Finding Nemo

Film Data:

Finding Nemo is an animation/adventure/comedy from 2003 by Walt Disney Pictures, written by Andrew Stanton and directed by himself and Lee Unkrich. The film was produced by Pixar Animation Studios, after the success of movies like Toy Story and Monsters Inc. It was released in the USA on May 30th, 2003. Finding Nemo had an estimated budget of $94 million, but it grossed over $380 million only in the USA. The characters' voices come from top of the line actors such as Albert Brooks as Marlin, Ellen DeGeneres as Dory, Alexander Gould as Nemo, and Willem Dafoe as Gil. Finding Nemo won several awards including an Oscar in 2004 for Best Animated Feature. Since 2003, the film has had several editions, from theatrical to DVD, Bluray and most recently, 3D.

Synopsis:

     Excited to be first-time parents, two ocellaris clownfish, Marlin and his wife Coral are admiring the view from their new home within a sea anemone, while their eggs are due to hatch in a few days. They are discussing names and Coral expresses her preference for Nemo. Suddenly, an Australian barracuda attacks them, eating Coral and the eggs and leaving Marlin unconscious. But there is only one egg that survives, with a scratch on the right side, and Marlin names him Nemo, because it was the name Coral had chosen.
     Due to the damage caused to the egg by the barracuda attack, Nemo grows with a tiny right fin, which limits his swimming capability. Marlin overprotects Nemo and embarrasses him on his first day of school in front of the teacher Mr. Ray and his fish friends, because he is afraid that Nemo will not be able to make it on his own.

Mr. Ray, Nemo and friends on the first day of school

     Nemo disobeys Marlin and sneaks from the class in direction to a boat. Unfortunately, he is captured by scuba divers and placed in a small bag full of water. As the boat sails away, one of the divers accidentally drops his mask. Marlin swims after the divers but he is disoriented by the flash of a camera one of the divers uses to take a picture of him, preventing Marlin from reaching Nemo.
     Marlin goes back to the sea floor, begging schools of fish for help until he meets the good-hearted regal blue tang Dory, who claims to have seen the boat and leads Marlin in that direction, but she suffers from short-term memory loss and becomes lax, even trying to evade Marlin as she sees him swimming behind her. When Marlin learns of her memory loss, he feels dumbfounded and turns to leave. However, a great white shark named Bruce stops him. They meet Bruce and his fellow shark friends who are on a fish-free diet, and he invites Dory and Marlin to a get together on his place. Then Marlin spots the diver's mask that was stuck on a shard of metal and sees that the strap has something written that may lead to Nemo. Dory picks up the mask to see if the sharks can read the information, but Marlin tries to take it back. The two of them engage in a tug-of-war and Marlin accidentally causes Dory to nosebleed, awakening Bruce's carnivore instincts, and despite the other two sharks' intervention to try to stop Bruce, he chases Dory and Marlin all over the place, taking hold of the mask with his mouse. Dory reveals then that she can read human, and the two of them escape from Bruce and from an anglerfish.
     After a hazardous struggle with those huge sea creatures, Dory is able to read the address on the mask. The address is from Sydney, Australia. Dory manages to remember it, and they engage in an adventurous trip to Sydney, even encountering a bloom of jellyfish that almost kills them. After escaping from the jelly fish, they encounter a sea turtle named Crush, who takes them on the East Australian Current. Marlin shares the details of the story to a group of young sea turtles and through word of mouth, the news spread rapidly and reaches Nemo, who by this time has been placed in a fish tank on P. Sherman's dentistry office, and he meets a group of original inhabitants inside the fish tank. They become frightened to know that the dentist plans to give Nemo to his niece Darla, whom they name "the fish killer", as she once killed a fish by constantly shaking the bag where it was. Trying to avoid Nemo's fate, Gill, the oldest fish on the tank, devices an escape plan that includes jamming the tank's filter so that the tanks needs a thorough cleaning. This would lead the dentist to put each fish in plastic bags and they can roll out into the harbor, but this plan fails when the dentist installs a new filter on the tank.

