Finding Nemo

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.

Review

I have always been fascinated by marine life, there is something truly mesmerizing about the millions of animals, plants, colours, and textures that can be found in the ocean.  So, while I wait patiently and save my pennies so that one day I can go diving in Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, watching Finding Nemo is the next best thing!

The team at Pixar are masterminds at creating visually beautiful movies with interesting and relatable characters, entertaining and meaningful stories and Finding Nemo comes out on top as one of their best to date.   Finding Nemo is a movie that can be enjoyed by everyone, children will be wildly entertained by the talking fish whilst learning important lessons about growth, trust, family, and friendship.  Adults can enjoy the subtle mature humour, pop culture references, and universal themes such as parenthood.

I must applaud the opening sequence, I’ve read that the original idea was to see Coral’s (Nemo’s mother) fate shown in a series of flashbacks throughout the movie, however, this was scrapped in favour of a more shocking and gut-wrenching beginning.  I feel that this was the right decision because you gain an instant emotional connection with the characters and a clear understanding of their motivations and personalities.

The voice acting in Finding Nemo is fantastic, every character was endearing and that is a testament to the actors playing them.  No one felt bland or forgettable and they all stood out in their own unique way.  Nigel the Pelican voiced by the always brilliant Geoffrey Rush was my personal favourite, however, ‘Dory’ the blue tang with short-term memory loss voiced by Ellen Degeneres was the ultimate fan-favourite.  Once Finding Nemo ends it’s Dory’s story (or lack of) that leaves you wanting more, which eventually came to fruition in the 2016 sequel ‘Finding Dory’. 

The animation in Finding Nemo is beautiful, the animators did their research as all the animals look realistic, from the fish to the turtles, the sharks, and the birds.  The colour palette in this movie is vibrant, glossy, and polished, it’s a visually attractive movie to watch and I remember walking out of the cinema with an urge to purchase a fish tank and fill it with all the colourful tropical fish I could find.

What I have always found very clever with Pixar movies is their characters are often planned years in advance. Nemo’s first appearance was in Monsters, Inc. (2001) and it is fun to go back and re-watch all the movies to pick out the Easter eggs.  Did you know the Pizza Planet truck from Toy Story is in every Pixar movie? See if you can find the truck in Finding Nemo and leave a comment below.

Overall, Finding Nemo is an exciting underwater adventure and an absolute blast to watch!