(c) Disney/Pixar

From The Incredible Mr. Limpet to The Little Mermaid, animators over the years have tried to capture the dense layers of beauty and wonder found in the sea, with varying degrees of success, the best examples being the raw artistry of Pinocchio’s water scenes and the pure naturalism of the “Pines of Rome�? segment of Fantasia 2000. With the use of shifting pools of light, tiny particles floating in the muck, and a wondrous palette of colors found only this side of nature, Finding Nemo brings this undersea universe to vivid life, a whole new world under the sea.

Story-wise, there are a few bumps along the way: the bit with the “Fish are our friends�? sharks seems forced, tacked on to capitalize on the popularity of these toothsome killers among the kiddies, and it seriously interrupts the flow of the story at an early, crucial moment in the plot; the sage-like sea turtles (led by Crush, voiced by director Andrew Stanton himself) speak in a ‘surfer dude’ dialect, a la Bill & Ted, that is so 1989; and there is a surprising over-reliance on clever-but-still-pandering bodily function gags (“You made me ink myself!�?). Most dangerously, the film’s climactic moment regresses to a tired Disney cliché, that of the “is-he-or-isn’t-he?�? fallen hero ploy that is entirely unnecessary by this point in the story.

Despite such (in the end minor) transgressions, the strength of Finding Nemo is its underlying message of acceptance of oneself and of those you love: through his many reluctant adventures, Marlin discovers that in order to truly become a good father to his son, he must allow Nemo the opportunities to succeed or fail on his own. On the flip side of the plot, Nemo too has to ‘find’ himself, and to accept his father for the way he is as well.

If early box office reports and initial critical reaction is any indication, it appears that audiences are finding Nemo just as enchanting. And who knows? Come next February, Stanton and his Pixar cohorts could very well be finding Oscar.

• The 1989 Pixar short Knick Knack is presented with Finding Nemo, showing an early Pixar take on fish tanks. Dig the funky Bobby McFerrin soundtrack and the tacky-cool doo-dads, including a couple of cuties that have apparently undergone some breast-reduction re-animation since the film’s original release.
• Finding Nemo’s director/writer Andrew Stanton has worked on all of Pixar’s films, including co-directing A Bug’s Life and co-producing Monsters, Inc. In addition to Crush, he also voiced Zurg in Toy Story 2.
• Nemo Co-director Lee Unkrich began his Pixar career as an editor on Toy Story and A Bug’s Life, moving up to co-directing duties on both Toy Story 2 and Monsters, Inc.
• Co-writer Bob Peterson, in addition to working on story for all five Pixar films to date, also voiced Geri in the short Geri’s Game, Roz in Monsters, Inc. and Nemo’s teacher, Mr. Ray.
• Co-writer David Reynolds has also contributed his writing talents to A Bug’s Life, Toy Story 2, Fantasia 2000, The Emperor’s New Groove, Atlantis: The Lost Empire and The Jungle Book 2.
• Ellen DeGeneres starred in the ABC/Touchstone sitcom Ellen, winning an Emmy for writing the groundbreaking “Puppy Episode�?. She has also starred in Ellen’s Energy Adventure at Epcot’s Universe of Energy pavilion since 1996.
• Brad Garrett (Bloat the Puffer Fish), another Emmy-winner for his role on Everybody Loves Raymond, can be heard as Dim in A Bug’s Life, Tank in An Extremely Goofy Movie and Fred Bedderhead in The Country Bears, as well as in various TV and video projects such as Bonkers, The Shnookums and Meat Funny Cartoon Show, The Mighty Ducks, One Saturday Morning, Pocahontas II: Journey to a New World, Hercules, Mickey Mouse Works, Buzz Lightyear of Star Command, House of Mouse and Kim Possible.
• Stephen Root (Bubbles, the bubble-obsessed Yellow Tang) voiced Zeb in The Country Bears, as well as guest voicing on episodes of Buzz Lightyear and The Proud Family. Root’s NewsRadio co-star Vicki Lewis (Deb and Flo) can also be heard in An Extremely Goofy Movie and the Hercules TV series.
• Pixar story-guy Joe Ranft, who voiced Heimlich in A Bug’s Life and Wheezy in Toy Story 2, returns to his second career once more in Finding Nemo, as Jacques the Shrimp. Keeping it in the family, Joe’s son Jordy plays Tad, one of Nemo’s school chums.
• Oscar-winner Geoffrey Rush (Shine) is having ‘A Very Disney Summer’ this year: in addition to Nigel the Pelican in Finding Nemo, he will cross-swords with Johnny Depp in July’s Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl.
• John Ratzenberger is affectionately referred to at Pixar as their ‘lucky charm’: he has voice acted in all their films, including Hamm in the Toy Story films, P.T. Flea in A Bug’s Life and the Yeti in Monsters, Inc. For Finding Nemo, he plays an entire school of fish. He has also appeared in the That Darn Cat remake and voiced the Assistant Manager in Spirited Away. Pixar’s other ‘lucky charm’, the Toy Story Pizza Planet truck, can be seen briefly in Nemo as well, zipping past the dentist’s office.
• In addition to the above mentioned cast members, Finding Nemo has an impressive all-star cast, including Allison Janney (The West Wing’s multiple Emmy-winner) as Peach the Starfish, Austin Pendleton (The Muppet Movie’s Max) as they germ-phobic Gurgle, Elizabeth Perkins (Tom Hanks’ Big love) as Nemo’s mother Coral, Erik Per Sullivan (Malcom in the Middle’s Dewey) as Sheldon the Sea Horse, and several of Australia’s most well-known actors, cast to add an authenticity to the film’s Sydney setting, including professional cross-dresser Barry Humphries (a.k.a. Dame Edna Everage) as Bruce the Great White Shark (named after the most famous movie man-eater of all-time, Steven Spielberg’s Jaws), Eric Bana (soon to turn green as the star of this summer’s Hulk) as Anchor the Hammerhead Shark, Bruce Spence (Road Warrior’s Gyro Captain) as Chum the … other shark, and Bill Hunter (The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert) as the dentist.
• Look fast: A Buzz Lightyear doll can be seen in the dentist’s office, and one of the boats in the Sydney Harbor appears to be named ‘Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah’ (only ‘Doo-Dah’ is visible on its hull).
• Cameos of characters from Pixar’s upcoming The Incredibles (directed by The Iron Giant’s Brad Bird - who’s son Nicholas can be heard hear as Squirt the baby Sea Turtle - and of which a preview can be seen prior to Nemo) and Cars (directed by John Lasseter) are also reportedly in Finding Nemo. But where?
• No spoilers: another Pixar favorite makes a hysterical appearance at the end of the credits.

Coming Soon:

• Two Disney live action classics, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea and The Love Bug, are now available in special DVD editions.
• Bernard, Bianca and all of The Rescuers finally make their DVD debut.
• Go back to the jungle when The Jungle Book 2 comes to home video on June 10^th.