I have liked animated movies ever since I was a child. I have been looking forward to seeing Finding Nemo for months, ever since I first saw a preview of the movie. I wasn’t able to see it as soon as I wanted to because of things going on around here, so I had to wait to find the time to go. I’m so glad I got to see this movie.
Marlin and Coral, clown fish, just moved to a new place. They were going to be parents in a matter of days. Marlin worried a lot about things going wrong. Coral was happy with their new home and looking forward to their eggs hatching. Then a barracuda arrived. Coral was worried about the eggs and she went to them. Marlin tried to fight off the barracuda, but he was knocked out. When he came to, he discovered that Coral and the eggs were gone. He found one egg that survived the attack. Marlin named the egg Nemo, a name Coral had mentioned liking before the attack.
Time passed and it was time for Nemo’s first day at school. He was excited to go, but Marlin was apprehensive about it and didn’t want his son to go. Marlin was a very over protective parent, partly because of what had happened to Coral and the eggs, and partly because Nemo had an underdeveloped fin. Nemo called it his lucky fin. Marlin was always telling Nemo that he couldn’t do things because of his fin. Marlin stayed very close to home most of the time, so the other parents were surprised to see him out and about when he took Nemo to school. Nemo was a bit embarrassed by how his father was acting. Marlin did let Nemo go off with the other students and Mr. Ray, the teacher. Then he heard from one of the other parents that they were going to the drop off and Marlin panicked. He believed that the open ocean was very dangerous, especially for Nemo. Marlin headed off after them.
The students were exploring around the drop off. Three students ignored the Mr. Ray’s instructions to stay close and wandered off alone. Nemo followed them. They went right to the very edge of the drop off, and were able to see a boat in the distance. The other three swam a little way out from the drop off. Nemo didn’t want to do it. Then Marlin arrived and was yelling at Nemo for being there. Marlin said how it was too dangerous for Nemo. Marlin said he was taking his son home and he could try school again in a few years. Nemo was very upset by what his father did. He was tired of being told how he couldn’t do things all the time. He decided to show his father that he could swim out in the open ocean and be all right. He swam up to the bottom of the boat and even touched it with one of his fins. Marlin was furious. Nemo was on his way back when divers appeared. One of them captured Nemo.
Marlin tried to rescue Nemo but he wasn’t able to. The boat immediately took off once the divers were on board. Marlin tried to follow it, but he couldn’t keep up with the boat. He met a blue fish named Dory who said she had just seen a boat and she offered to show him where it went. Shortly after that, Marlin learned that Dory had a short term memory problem. She was forgetting things almost as soon as she learned them. Marlin was determined to find Nemo and rescue him. Dory went along and was able to help some. They discovered a mask that fell off the boat with the divers. There was an address on the mask, and Dory was able to read it. Her memory seemed to be better at times. During their journey, Marlin and Dory had to deal with sharks, dark areas of the ocean, a strange looking large fish that wanted to eat them, jellyfish, and a whale. They also received some help from some turtles during their journey. Marlin had a talk with Crush, one of the turtles, about raising children.
Nemo was captured by a dentist. He had an aquarium in his office. Nemo was very scared when he found himself in the aquarium. There were several other fish in there as well. Peach was a star fish that was stuck on the side of the tank. Bloat was a puffer fish. Deb thought her reflection in the side of the tank was her sister Flo. Jacques was some sort of crab that cleaned a lot. There were other fish in the tank as well. Everyone tried to make Nemo feel welcome. The fish enjoyed watching the dentist work on patients and had discussions about the instruments being used. They were friends with a sea gull, Nigel, who flew up to the window. Nigel also talked about the dental procedures going on. Something happened to Nemo and Gill showed up then, telling Nemo that he could do something by himself. Gill had an injured fin. Nemo was able to do it. Gill was also from the ocean and he dreamed of escaping the tank and returning to the ocean.
