Finding Nemo

Finding Nemo (2004)

Directed by Andrew Stanton

Written by Andrew Stanton, Bob Peterson, and David Reynolds

THE ANIMATION

The men and women at Pixar managed to completely outdo themselves on this one. Suffice to say that this movie is absolutely breathtaking. I can only imagine how amazed audiences must have been when this film first came out—CG animation had never been seen before on this scale, and even to this day the visuals presented are amazing. The details of the sea life, the colors of all the flora and fauna of the sea—it’s all a sight to behold. All of the different fish are so expressive despite the small “canvas” the animators had to work with, and even though they still clearly had work to do, Pixar managed to integrate humans into the story without them being too distracting.

THE HEROES

Director Andrew Stanton originally wanted Merlin’s back story (the death of his wife and other children) to be slowly exposited throughout the events of the film via flashbacks. This was cut because Stanton was consistently told how unlikeable the character came off without the reasons for his attitude being known to the audience from the get-go; I agree with the decision. Not because I think I would have disliked Merlin—he’s a bit off-putting, but not terribly so—but because sympathizing with him simply made for a more engaging experience as opposed to just being tickled by his eccentricities. He really does shine through as a character you can get behind.

Dory is another character who ran the risk of coming across badly. Her character trait of short-term memory loss could have become obnoxious in the hands of lesser storytellers—and fast. But she manages to stay charming all the way through—a loveable, memorable character in her own right (now does she deserve her own film? Eh… time will tell).

I don’t have much to say about him, but I’ll count Nemo here as well. He’s a cute kid (and his VA helps with this), and his conflict with his father was really believable. It breaks your heart when he tells his dad “I hate you” and it makes you smile from ear to ear when you see the look on his face as he’s regaled with the story of his father’s quest to save him.

THE SIDE CHARACTERS

Here’s where the cast gets really memorable, though. Everyone has heard every single side character in this film quoted at least one-hundred times. Whether it’s Crush’s “Righteous! Righteous!”, the fish-tank gang’s “Sharkbait hoo-ha-ha!”, the “Mine! Mine! Mine!” of the gulls, or the sharks’ declaration of “Fish are friends; not food”—every single character here, no matter how important or expendable—is ingrained in the minds of those who watch this film.

THE VILLAINS

This film doesn’t have a traditional villain as in a card-carrying mastermind who opposes the characters. The antagonist is just the mentality of not being able to let go and trust your loved ones. The film is sure to hammer this lesson into you enough that you’ll never forget, but it always does so well, and you’ve gotta give Pixar credit for handling a theme that actually may be more relevant to adult viewers than kids.

THE MUSIC

This was the first Pixar film not to be scored by Randy Newman, and thank the Lord for that. I love his work on the Toy Story films, and I adore the theme to A Bug’s Life, but his music all really starts to sound the same. Seriously, put on a Randy Newman score and you probably won’t be able to tell which movie it’s for.

Thomas Newman took a whirl this time around, and he did a splendid job. The music standouts for me were probably “Nemo Egg” and “Lost”. Boy do those two really set the tone in the scenes they’re used. The rest of the score really works for the film as well, but no other pieces come to my immediate recollection.

THE PLOT

Marlin is clownfish who lives his life in constant caution of the world around him due to an incident where his wife and most of his children were slain by a predator—all he has left is his son, Nemo. Consequently, Marlin is overbearingly protective of Nemo, a fact which causes his son to build resentment for him. When their emotions reach a boiling point, Nemo acts out, consequently finding himself captured and stuck in a dentist’s aquarium. Teaming up with a memory-challenged fish, Dory, Merlin makes his way across the sea to save his son, running into many friends and foes that challenge the way he views the world.

I’ve already said before that I think this film deserves major props for handling subject matter that relates more to older audiences than kids (it’s Pixar of course), but this film presents the story with a level of maturity that Pixar had barely delved into before—and it works to the movie’s benefit. The adventure is really palpable here, and though the growth of the characters isn’t the subtlest thing in the world, man is it effective.

Also, anyone wanna talk about the irony of Eisner saying this film was gonna tank when Disney delivered that weak mess of a film Home on the Range the very same year? 

Total Score: 27.5/30 = 92% = A