Pixar Pint #5: Finding Nemo
Pixar thinks they can do these things and they can.
Welcome back to Pixar Pints, our summer-long journey through all 25 Pixar films in release order. We promise we’re not just a Pixar newsletter now; we have a lot of other cool stuff coming this week.
Alright, I know one joke. Um, there’s a mollusk, see? And he walks up to a sea—well he doesn’t walk up, he swims up—well, actually, the mollusk isn’t moving; he’s in one place. And then the sea cucumber, well, they…I’m mixed up. There was this mollusk and he walks up to a sea cucumber. None of them were walking, so forget that. Normally they don’t talk, sea cucumbers, but in a joke, everyone talks. So just then, the sea cucumber looks over to the mollusk and says, “with fronds like these, who needs anemones!?”
Let’s get into it.
Finding Nemo quick facts
Release date: May 30, 2003 | Director: Andrew Stanton | Music: Thomas Newman
Starring: Albert Brooks (Marlin), Ellen DeGeneres (Dory), Alexander Gould (Nemo), Willem Dafoe (Gill), Geoffrey Rush (Nigel)
John Ratzenberger as: The school of moonfish who point Marlin and Dory toward the East Australian Current
Budget: $94 million | Box office: $940.3 million
Academy Awards: Won Best Animated Feature; nominated for Best Original Screenplay, Best Original Score, and Best Sound Editing
Eli
Aesthetic: 10/10 | It's impossible to overstate how good they made this movie look. It's really easy to make a movie set primarily underwater look really dull and refuse to add any character to your sets, but Pixar did the opposite here. Everything comes to life and looks true to life. Even including non-underwater settings, they've just taken leaps and bounds in depicting scenery. The character designs are so good here, too. As with Monsters, Inc., they went out of their way to put extra effort into tons of different types of fish, but here, they also knew where to pick their spots; in some scenes, it just made realistic sense for all of the fish in a school to look mostly the same, so they did that. And there isn't a single important character that doesn't just pop off the screen. I think this is the point in Pixar's history when things went from looking somewhat unrealistic on accident to looking slightly unrealistic as a matter of artistic license and expression.
Animation: 10/10 | I'm at a loss for words with how much cool stuff they pulled off in this movie. Take the cool nature-centric animation tricks they used in A Bug's Life, multiply them by a thousand, and make them the centerpiece of the movie, and that's Finding Nemo. If you've seen the movie, you know that words can't truly do it justice, but I do want to shout out the scene where Marlin and Dory are racing through a field of jellyfish. Jellyfish are basically never static, so animating them takes a ton of attention to detail, and that scene probably has hundreds of them on screen at the same time...and it's done pretty much perfectly. Just phenomenal stuff.
Story: 9/10 | I'm a big fan of the way this story just kinda starts without any real warning. In previous Pixar films, some action happened that set the story in motion, the characters had time to react to this action, and then they carefully formulated a plan to forward the plot. In Finding Nemo, one minute everything's fine and, before you know it, Nemo's gone and Marlin has already been whisked away to the middle of nowhere and run into Dory before he's had any time to react or think.
Characters: 9/10 | Marlin and Nemo grow throughout the film as a direct byproduct of the characters they end up marooned with, and that's extremely well written; Marlin needed a Dory in his life to tell him he was taking everything too seriously and Nemo needed a Gill to help him learn his physical disability didn't have to define him in his eyes or others'. All of the child characters (especially Squirt) are super cute. The water tank gang is a bunch of fun, one-note characters, but that's okay here because these characters aren't really asked to shoulder a huge load or forward the plot in any way; they're mostly just silly gags.
Acting: 9/10 | I have to ding it a point because I kept thinking Albert Brooks' Marlin sounded way too similar to Tom Hanks' Woody. Otherwise, just great stuff all around. Ellen DeGeneres is the star here in my eyes; she makes Dory's quirks shine in a positive light where I feel other actors would have made them more belittling or obnoxious. It's Bob Peterson's second amazing performance in a row, as I think his Mr. Ray is super underrated in hindsight. And let's not forget the literal director of the movie crushing it as Crush.