The fish overheard the dentist talking about his plans to give Nemo to his niece Darla. That terrified the other fish. They knew her as a fish killer. The year before, her uncle gave her a fish and she wouldn’t stop shaking the bag until it was dead. The fish, lead by Gill, started planning a way to escape. They didn’t want Darla getting Nemo.
VOICE TALENT
Albert Brooks - Marlin Ellen DeGeneris - Dory Alexander Gould - Nemo Willem Dafoe - Gill Brad Garrett - Bloat Alison Janney - Peach Austin Pendleton - Gurgle Stephen Root - Bubbles Vicki Lewis - Deb/Flo Joe Ranft - Jacques Geoffrey Rush - Nigel Andrew Stanton - Crush Elizabeth Perkins - Coral Bob Peterson - Mr. Ray Barry Humphries - Bruce Eric Bana - Anchor Bruce Spence - Chum Bill Hunter - Dentist LuLu Ebeling - Darla Jordan Ranft - Tad Erica Beck - Pearl Erik Per Sullivan - Sheldon John Ratzenberger - Fish school
Directed by Andrew Stanton and Lee Unkrich Screenplay by Andrew Stanton
Finding Nemo was released in theaters in May of 2003 by Disney. The movie was made by Pixar and was created with computer animation. It was 100 minutes long and rated G. There were a few scenes that might be a bit too intense or upsetting to really young children, but this is a good movie for the whole family to enjoy. When I saw there, there were several adults there with no children. Adults won’t be bored out of their minds with the movie.
I loved Finding Nemo. It was entertaining. The movie had my attention all the way through. I was never bored with. I never knew what would happen next. I did sit there wondering when the movie would be over. There was a lot going on in the movie, but it wasn’t confusing. Once Nemo was captured, the movie focused on Marlin’s attempt to find his son. Scenes of Nemo in the fish tank at the dentist’s office were also shown, but more time was spent with Marlin and Dory. The movie did jump back and forth between what was happening with Marlin and Nemo. Some people may not like how the movie jumped back and forth, but it didn’t bother me. I liked seeing what Marlin was doing and what Nemo was going through in the tank. I thought that the plot was interesting and somewhat unique. There have been other movies that have had a child kidnapped, but the story was told in a different way in Finding Nemo.
Finding Nemo was about Marlin’s search for his missing son Nemo. The movie illustrated a parent’s relationship with a child. Marlin raised his son by himself after the death of his wife. In many other Disney movies, the mother has been missing with no explanation about why she wasn’t there. Finding Nemo did explain what happened to Coral. There are a lot of single parents in the world, and some of them may be able to relate to how worried Marlin was that something would happen to Nemo. Marlin had to good intentions in wanting to keep Nemo safe, but Marlin went over board and became very over protective. Marlin had to struggle with issues most parents face when their children are growing up and becoming more independent. When is a child ready to do more on their own? When should a parent step in to protect their child? Those decisions were made more complicated for Marlin by the fact that Nemo had an underdeveloped fin and by how he lost his wife and other children to a barracuda attack. Marlin was terrified that something would happen to Nemo as well. Marlin kept his son sheltered to keep him safe, but because of that, Nemo didn’t know things he should have. Nemo did have some limitations because of his fin, but he could do a lot more than his father thought he could and wanted to let him do. The movie showed that parents need to let their children do things as they grow up. Parents can go too far in trying to protect a child.
Finding Nemo did touch on some serious things, but overall, it was a very funny movie. Dory was hilarious. She was so sincere in trying to help Marlin, but she kept forgetting things within minutes because of her short term memory problem. I think the funniest scene in the movie was when Dory was attempting to talk whale. That scene was so funny. I also thought it was funny how Marlin and Dory interacted. She was a happy cheerful fish most of the time, and Marlin was more pessimistic and worried most of the time. Dory got on Marlin’s last nerve more than once. Some of his reactions to things Dory did or said were very funny. There were three sharks, Bruce, Anchor, and Chum, that formed a support group to stop eating fish. They had to take a fish friend to a meeting to improve fish and shark relations. There was an accident at the meeting and two of the sharks had to have an intervention for the third that was really funny to see. One of the fish in the tank - I’ve forgotten his name now - had a major phobia about germs. Another fish, Deb, talked to her reflection like it was her twin sister.
