After Pixar struck gold with fishy tale Finding Nemo, DreamWorks dipped their toe into the animation pool with Shark Tale, an underwater riff on the old-fashioned gangster picture. Sadly this big budget tooner, featuring the voices of Will Smith and Robert De Niro, "struggles to keep afloat". While it did respectable business at the box office, it was just a drop in the ocean compared to DreamWorks' last CG outing Shrek 2.

An Underwater Underworld

A Fishified World goes behind-the-scenes with the design team to briefly explain the process of creating an underwater world that resembles our own. That includes modifying recognisable brands like Coca Cola and giving them a fishy twist, hence Coral Cola. Recognisable voices are also key to the success of the film and in Star Fish you get to hear from all the major players including Will Smith, Angelina Jolie, Martin Scorsese and Robert De Niro whose take on the film is hilariously simple: "Yeah, it's fishy. Whatever."

Go deeper into the sub-aqua in A Tour You Can't Reef-Use, an interactive feature that allows you to explore all of the key sets in the film. From The Whale Wash to Sykes' office, the attention to detail is quite impressive. You can actually pick out objects for a closer look eg a whale-shaped stapler on Sykes' desk. Of course things occasionally go wrong during the course of production as seen in Rough Waters. Kids, however, will perhaps be a little freaked out by the sight of fish without eyes and fins that move independently of their bodies.

Club Oscar is a lively, animated sequence featuring all your favourite characters having a bit of a boogie on the dance floor. Among them, Will Smith (as Oscar) is "getting fishy with it" and Robert De Niro (as Don Lino) does The Hustle. If you'd like to know how to bust those moves, choreographer Nadine Colquhon provides a master class in Get Your Groove On. There's also a cursory look at the making of the funky soundtrack with soundbites from popsters Justin Timberlake, Missy Elliot and Christina Aguilera among others.

Swimmin' Wi' Da Fishies

Perhaps the best feature on this disc is Gigi The Whale, a tongue-in-cheek audition tape for the CG whale who plays Luca (voiced by Vincent Pastore). He slurps from a mug of coffee and chinwags about the "ole neighbourhood" between line readings and he's pretty confident about getting the part because he's got "connections", capiche?

Grown-ups may be interested in the directors' commentary, which is pretty comprehensive in terms of production and development. For instance, you may be surprised to hear that the script originally centred on Jack Black's character (Lenny) as a killer whale who lacks the killer instinct. (Frankly, that sounds a lot better than the movie they ended up with!)

A kid's activities section fills out this fun and frivolous selection of extras. However, given the bloated bonus packages usually allotted to these high-end animation flicks, it's a shame Shark Tale doesn't offer a bit more to sink your teeth into.

EXTRA FEATURES

Shark Tale DVD is out to buy on Friday 11th February 2005.