Music: 8/10 | Leah kept tearing up at the score...I'm not as moved as she is, but it still did things to me. Honestly, in many ways, the mark of a good score is that it doesn't stand out too much; it acts as a complimentary piece without distracting from the meat of the film. That's this score to me.
Final score: 10/10 | There's so much cool stuff I had to cut from this review for space. If you haven't yet rewatched this film with adult eyes, I can't recommend it enough; most Pixar movies affect adults in ways that can't possibly affect kids, but of Pixar's main classics, I think this one does the most.
Leah
Aesthetic: 9/10 | Pixar comes into itself aesthetically. Environmentally gorgeous, there's so much beauty and variety in this movie. The character designs are distinct and convey personality. The tank gang initiation scene came off as cultural appropriation to me. It felt gross to watch a tribal aesthetic used for jokes. Otherwise this would be a 10/10.
Animation: 10/10 | The details were so good! This is another huge animation achievement for Pixar.
Story: 10/10 | I thought this story was structured incredibly well. Marlin learns how to trust and let go and Nemo learns how capable he is. I love the story thread about Nemo getting stuck and learning how to get out on his own. The ending had me tearing up. Marlin's journey to find Nemo was so touching. Learning how to trust others and yourself are lessons we all learn throughout our lives.
Characters: 9/10 | I loved almost all of the characters. Marlin and Dory are fantastic foils for each other. Nemo is adorable and easy to root for. The tank gang are super fun. The sharks, school, turtles, pelicans, seagulls, etc. add a lot to the journey. Darla was a miss for me. I know she needed to be unlikeable, but her design was too stereotypical. Also, that dentist was terrible at his job and the movie was funnier for it.
Acting: 9/10 - Really good performances here! Using a kid for Nemo made his voice so cute! I loved Crush's surfer dude voice. Marlin and Dory's VAs did a great job bringing their characters to life.
Music: 10/10 | Nemo Egg 😭. Maybe this is the nostalgia talking, but this is easily the best score from Pixar so far. I loved the orchestral sound, and it adds so much emotion to the movie. It stuck with me for almost two decades, a testament to how well it works.
Final score: 10/10 | This was my favorite Pixar movie as a kid and I loved revisiting it as an adult. It's gorgeous, funny, sweet, touching. There were a few aspects that bothered me upon rewatching, but overall there's a lot to enjoy in this film.
Maddy
Aesthetic: 10/10 | I like looking at this movie. It is so, so, so pretty to me. For being such a big step in underwater animation, it’s just so nice to look at.
Animation: 8/10 | Second straight Pixar film to feature something amazing within the animation. Outside of that it’s still pretty good! Kinda held up by me thinking it’s a nice-looking film. The humans are still kinda questionable.
Story: 7/10 | I think the thing that has struck me the most from this rewatch of Pixar so far is how the stories aren't really the big driving forces in these films, to me at least. It’s a film, of course it needs a story, but the characters and the world do so much heavy lifting, you tend to just kinda accept the story happening. It’s not a bad thing but it’s just what I’ve noticed going through these films.
Characters: 9/10 | Marlin and Dory are a great duo not just because they play off each other well, but also because there is nothing romantic there. A lot of films would want to shoehorn in a love plot here but Pixar keeps it simple as just two fish becoming buddies while on a journey to find Marlin’s son. Supporting cast is top notch and I wish we got more of the water tank gang.
Acting: 9/10 | It’s good! I have nothing new or clever to say. Ellen Lastname is a solid VA person if you didn’t know. I love Crush.
Music: 6/10 | Outside of the vocal copyright pop track, I honestly don’t remember a thing here. It’s good enough, I guess.
