In its continuing struggle against the DreamWorks animated film Shark Tale, leaders of the Italic Institute of America took to the sidewalks of New York with a unique information campaign on May 2nd.

Their target was a special preview of clips from the multi-million dollar children's animation. The plot of the film revolves around an Italian American shark "mafia" that controls an undersea world. Voiceovers are performed by Martin Scorsese, Robert DeNiro and members of The Sopranos cast.

Having cleared the protest with local police, the Institute flew in three of its Chicago members decked out as Leonardo DaVinci and his Swiss bodyguard. DaVinci, played by Lionel Bottari, unveiled his latest full color painting, The Last Sucker, a satirical gathering of all the "goombahs" who have earned a living defaming Italian American culture. Included in the grouping were DeNiro, Scorsese and Steven Spielberg. Copies of the painting and a packet of press clipping documenting the Institute's 8-month campaign against the film were passed out to Tribeca pedestrians and movie-goers.

Although no outside media chose to cover this protest, nearly every family waiting in line to see the Shark Tale preview received a packet and cartoon. Because there were no trash bins on the way into the theater, hundreds of packets were carried into the theater by the audience. As there was a half hour delay in the start of the show the audience began reading the packets. The Last Sucker and the Shark Tale packet could be seen everywhere in the audience as people whiled away the minutes waiting for show time. The head of Tribeca security, Lou Palumbo, was so disturbed by the proliferation of cartoons that he ordered the Institute's chairman, John Mancini, who was in the audience, to stop distributing the troublesome hand-outs. When he was told that distribution took place outside the theater he was nonplussed. It seems that DeNiro and other cast members were in the theater at the time and, no doubt, saw the sea of cartoons around them.

Observed Institute President, Rosario Iaconis, who was also in the audience, "Although Shark Tale will not be released until October 1st, the preview shown to the audience that day was a searing indictment of the DreamWorks agenda. The characters were unmistakably Italian American. Names like Lino, Luca, Frankie and Lenny all came with the usual cultural baggage. The speech patterns, the vocabulary (fuggetaboutit, capeesch, agita, badda bing) stereotyped all the "bad guys" as "Italians". The actors and director manipulated the children in the audience to participate in the movie production."

Institute Vice President, Bill Dal Cerro, who flew in from Chicago to participate in the protest added, "The significance of Shark Tale is that it will be the first children's animation to carry America's obsession with Italian criminals to a new generation. When completed in October with promotional toys and video games and after release on DVD, Shark Tale will represent the most comprehensive ethnic defamation ever aimed at American children. In this day and age of political correctness, it is an appalling escalation of anti-Italic bias."

For more information on Shark Tale visit the Institute's website at italic.org.

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