Some things that happened in Finding Nemo could be upsetting or scary to younger children. Right at the beginning, a barracuda attacked, killing Coral and all but one of the eggs. Only a small amount of the attack was shown, when the barracuda charged toward Coral and the eggs. Marlin tried to protect his wife and eggs by fighting the barracuda, but he was no match for it and was knocked out. Coral and all but one of the eggs were gone when he woke up. Marlin was heartbroken. It was very sad. Later in the movie, Dory and Marlin have to deal with some sharks, a big fish trying to eat them, and dark areas of the ocean. Those things could be scary for young children. Those things didn’t bother me any, though I was very sad when Coral and the eggs were killed. The children that were in the theater when I saw the movie didn’t seem to be upset by any of the things that happened, but other children might be. Parents should make that judgement themselves.
The fact that Nemo had a disability played an important role in Finding Nemo. His fin was underdeveloped as a result of an injury he received as an egg when the barracuda attacked. Just the fact that Marlin lost his wife and all but one of his children in the attack made him over protective, but Nemo’s fin caused him to be even more protective. Marlin was terrified that something else would happen to his son. He didn’t want his son to go to school. When Nemo went and was near the drop off with some new friends, Marlin freaked out and was ready to take Nemo straight home. Nemo was tired of his father constantly telling him that he couldn’t do things because of his fin, so he swam up to the boat, which resulted in him being captured and taken to the tank. If Marlin hadn’t been so overprotective, and let Nemo do some things, then he never would have gone all the way to the boat.
I did identify a bit with Nemo. Before you think I’ve lost my mind, let me explain why I identified with an animated fish. I have a disability. Both of my hips were dislocated at birth. When I was in the second grade, I had to go through a series of operations to put them back where they belonged. One of my legs is still longer the other one and I still walk with a limp. Sometimes the limp isn’t too bad, but other times it is worse. As I was growing up, I had to deal with questions about why I limped or people making wise cracks about it. I was once told that I waddled like a duck. I am still sensitive about the limp and the scars I still have from the operations. Like Nemo, I did miss out on things because of my hips. There are things that I still can’t do to this day. I have been frustrated because I couldn’t do things. I still am sometimes. But there are a lot of things that I can do. I know what I can and can’t do. Nemo knew that he could do some things, but his father was too over protective to let him do those things. After a while, he seemed to start believing that he couldn’t do things, but Gill helped him to see that he could still do things. My mom wasn’t overprotective like Marlin was. She let me do what I could do. I can see how Nemo got fed up with his father for constantly telling him that he couldn’t do this or that. Having a disability doesn’t make a person helpless. We can still do things. We have limitations that other people don’t, but that doesn’t mean we can’t do anything. There are some things that we can’t do, or that take us longer to accomplish. Having a disability doesn’t mean that we have to live in a bubble. I think that Finding Nemo illustrated how a person - or a fish - with a disability could still do a lot of things. By the end of the movie, Marlin learned that his son was able to do more than he gave them credit for.
The animation in Finding Nemo was beautiful and amazing. This was the fifth movie Pixar has done. The computer animation used by Pixar continues to get better with each movie. The ocean and all the fish looked so beautiful and life like. At times I forgot that I was watching an animated movie. The colors were bright and vibrant at times, and when needed, dark and subdued. I thought that the animation in Monsters, Inc., another Pixar movie, was wonderful. It is even better in Finding Nemo. There was a scene when Marlin and Dory were traveling with the turtles in a current that reminded me a bit of the scene in Monsters, Inc. when Sully, Mike, and Boo were riding on the doors on the conveyor belts. In a scene that showed the waiting room of the dentist, a Buzz Lightyear toy was shown on the floor. I was expecting a lot from this movie because of the previous movies from Pixar, and I wasn’t disappointed. I was so wrapped in what was going on, I don’t even remember what music, if any played during the movie. The only song I can remember is when Dory was singing about swimming. The movie was stunningly beautiful.
