English 2 compare and contrast essay for eportfolio

1. SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE, BUILDING AND DESIGN
THE DESIGN SCHOOL
FOUNDATION IN NATURAL BUILD ENVIRONMENT
NAME: CHA YUN XIAN
STUDENT ID NO: 0322048
FILMS SELECTED: FINDING NEMO / SHARK TALE
WORD COUNT: 991
ENGLISH 2 (ELG 30605)
WRITTEN ASSIGNMENT 1: COMPARE – CONTRAST ESSAY
LECTURER: CASSANDRA WIJESURIA
SUBMISSIONDATE:1ST
OCTOBER 2015

2. Prewriting
Animated movies
cartoon
kids
not only kids watch animated films
Finding Nemo and Shark Tale
feature fish
settings are different
real underwater world with corals, sea anemones, etc,
underwater human world with cities, money, etc
characters are different
Nemo and Marlin
Oscar
Lenny, vegetarian
physical appearance
fish in Finding Nemo look more similar to the real counterparts, similar, recognizable
fish in Shark Tale are different from the original fish species, human proportioned, not real
personality, intrinsic
Finding Nemo - brave, adventurous, loving
Shark Tale - timid, irresponsible
storyline and plot are different
fish life
father and son relationship
Nemo get caught by diver
Marlin’s adventure in the deep sea
human life
Oscar run into debt, borrow money from girlfriend
mafia boss
murder case
moral values are different
Finding Nemo - listen to parents, gives children more freedom, let them be independence
Shark Tale - everyone is different, be yourself, accept the dissimilarity of others, honesty
conclusion
difference of both movie
Finding Nemo is more about fish
more real
Shark Tale is more about human life using portrayal of fish
non related to fish life
less real
opinion

3. Essay
Animated movies are films that were produced by photographing a series of gradually
changing drawings. When we think of animated films, what comes to our mind first is the
word “cartoon”, and this gives us the notion of animated films are directed just for kids. In
fact, animated films are also suitable for adults because most of the movies are also
considered as Children and Family-Oriented Films, for example the very popular Finding
Nemo produced by Pixar Animation Studios in 2003 and the less popular Shark Tale
produced by DreamWorks Animation Studios in 2004. Both of these films have demonstrated
a strong impression that they are the same because they both featured fish. However,despite
the portrayal of fish, they are very different in their settings, characters, storylines, and moral
values.
The production company of Finding Nemo, Pixar and the production company of Shark
Tale, DreamWorks has both created underwater world settings for the fish to fit in the movies.
Though both films are set underwater,the environment and theme of the settings are
completely different. Finding Nemo stays closer to a normal fish's world, which is colourful,
exquisite and breathtaking with clownfish making their homes in sea anemones, seagulls and
pelicans constantly attacking from the skies, and fish going underwater to catch their breath
like a real fish in the real world. In contrast, Shark Tale is presented with more of an
underwater human world, which is more unreal and illogical compare to Finding Nemo.
There are cities in water,with tall buildings, hoarding boards, employers, money, social
circles, and an Italian mafia represented by sharks.
The main characters of both films, Finding Nemo and Shark Tale are fish. However,
neither the extrinsic nor intrinsic characteristics of the fish are same. First of all, there are two
main characters in Finding Nemo, which are Nemo and Marlin. Both of them are bright
orange clown fish with distinctive white bars on the body, showing a sense of nature and
joviality. They have larger heads as well as more human, expressive faces compare to their

4. real counterparts but keep recognizable. Nemo is a very energetic and friendly young
clownfish. He is brave and adventurous and always frustrated due to his father,Marlin’s
overprotectiveness. Marlin is a neurotic and paranoid clownfish. He is very pessimistic and is
always worrying about Nemo’s safety. The movie also included severalinteresting supporting
characters like Chum, the mako shark, and Bruce,the great white shark . On the other hand,
Shark Tale’s fish are a very different style. The main character of this film is Oscar, a blue
streaked cleaner wrasse who is much more anthropomorphic in shape and behavior with faces
and bodies that are all very human-proportioned. Oscar is a timid fish who would prefer to
run away from danger rather than fight it. He had no qualms about lying in order to make
himself appear more heroic and powerful than he actually was. This shows the contrast of the
main characters of these two films.
For the storyline, the plots of both films have taken us on roller-coaster rides. Finding
Nemo is the tale of Marlin, who has tragically lost his wife and all but one of his children in a
barracuda attack. One day, Nemo is captured by a diver and taken to a fish tank in a Sydney
dentist's office. Though Marlin is very skittish and fearful, he is determined to rescue his only
son. Hence, this film has packed with suspense,anxious, and apparent defeat. On the other
hand, the film Shark Tale starts off with the tale of Oscar, a small fish who desperately wants
to live the high life. Oscar happens to be in a lot of debt to a puffer fish named Sykes. When
Sykes sends his jellyfish henchmen after Oscar,they find him next to the body of a recently
killed shark, and Oscar falsely claims to have done the deed. Oscar digs himself deeper and
deeper into his troubles with his terrible habit of telling falsehoods. Apparently, both of the
films are very different in the plots as one tend to be a father-son relationship film and one
tend to be about attitude toward life.
Last but not least, these two films also have a lot of good things to say. Finding Nemo
teaches us many lessons in both children and parents aspect. For example, it teaches the
children to listen to their parents because parents know what is best for their children, defying
parents’ advice might lead to trouble. For parents, the moral is to understand that children

5. need a certain amount of independence whilst growing up so that they can learn from their
mistakes. Moreover, Finding Nemo also teaches us lessons like overcoming fear with faith,
and determination against all odds. Whereas, Shark Tale shows us the wisdom of being who
we are, instead what others want us to be. In this film, Lenny, a weakling shark and the son of
the mafia boss, Don Lino, loathes the thought of eating fish. Don therefore tries everything he
can to get him to be like all the other sharks and Lenny decided to run away. With the help of
Oscar, he pretends to be a vegetarian porpoise. Eventually, Don Lino finds him, but instead of
punishing his son, he learns to love him just the way he is. This film also shows us the mess
telling lies will eventually leads to.
In conclusion, Finding Nemo is an adventure film that tends to show the life of a fish
while Shark Tale basically shows the imagination of fish living the up and down of a human
life. Comparing both movie, Finding Nemo is more real as the settings and storylines of the
films, and physical characteristics of the main characters are more similar to fish in reallife.
Virtually, both of these films offer beautiful pictures and good morals, and can be happily
enjoy by all.

6. Reference
1. Kaltenbach, C. (2004, October 1). `Shark Tale' is no `Nemo' Retrieved October 1,
2015.
2. Finding Nemo vs. Shark Tale. (n.d.). Retrieved October 1, 2015.
3. Belair, J. (n.d.). Finding Nemo. Retrieved October 1, 2015.