Finding Nemo

This latest feature from Pixar Animation Studios follows the comedic and eventful journey of two fish – the overly cautious Marlin and his curious son Nemo – who become separated in the Great Barrier Reef.

Buoyed by the companionship of Dory, a friendly-but-forgetful fish, Marlin embarks on a dangerous trek and finds himself the unlikely hero of an epic effort to rescue his son – who hatches a few daring plans of his own to return safely home.

Written and directed by Andrew Stanton, who co-directed A Bug’s Life, Finding Nemo sets a new “high water mark” for the art and technology of computer animation with its incredible underwater world populated with memorable characters.

Lending guidance to the overall project in his role as executive producer was John Lasseter, director of the Toy Story films, who says: “This movie absolutely raises the bar for Pixar and for the art of computer animation. The film is breathtakingly beautiful and filled with real drama, real emotion and depth, as well as great comedy.

“Being the father-of-five sons, this was definitely a story I could relate to. As filmmakers, we love to have the emotion be true and honest. And even though Nemo is a complete fantasy, it’s based on things that are familiar to audiences. The father-son relationship, going to school for the first time – these are things everyone understands yet this film is about fish on a coral reef.

The story of Finding Nemo is very personal for director/writer Andrew Stanton, as it’s derived from a series of events in his own life. A visit to Marine World in 1992 started him thinking about the amazing possibilities of capturing an undersea world in computer animation. This was three years before Toy Story made its debut, but Stanton was fascinated with the prospect of creating such a wondrous environment.

Another piece of the puzzle came from Stanton’s childhood memories of a fish tank in his family dentist’s office. He recalls looking forward to going to the dentist just so he could look at the fish.

The final piece of the puzzle for Stanton was his own relationship with his son.

Actor Albert Brooks lends his vocal talents and comic timing to Marlin, the fretful and slightly neurotic clown fish father, while comedienne Ellen DeGeneres gives an engaging performance as the vacillating voice of the eternally optimistic blue tang, Dory.

DeGeneres says: “When I play any part in a movie, I really do a lot of research and become the character. So for this role, I lived in the ocean for six months, painted myself blue, and just swam around like a fish. Imagine my embarrassment when they told me this was an animated film and I wouldn’t be on camera.

“I played the character of Dory almost like she was a seven-year-old,” she adds. “She’s so naïve and childlike, which is a beautiful thing because she never expects anything bad or dangerous to happen.

“She’s happy all the time and very positive. She doesn’t see things as really ever being bad. An adventure is always good and something that could be a new experience.

“And since she doesn’t remember things, every experience is new to her. Marlin is the extreme opposite. He’s a character who’s paralysed with fear.

“I love the strong themes in Finding Nemo,” she concludes. “It’s a wonderful thing to know that your father or mother or someone would go the end of the Earth to find you.

“I think that the film also reminds us that fish have feelings and little families. It gives you something to think about and tells us we need to protect our oceans and pay attention to how precious everything is down to the coral reefs.”