Final score: 8.5/10 | This is a cozy film now to me. It’s another one I had heavy nostalgia for entering this rewatch, and I think it holds up very well! It’s not a super strong outing, per se, it's just good comfort food to throw on the TV late at night and have a good time!
Fun Maddy note: Finding Nemo is the best selling DVD ever.
David
I get the distinct sense I'm lower on this than the rest of my dear friends here. Wonder what it's like to be WRONG.
Aesthetic: This shit is so goddamn gorgeous. Their ability to make things look so delightful in and out of water was absolutely unparalleled at the time.
Animation: That variety of species comes through again the way it did in A Bug’s Life—absolutely phenomenal work. Their ability to emulate movement, their way with every aspect of the constantly moving forces of the ocean. That shit is astounding.
Story: It's a great little tale. I love that this movie jumped straight into things, because that's sort of the first time we've had a plotline that engages the audience 1) so immediately and 2) without prompting from the cast in any way. Marlin learns to let go and Nemo gets a pleasant lesson on family and also his ability to handle things on his own, something that was effectively the central point of conflict throughout. It's touching as fuck, and I really wish that it hit home a little harder for me.
Characters: [chanting] TANK GANG TANK GANG
Acting: Pixar nails this every time. This is no different.
Music: I want to love this soundtrack, but it just never grabs me. It's the first time, I think, in doing this series that I don't have a strong association with the soundtrack to this movie, and I think it's one of the larger shortcomings, in my personal opinion.
Final score: It's a lucky 7/10, and rounds out my personal top 10 (as of writing this in May 2022). It's a great film, especially for its time, but there's not enough there to it to move it above some of Pixar's other early standouts.
Nik
This is a movie that was definitely a big part of my childhood. However, I must admit, it has fallen out of my favorites. I don't think it has dropped in quality but on rewatch it did not hit the same as it once did on a personal level.
Aesthetic: The aesthetic of this movie is up there for best among Pixar films. Whether it be the colorful coral reef, the deep blue ocean, or the dentist's fish tank, each setting is immersive.
Animation: As with Monsters Inc., the variety of characters and movements the animators had to work with was immense. Yet, they were able to animate each ocean creature beautifully. The fish, the sea turtles, and even the birds moved naturally. I always wondered why there was never an octopus in this movie and I think the animators did not want to put out something they couldn't perfect, but were able to do so by the time Finding Dory came out.
Story: I think one of the reasons this story seems so massive is because of the setting. In Toy Story, a couple of streets over is something we can fathom, but in Finding Nemo, the exact distance across the ocean is unknown, so the journey of Marlin and Nemo truly feels like one of a lifetime.
Characters: The great thing about having two different storylines is that there were a lot of different characters with growth, something the previous film lacked. Obviously the big development was from Marlin who realized his tight grip on Nemo caused him to get taken in the first place. I have to say my favorite scenes are those from the fish tank, as all Nemo's tank-mates are unique.
Acting: Absolutely Fantastic! Albert Brooks as Marlin and Ellen as Dory vibe excellently together. Marlin’s franticness is really exemplified in everything he says. Never does Brooks fail to fall to show exactly how much his character wants to find his son.
Music: There is no song from this movie that has catchy lyrics, but the way the orchestral sounds play at certain times in the movie makes it even better. The music sets the tone, from tense and scary scenes to joyful ones.
Final score: 9/10 | Like I said, this movie is still amazing, it just doesn't hit me like it once did. While the big lesson involves a dad and his son, I feel that the one who learned more ended up being Marlin. Perhaps one day when I'm a dad I'll find more meaning in this lesson.
Final notes
I glossed over this in the quick facts, but this was Pixar’s first Best Animated Feature win. The films it beat were Walt Disney Feature Animation’s Brother Bear and Sylvain Chomet’s The Triplets of Belleville: not terrible films but also not the most iconic of fields, ya feel me?
At this point, the only thing we all agree on is that A Bug’s Life is the worst, which…fair.
Next up: The Incredibles