Finding Nemo DVD
Walt Disney Home Video
Rated: G
Genre: Family
Length: 100 minutes
Director: Lee Unkrich
Year: (2003)
Britt Gillette's Finding Nemo DVD Review
Winner of the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, Finding Nemo continues the Disney tradition of producing high-quality, blockbuster films that entertain audiences of all ages. Featuring the wonders of the Pixar animation technology, the film is a breathtaking window into the future of animated pictures, with borderline 3-D visual effects and the introduction of original animated film techniques certain to influence future masterpieces. Boasting a slew of talented voiceovers such as Albert Brooks, Ellen DeGeneres, Alexander Gould, Willem Dafoe, and John Ratzenberger, Finding Nemo is certain to maintain a place in the hearts of children of all ages for generations to come…
The epic story begins somewhere in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Australia. A clown fish named Marlin (Albert Brooks) lives a wonderful life in a peaceful underwater colony of fish and other fascinating sea life with his wife. That serene setting is demolished, however, when a vicious predator attacks their home, killing his wife. Distraught, Marlin takes comfort in the egg left behind which forms into his son, Nemo (Alexander Gould).
Because of his trauma, Marlin is extremely overprotective of Nemo. He follows a step behind him everywhere he goes, makes him stay in the house whenever possible, and remains quite apprehensive about his son going to school. Marlin's fears are realized when Nemo is captured on his first day of school and taken away to live in a dentist office fish tank. Intent on freeing his son, Marlin sets out on a bold and daring quest to retrace the path of the scuba diver's boat.
Wandering through the ocean depths, he meets up with Dory (Ellen DeGeneres) - an absent-minded, yet friendly - fish who remains determined to help her new friend recover his lost son. Together, they encounter a pack of sharks with whom they eventually make friends as well as a countless array of diverse and fascinating underwater creatures.
Meanwhile, Nemo is plunged into a dentist office fish tank overlooking Sidney Harbor where he meets a number of new and exciting friends. The other aquatic life, long confined to the tank themselves, initiate Nemo into their fraternity, revealing their numerous attempts to escape from the tank. Enlisting Nemo as their point man (or fish), they concoct a number of schemes such as clogging the tank's filter so they can make a break for it when the dentist takes them out to clean the tank. With the threat of the dentist presenting Nemo as a present to his nerdy niece, the stakes are raised for our young hero and time is of the essence.
While Nemo carries out his own plans of escape, Marlin continues his search. Along the way, he meets up with some surfer-dude sea turtles who aid in his trek. Discouraged at times, Marlin finds out that he's made of much more than he thought, and he and Dory find their way to Sidney where they encounter a newly liberated Nemo…
Sporting one of the best written animated screenplays of all time and an breathtaking original score by Thomas Newman, Finding Nemo is a pleasurable affair for both parents and children. The writers pull off an admirable job of combining adult and kid humor throughout the script in such a way that it doesn't detract from the experience for either age group. With a number of likeable characters, the audience will find itself rooting for Marlin, Nemo, and all their friends to accomplish the task before them. Overall, this is a must-see film for all age groups, not only because of the great story and artful performances, but if anything, simply because the animation is a wonder in and of itself…
Britt Gillette
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Posted on 20 December 2004