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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Essential, & Excellent., March 3, 2005
This book is truly essential and excellent! Like other DK Essential Guides, it is not only a wonderful supplement to seeing the movie, but it actually shows you more facts and images that you will not see in the film. That is even more true of this book than the Essential Guide for Finding Nemo, which was also highly impressive. I personally love this series because, though the books seem to be geared at children, in actuality they contain extremely large and detailed pictures of the characters and settings--allowing you to drink in details you would have never noticed while watching the movie, and giving you time to look at every aspect of the characters, down to their eye colors. I can't really begin to list the wealth of trivia tidbits included in the book, but then, it's fun to read and find out yourself! I'll just mention some highlights and things that most need comments.
Some great things need to be said about this book! (And spoilers, so stop now if you want surprises.) First off, it is educational--the characters are not described only in terms of the story itself, but in terms of real sea life, and they are portrayed as the animals they really are (although personified to a degree.) For instance, it might never strike you that Oscar is anything other than a generic, colorful marine fish, but he in fact belongs to a family known as the Wrasse fishes--which is genius, because in real life other animals do COME to wrasses for mouth cleaning at their "cleaning stations," aka Sykes' Whale Wash! Angie, on the other hand, is a marine angelfish--good for people to note who are only familiar with freshwater angelfish, and repeatedly make the error of calling Gill from Finding Nemo an angelfish. (He is a Moorish Idol.) Angie may not really look like any real fish, but that's only 'cause they're all anthropomorphosized to varying degrees. This book is quite good for the Angie fans out there, as it glorifies her.
I love Sykes's profile in particular. Did you know that he is very close to his mother, and that she calls him every day? I hadn't known that distinct fact, but now that I do, it makes sense, and he definitely had seemed like that type of guy to me. Also, his page includes the caption "Females beware! Spikes are a pain when cuddling up to Sykes." That made me laugh because I thought, "He's so cute, I'll take my chances!" One mistake that's made is calling Sykes a Pufferfish. That name alone would indicate that he doesn't have spines/spikes, which he does. Therefore he is a Porcupinefish (or Porcupine puffer, blowfish, balloonfish, etc.)
A detailed map of the Whale Wash is also featured, as well as one of the Times Square corner of Reef City--with, among other things, a sign for a Seahorse Show that is likened to a dog show (events include obedience and agility!) Other interesting facts include: Lino's desire to visit New England when he retires, insight into Lino's partnership with Sykes, and information about the Five Families present at the sit-down: Hammerheads, Swordfish, Leopard Sharks, Killer whales, and Great Whites. Don Feinberg is a Leopard Shark! (Though he is not pictured.) There's also a nice view of the restaurant in the sunken ocean liner with its paintings on the wall.
Here's some interesting dish on Lola: Rumor has it she used to be a showgirl. (Not surprising, right?) Well, she is a Lionfish--and have you noticed the poisonous spines on her "fin-hair"? She is truly a 'femme fatale'! Which is interesting in itself, because the truth is that in the original early concept of the film, they were going to have Lola be a murderess! (But you'll just have to watch the DVD Directors' Commentary for that; check out the scene in which Oscar pretends to kill Lenny. I'm quite glad they didn't have her kill who she might have killed.) Course, she was also originally going to be Sykes' girlfriend, which would've been awesome. Now wait! There's more. The seahorse race track is also seen, with named horses like Salmonella, Fish Fingers, and Candy Cane (my personal favorite--go Candy Cane!) And dare I mention the brilliant page of Oscar merchandise, and the parody of Grand Theft Auto that is a video game box that reads Grand Wrasse Oscar? Certain characters are depicted on the box in that `Grand Theft Auto' manner. It's genius.
One more point of brilliance to note before I move on to some of my nitpicks (you can tell I love this movie, right?) This book, in all its infinite usefulness, actually fills you in on some of what happens after the movie! (Which ended all too soon, in my opinion.) The 3 main points are: Luca retired from the mob, and opened a successful piano bar (yay!-I'd like to be one of his patrons.) Lola (upon seeing that Oscar wouldn't take her back) moved in with Don Feinberg and made him very happy, until his money, or heart, gave out--whichever happened first! And Crazy Joe went into real estate, selling--what else?!--sea shells on the sea shore!
The book contains remarkably few errors (considering these 'movie guides' are usually flooded with them.) My nitpicks are mostly little things that are probably nothing more than hasty mistakes, or attempts to be clever that didn't quite make sense. My first is this: There are no pictures of pimped-out Sykes. (Oh well! Can't have everything.) Ernie and Bernie, the jellyfish twins, were reversed in their labeling; not a big deal, but let's get it straight! Ernie is the one with the thinner face. In the image of the interior of Oscar's apartment, the "modern art on the walls" caption actually points to the elevator...but there is mordern art right beside it, so we get the point. Frankie was also misquoted, as his final word was just "moron" and the book records it as "you are such a moron." Too, many of the quotes used in the profiles were never spoken in the film (but make sense with their characters.) For instance, Angie's "Dreams can begin small, you just have to start with a clean slate." Sykes's "There's no such thing as a sure thing." Lenny's "I can't help it, it's just the way I am." Frankie's "No brother of mine could be this pathetic," and others. These are mostly just thoughts or things that could be attributed to the characters. Or, they were planned for the movie and done away with. And the last thing: They implied that Luca has no sense of smell because he lacks a nose. Yet he still does have one, as shown in the scene with Don Feinberg...you know what I'm talking about!
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Pet Piranhas and Pufferfish, January 23, 2005
The DK Shark Tale Essential Guide and the Ultimate Sticker book will interest young Shark Tale fans. All the main characters have their own pages, quotes and full-color pictures. Special features include the Whale Wash, Race Day and Reef City. Children will learn interesting facts about Seahorses and Great White hobbies. There are bits of humor like a picture of a fire hydrant and the caption: "Rarely used underwater." Other cute observations make this book a fun read. The picture of Lola takes up two pages and is one of the most beautiful pages in the book.
~The Rebecca Review
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by Glenn Dakin
