So far, the Pixar Animation Studios, along with the Walt Disney company, has made several films: the two Toy Story films, A Bug's Life and Monsters, Inc. With this track record, is it any surprise that the studio's newest release, Finding Nemo, happens to be not just a great family movie, but could be Pixar's proudest achievement?
This new movie opens with a prologue filled with as much terror as that infamous scene in the old Disney cartoon Bambi. The clownfish Marlin and his wife Coral are watching their 400 eggs when a barracuda comes and devours them all, except for Marlin and one egg. Marlin names this egg Nemo and promises the little fish that he'll always be safe. Years pass and we see that the father's completely overprotective nature towards Nemo has warped the little fish so much he tells Marlin point-blank, "I hate you."
However, there's little time for an argument. Marlin watches in horror as Nemo, deliberately defying his dad and impressing his friends at fish school, is snatched up by a diving expedition. Marlin decides, despite how dangerous the ocean can be, to try to save Nemo. He gets help from a blue tang named Dory, who has short-term memory loss.
Marlin's search for Nemo is intercut with Nemo's new home: an aquarium in a dentist's office. Nemo quickly bonds with his fellow prisoners, led by Gill, an older fish who's tried to escape multiple times but always fails. Gill decides to hatch one more escape plan, this time to save Nemo from becoming the new pet of the dentist's psychotic niece.
With these two stories comes lots of action sequences, which are as nail-biting as anything you'll find in The Matrix: Reloaded. From Marlin and Dory trying to outrun a slew of deadly pink jellyfish, Nemo's journey through the filter of the aquarium, getting out of the mouth of a whale, and trying to survive an AA-style meeting for Australian sharks trying to change their image, this movie packs one hell of a wallop, physically and emotionally.
You'd be surprised that Finding Nemo evokes more thought and emotion than most Hollywood releases, merely because this is an animated movie. However, this film is able to deliver its moral and message without any sappy sentiment or cloying scenes. Over their journeys, Marlin learns how to be a better father and Nemo learns to appreciate his father's actions. Thus, this is not a comedy, per se: it's more of a drama with some funny moments.
Every story can only do so much; the actors must lift their weight, and here they do so quite well. Albert Brooks, undoubtedly the most neurotic man in America, plays Marlin as he would a human character; he also makes the audience feel for Marlin, despite being just a fish. Ellen DeGeneres, who is rarely entertaining in human form except on her sitcom, does a great job as the loopy and forgetful Dory. She gets a speech near the film's end which is quite heartbreaking. DeGeneres pours as much emotion as she can into this final scene.
Also of note are Willem Dafoe as Gill, the fish bent on escaping; Barry Humphries (also known as Dame Edna Everage) as Bruce, a shark who's trying to remember his mantra: "Fish are friends, not food"; Alexander Gould as the defiant little clownfish, Nemo; and Geoffrey Rush as Nigel, a helpful pelican who's also quite interested in the field of dentistry.
Finding Nemo was directed and co-written by Andrew Stanton (he also provides the voice of Crush, a sea turtle with the spirit of a Malibu surfer). Stanton has proven that he's just as able a director as executive producer John Lasseter was with the original Toy Story. Thomas Newman, one of the best composers Hollywood employs nowadays, has scored once again with a rousing score.
Finding Nemo is the only animated release Disney has this year. It comes on the heels of such big-budget films such as The Matrix: Reloaded and Bruce Almighty. There is something here that can't be found in those films: a sense of wonder. Perhaps it's the brilliant animation Pixar delivers; maybe it's the creative mind of this movie. Here we have a film that will be remembered for years. Watch Finding Nemo, and you will understand why movies are still made. The sense of wonder that has been lost from most movies these days can be found in Finding Nemo, one of the best films of this year and Pixar's best animated film.
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Josh Spiegel is an entertainment reporter for the Web Devil. Reach him at joshua.spiegel@asu.edu.
