Finding Nemo (2003)

After his son is captured in the Great Barrier Reef and taken to Sydney, a timid clownfish sets out on a journey to bring him home.

Directors:

Andrew Stanton, Lee Unkrich

Writers:

Andrew Stanton (original story), Andrew Stanton (screenplay),

Stars:

Albert Brooks, Ellen DeGeneres, Alexander Gould

Top 250 #164 | Won 1 Oscar. Another 36 wins & 36 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Albert Brooks	...	Marlin (voice)
Ellen DeGeneres	...	Dory (voice)
Alexander Gould	...	Nemo (voice)
Willem Dafoe	...	Gill (voice)
Brad Garrett	...	Bloat (voice)
Allison Janney	...	Peach (voice)
Austin Pendleton	...	Gurgle (voice)
Stephen Root	...	Bubbles (voice)
Vicki Lewis	...	Deb / Flo (voice)
Joe Ranft	...	Jacques (voice)
Geoffrey Rush	...	Nigel (voice)
Andrew Stanton	...	Crush (voice)
Elizabeth Perkins	...	Coral (voice)
Nicholas Bird	...	Squirt (voice)
Bob Peterson	...	Mr. Ray (voice)

Storyline

A clown fish named Marlin lives in the Great Barrier Reef loses his son, Nemo. After he ventures into the open sea, despite his father's constant warnings about many of the ocean's dangers. Nemo is abducted by a boat and netted up and sent to a dentist's office in Sydney. So, while Marlin ventures off to try to retrieve Nemo, Marlin meets a fish named Dory, a blue tang suffering from short-term memory loss. The companions travel a great distance, encountering various dangerous sea creatures such as sharks, anglerfish and jellyfish, in order to rescue Nemo from the dentist's office, which is situated by Sydney Harbor. While the two are doing this, Nemo and the other sea animals in the dentist's fish tank plot a way to return to Sydney Harbor to live their lives free again.

---

Plot Keywords:

fish | dentist | great barrier reef | fish tank | short term memory loss | 

---

Taglines:

You've never seen fish prepared like this.

---

Genres:

Animation | Adventure | Comedy | Family

---

Certificate:

G

Details

Official Sites:

Disney [au] Official Facebook

Country:

Australia USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

30 May 2003 (USA)

Also Known As:

Finding Nemo 3D

Box Office

Budget:

$94,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$2,762,397 (Japan) (5 December 2003)

Gross:

$380,838,870 (USA) (11 January 2013)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Walt Disney Pictures, Pixar Animation Studios, Disney Enterprises

Technical Specs

Runtime:

100 min

Sound Mix:

DTS-ES Dolby Digital EX SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

According to the DVD, there are some references to Massachusetts in the film as one of the creators is from Rockport, Massachussetts. While various sea creatures are relating Marlin's quest across the ocean, one step is a group of lobsters that speak with Boston accents and slang ("wicked daahhk").

---

Goofs

When Dory and Marlin are hanging onto the whale's tongue, they look down the throat and see the whale's uvula. No animals have uvulas. Only humans can claim to have them.

---

Quotes

[first lines]
Marlin: Wow.
Coral: Mmm.
Marlin: Wow.
Coral: Mm-hmm.
Marlin: Wow.
Coral: Yes, Marlin. I... No, I see it. It's beautiful.
Marlin: So, Coral, when you said you wanted an ocean view, you didn't think you were going to get the whole ocean, did you? Huh?
[deep breath]
Marlin: Oh, yeah. A fish can breathe out here. Did your man deliver, or did he deliver?
[...]

---

Crazy Credits

Through the closing credits, various characters interact briefly with the credits. At the end, the frightened little fish from the shark therapy group makes a final appearance in front of the angler fish.

---

Connections

References Knick Knack (1989)

---

Soundtracks

"The Girl from Ipanema"
(1962)
Music by Antonio Carlos Jobim
Lyrics by Vinicius de Moraes
English lyrics by Norman Gimbel

User Reviews

quite a catch

Pixar Studios have done it again. I have to say that these guys are totally good in computer animation, as well as in storytelling. Rarely do those qualities come together but here they are, delivering unto the audience once again something that one can only be drowned with wonder. Such is the marvel of Finding Nemo.

The story is about Nemo (voiced by Alexander Gould), a young clownfish who is fed up with his dad Marlin's (Albert Brooks) excessive paranoia over him. He swims to a place where his dad forbids him and ends up being captured by a scuba diver. He is then placed in a fish tank in a dental clinic somewhere along the harbors of Sydney. Thus the quest of Marlin, along with Dory (a hilarious forgetful blue tang voiced by Ellen DeGeneres) to find Nemo before it's too late.

The story is a simple one but where the film more than makes up is on the overwhelming sense of detail and rich, lavish colors and textures as if we aren't really watching an animated film at all. Scenes such as Marlin bringing Nemo to school while swimming through corals and anemones, to the aquarium where Nemo was taken to, are nothing short of breathtaking, and undoubtedbly one of the most outstanding animation ever to hit the screen.

The world of "Finding Nemo" is simply alive with lovable creatures swimming about their daily lives under the ocean, darting across the screen in playful manners. The viewer almost literally dives into another world for nearly two hours and one cannot help but be completely captivated.

The music and screenplay also blend very well with the visual feast that it produces such a high quality movie. From its basic storyline, to the father-and-son relationship theme, to the wonderful underwater world throughout, this is really an adventure through an ocean of stunning visuals and storytelling.

Grade: A