There were several characters in Finding Nemo. Most of them were fish or some other creatures that lived in the ocean. There were some birds in a few scenes. There were two divers shown when Nemo was captured. One of those divers was the dentist, and he was shown again in his office where the tank was that he put Nemo in. A receptionist and some patients were shown now and then. His niece Darla, the fish killer, showed up for a little while near the end, but he had her picture in his office that was shown more than once. Marlin and Dory were the main characters. Most of the movie showed their journey to find Nemo and how they interacted with some other fish and sea creatures. Nemo was also an important character, but once he was captured, he wasn’t shown as much as his father and Dory. The other fish in the tank helped Nemo to try to adjust to his new home. Gill had also been captured in the ocean, and he dreamed of returning. He let the others in attempts at freedom. Gill also helped Nemo discover that he wasn’t as helpless as he thought because of his fin. Marlin, Dory, and Nemo were the most developed characters in the movie. The other characters weren’t as developed since the movie wasn’t focused in on them so much.
The voices for the characters in Finding Nemo were wonderful. They really brought their characters to life. Ellen DeGeneris was hilarious as Dory. The way she provided the voice really made Dory more rounded and interesting. Albert Brooks sounded just right as Marlin. He expressed the worry and despair his character felt at times perfectly with his voice. Willem DaFoe sounded like he was older and weary like his character Gill was, but he was still hopeful of returning to the ocean. Gill was very different from the Green Goblin that Willem played in Spider-Man. Brad Garrett provided the voice for Bloat, a puffer fish. His voice just sounded like it matched that fish. He plays a part in Everybody Loves Raymond on television. Alison Janey provided the voice for Peach the star fish. She is a regular on West Wing on television. I have also seen her in Nurse Betty. John Ratzenburger has done a voice for every Pixar movie. In this one, he did the voice for a school of fish that Dory asked directions from. Eric Bana, who will be playing The Hulk in the upcoming movie, provided the role for one of the sharks.
CHARACTERS
Marlin - He was a clown fish. He was pessimistic and always worried about something bad happening. He was devastated when he lost his wife and all but one of his children in a barracuda attack. He was very over protective of his only son Nemo. He was determined to find his son. Marlin did learn how to relax a bit.
Nemo - Marlin’s only child. Nemo had an under developed fin. He could still swim and get around, but it took him a little longer at times. He was tired of his father being so over protective. He was happy and looking forward to going to school and making new friends. He was headstrong at times.
Dory - A friendly blue fish with a short term memory problem. She forgot things minutes later, but she some how always remembered her name. She was helping Marlin look for Nemo. She was always getting Nemo’s name wrong. Her memory did seem to be better at times. She was carefree and happy most of the time.
Gill - A fish who was in the tank at the dentist’s office. He’d been there for a long time. He was also captured in the ocean and dreamed of returning. He came up with plans for all the fish to try to escape and get to the ocean.
Bloat - A puffer fish in the tank at the dentist’s office. He was friendly and seemed to want out of the tank too.
Peach - Star fish in the tank. She seemed to mother Nemo at times and worried about everyone.
Deb/Flo - She was really one fish that thought her reflection in the side of the tank was her sister Flo.
Jacques - Some sort of crab that had a French accent and was always cleaning around the tank.
Nigel - A sea gull who stopped by the dentist’s office to chat with the fish from time to time.
Coral - Marlin’s wife. She seemed to be very kind and loving. She was killed in a barracuda attack trying to protect her eggs.
Mr. Ray - A sting ray who was the teacher of Nemo’s class at school.
Bruce, Anchor, and Chum - Three sharks who stopped eating fish. They formed a support group.
I loved Finding Nemo. The movie was wonderful. It is a movie that a family can watch and enjoy together. I will go see it in the theater again if I get the chance and will get the DVD as soon as I can.
From the creators of Toy Story and Monsters, Inc., it s Finding Nemo -- a hilarious adventure that transports you into the breathtaking underwater wor...More at Buy.com Marketplaces
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