Disney and Pixar have come together over the past few years to bring about a revolution in animated motion pictures. While many studios have faltered in their attempts or fallen back on trying to adapt anime as a way to make movies inexpensively, these two studios have taken a different route and joined the art of animation with cartoon storytelling.
FINDING NEMO tells the story of Nemo, the only offspring of two clown fish raised along by his single father Marlin (Albert Brooks). Having lost his wife and hundreds of unhatched eggs to the sea, Marlin has been overprotective of little Nemo. And when Nemo rebels and is captured his first time out to the big ocean, it seems as though all of Marlin’s fears were right.
Fearful of the ocean himself, Marlin must make a journey to find his son and save him. He heads out to sea not so much boldly and without fear as much as he does out of concern and love for his son.
Along the way, Marlin makes many new friends, among them another fish named Dory (Ellen DeGeneres) who has short term memory but ends up being a help anyway and Crush, a cool dude sea turtle voiced by the films writer/director Andrew Stanton.
Nemo himself finds new friends as well. It appears that he was captured by a snorkeling dentist who intends to present him as a gift to his destructive niece. The other fish in the tank try and help Nemo to escape.
Word of Marlin’s adventures as he searches for Nemo go so far as to reach Nemo’s “ears”. Marveling at the tales of his father’s love, Nemo and the tank fish do all they can to escape. It’s not until nearly the end of the picture that you find out if the father and son are reunited or if Nemo becomes just another fish tossed down the toilet bowl.
The humor in this film is so on the mark it’s fantastic. Not only are there jokes that the kids can laugh at, but there are a few in jokes for parents to get as well. This path seemed to work well for animators in the heyday of cartooning in the 40s and plays well here too.
The animation is nothing short of phenomenal. The waves on the surface, the vibrant colors of the fish, all mingle together to form a feast for the eyes.
But beneath it all is something much more important. The rest is mere icing on the cake. Because at the heart of this movie is the story of two people, parent and child, who may not see eye to eye on all things. But the deep rooted love of that father for son is enough to make him forge ahead and do all within his power to protest and save the one most important thing in his life. His son.
Reports are coming in that this film was the highest box office success the summer it was released and it’s easy to see why. It’s because it works on all levels and appeals to every viewer out there. It is a movie that is one to watch again and again. And when the video comes out, my guess is that it will set records there as well.
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