A Summary and Review of Finding Nemo

Finding Nemo is in my opinion the greatest Disney Pixar collaboration to this date (yes, even better than Toy Story). Released in 2003, Finding Nemo is a great adventure of a father trying to find his son and the characters they encounter along the way. It appeals to both adults and children with humor that often goes over children’s heads, but not inappropriately so.

Nemo’s mother is killed early in the movie as are all of the other eggs, leaving Nemo and Marlin. This turns Marlin into an extremely protective father and even though he is a clown fish, he has no sense of humor. Nemo gets scooped up by a scuba diver to be put in an aquarium, and the adventure begins.

Marlin goes on his hunt to find his son and ends up running into a forgetful, but loveable, Dory (played by Ellen DeGeneres). Dory and Marlin encounter sharks, sea turtles, jelly fish, and whales as they make their way through the open ocean to P Sherma, 42 Wallaby Way, Sydney, Australia.

Meanwhile, Nemo lives in a tank with hilarious characters who are trying to push him out of the tank and into the pipes, down back out to the ocean. He gets inducted into their group, but almost gets given away to the terrifying niece of the dentist (who was the scuba diver who snatched Nemo from the ocean). Nemo finally escapes back to the ocean thanks to a message from a funny pelican that Marlin is down in the ocean waiting for Nemo. Finally after some more struggles, the two reunite and make it back to their home with Dory. Marlin finally loosens up and becomes a fun father with a great relationship with his son.

Finding Nemo is a great movie for children and adults alike. In 2004, Finding Nemo won an Academy Award for Best Animated Feature and was nominated for 3 other awards. Now Finding Nemo brings in a lot of revenue for Disney with the merchandise and rides at the Disney World and Disneyland theme parks.