades from the forefront leaving Will Smith to carry this formulaic piece. Smith has done some good work in the past, but here, his vocal contributions wane. While I occasionally was annoyed with Ellen and Albert during "Nemo" (and I like both of them usually), here Smith's voice and/or scripting tend to chafe more often than not. And with Smith's character (Oscar -- who is not an oscar btw) dominating the production, other positives can't save.

Still, the other positives are well worth mentioning. Jack Black and the secondary story line: The Shark without killer instinct. This is more fun, a bit of a coming out of the closet allegory, with Bob De Niro as the father who just doesn't understand. The filmmakers take every opportunity for Mafioso poke-funnery. And, it's pretty cool that Ziggy Marley voices one of the reggae thugs.

Overall, "Shark Tale" is an ocean story without much depth.

From the production notes:
Oscar may despise working in mouths, but his own mouth rarely stops working. Producer Damaschke reveals that Smith's own energy and rapid wit were among the reasons the role was created with him in mind right from the start. "The story evolved over the years, but the one thing that never changed was that Oscar was always imaged with Will Smith playing him. The role was designed around him and everything that he could bring to the story," he states.