The Tank Gang

   Meanwhile, Marlin and Dory have left the East Australian Current and have been engulfed by a blue whale. Marlin desperately tries to escape from the whale's immense mouth, and Dory reveals that she can speak "whalish". The whale understands the issue and takes them to Port Jackson. Then they meet the pelican Nigel on the surface, who recognizes Marlin from the stories he has heard.
   Gill and the Tank Gang put their plan into practice. Nemo plays dead in order to escape from Darla, but Marlin (who is taken to the office by Nigel), sees him and think his son is really dead. Amidst a chaos, Gill manages to push Nemo into the sink. Gill knows all drains lead into the ocean, so Nemo will be safe.
   Nigel takes Marlin and Dory back to the harbor, offering his condolences. Marlin feels very sad and leaves Dory and begins to swim back home. Dory loses her memory again and gets confused, and then meets Nemo, who has made it to the ocean through the water pipes. At first she does not recognize him, but recovers her memory when she reads the word "Sydney" on a nearby drainpipe. Then Dory remembers her journey and takes Nemo to his father. After they reunite happily, Dory is caught by a fishing net and Nemo saves her. The three of them swim back home. Finally, Nemo goes to school again, but he is more mature now, and Marlin feels confident about his son.

Comment:

    Nobody could imagine that after movies like Toy Story and Monsters Inc. and their success, Pixar Animation Studios could create such a wonderful film as Finding Nemo. In fact, Finding Nemo is all about animation, more exactly, about computer animation that seems to rule the industry nowadays, particularly when it comes to movies created for children and their parents. Computer animation makes  the characters more attractive and all the scenery looks real. If you compare  Finding Nemo to another Walt Disney Pictures hit that takes place in the sea, The Little Mermaid, from 1989, the difference in quality image is huge. The sea and its  movement in Finding Nemo looks more natural, just like all the sea creatures. The underwater environment in the movie is graceful and beautiful. The creators of those animations pushed the saturation of colors and added more geometry to the characters and the sea. They have excelled themselves to capture textures and light  to make it more believable for children.

     Finding Nemo is the third top grossing animates films of all time, right after Toy Story 3 and The Lion King. Not surprisingly, The Lion King is a story about a boy and his father, and how the boy grows up immersed in hazardous situations. The Lion King is more dramatic that Finding Nemo, but both films manage to develop the plot wisely and with humorous moments to compensate for the sad ones, like when Nemo's mom gets eaten by the barracuda or when Nemo gets lost.
      I must confess that the most appealing character to me is Dory. The richness and intelligence of the texts she produces along with her movements and Ellen DeGeneres voice, make this film a must-watch. Dory is the character that represents the value of true friendship in Finding Nemo, and maybe that is why she is also adults' favorite. At the end of the film, she discovers that her memory is better when she is next to Marlin. His company makes her feel great. I guess the director did not want to portray them as lovers since it would be very complicated for children to understand a love relationship between different species of fish, or preferably because Nemo's mom died and Marlin was not supposed to get a new lover so soon. That way, the director/writer played it safe for the sake of the family. Among Dory's funniest moments, I can highlight her vis-à-vis with the whale speaking "whalish". This scene is meant to show that communication is the key to success, no matter how harsh the circumstances.
    Nemo is the classic misbehaving kid who wants to do the things his way and learns the lesson. The moral of the film for children is: pay attention to what your parents say, because if you do not, you will get into trouble. However, the film also has a moral for overprotective parents who think that children are their absolute property. It was precisely Marlin's overprotection who led Nemo to misbehavior and bad experiences, as it usually happens in everyday real human life. Looking at the plot of the film from a more positive side, we can see a beautiful story about confidence and self-confidence, about courage and perseverance, about parents and children, and about comradeship needed to succeed in life. This is particularly achieved by the concept of the "Tank Gang" and how they work together to free Nemo.
   Compared to The Little Mermaid, I must admit that Finding Nemo lacks that catchy soundtrack which makes the movie even more appealing to children, who always try to learn the songs. It does not mean that the score is not great, but not as great as previous Pixar Studios soundtracks by Randy Newman or the soundtrack from The Little Mermaid, that made such film be considered as the one that brought the Broadway Musical to the children's world. Nevertheless, the soundtrack from Finding Nemo was nominated to the Academy Award for Original Music Score, and paved the way to create the Finding Nemo musical.
    Generally speaking, Finding Nemo is an enjoyable film in every sense. No wonder why Rotten Tomatoes has given it an amazing 99%. Despite its short underwater terrifying moments, children and parents will be comfortable in watching it. I have watched it myself 8 times and I do not get bored. One of the most interesting results from the film is that funny oblivion of adulthood when you go to an aquarium and you see a clownfish and cannot help exclaiming: "Look at Nemo!".