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Finding Nemo is a Academy Award winning computer-animated film produced by Pixar Animation Studios and released to theatres by Walt Disney Pictures and Buena Vista Distribution in the United States on May 30 2003, in Australia on the 28th of August, 2003. This is the first Disney-Pixar film not to premiere in the United States in November, making it the first to be released in the UK in the same year, rather than the next.
Finding Nemo set a record as the highest grossing opening weekend for an animated feature, making $70 million (surpassed in 2004 by Shrek 2). It was, for a time, the highest grossing animated film of all time, eclipsing the record set by The Lion King. However, in less than four weeks of release, Shrek 2 surpassed Finding Nemo's domestic gross. By March 2004, Finding Nemo was one of the top ten highest-grossing films ever, having earned over $850 million. The film received an Academy Award for Best Animated Feature Film in 2004. The film also received a Nickelodeon Kids Choice Awards in 2004 for favorite movie.
The title character's name alludes to Captain Nemo, the submarine captain in two of Jules Verne's novels: Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea and The Mysterious Island; also translates to "no one" in Latin, leading the title to mean "Finding No One."
The movie was released on a two-disc DVD on November 4, 2003 in the US and Canada, and in Australia on the 16th of January 2004.
Tagline:Sea it in theatres.
Plot
The film tells the story of a widowed clownfish named Marlin (voiced by Albert Brooks) who lives in Sydney Harbour in Sydney. Marlin, after losing his wife, Coral, and children, in a barracuda attack sometime back, tries his best as a parent to his only remaining son Nemo, but has a tendency to over-parent and stifle his son. Because Nemo has a fin smaller than the other (his "lucky fin"), and because he promised to not let anything happen to him, Marlin is constantly warning his son that the ocean isn't safe (although he is clearly subjecting his son to his own neurotic agoraphobic tendencies).
Embarrassed once too often by his father's over-protectiveness, Nemo ventures out into open water towards a 'butt' (a fishing boat, mispronounced by one of Nemo's little friends) to prove to his father wrong. Unfortunately, Marlin was for once correct, as Nemo is immediately scooped up by a kindly dentist who takes pity on him because of his fin. Thus it is up to Marlin and his newfound "guide", Dory (voiced by Ellen DeGeneres), a Regal Blue Tang fish who suffers from short-term memory loss to bring Nemo back, and they must cross the ocean - tangling with the various dangers waiting for them - in order to rescue Nemo from the dentist's office in Sydney, Australia. Nemo, meanwhile, gets involved in a plot with the other fish in the aquarium to escape from the dentist's office and return to the ocean.
Box office totals
- Budget - $90,000,000
- Marketing cost - $40,000,000
- Opening Weekend Gross (Domestic) - $70,251,710
- Total Domestic Grosses - $339,714,978
- Total Overseas Grosses - $524,911,000
- Total Worldwide Grosses - $864,625,978
Performers and characters
Other characters
(all voices unknown)
- Sandy Plankton - An associate of Nemo's (claims boats are "butts" and turtles live up to a 100 years)
- Jimmy - one of Mr. Ray's students who utters "Oh my gosh! Nemo's swimming out to sea!"
- Bob - Sheldon's father
- Ted - Pearl's father
- Bill - Tad's father
- Barracuda - the fish that killed most of Marlin's family
- Blenny - the timid fish Anchor brings to the meeting
- Barbara - P. Sherman's secretary
- Anglerfish - the "monster" of the sea
- Chuckles - Darla's first fish; killed by Darla
- Mr. Turtle - Crush's father and Squirt's grandfather
- Gerald - Nigel's clumsy friend
- Dolphins, lobsters, and swordfish - spread the word about Nemo
- Davy Reynolds - one of P. Sherman's favorite patients (a take on David Reynolds, one of the writers of the movie)
- Mike Wazowski (of Monsters Inc.) - cameo appearance
- Mr. Johanson - resides at the school area. Sheldon, Pearl, and Tad enjoy playing in his yard.
Other voices
(all characters played unknown)
Wider effects of the film
Image:Nemotheatrical.jpg
The film's prominent use of clownfish prompted mass purchase of the animals for children's pets in the United States, even though the movie portrayed the use of fish as pets negatively and saltwater aquariums are notably tricky and expensive to maintain. At the same time, the film had a central theme that "all drains lead back to the ocean." (A main character escapes from imprisonment by going down a sink drain and ending up in the sea.) This allegedly caused many children to flush their living fish down toilets in imitation of the picture. Major sewage companies teamed with Disney to release press statements that attempted to address the situation with humor. "Although all drains DO lead to water," they read, "water always passes through a turbine before leading to the ocean." Of course, in the case of Sydney, much of the sewer system does pass direct to outfall pipes offshore, without treatment (although pumping does occur).
French children's book author Franck Le Calvez sued Disney, claiming that the story and the characters were stolen from his book Pierrot Le Poisson-Clown (Pierrot the Clownfish). The idea of Pierrot was protected in 1995 and the book was released in France in November 2002. Franck Le Calvez and his lawyer, Pascal Kamina, demanded from Disney a share of the profits from merchandising articles sold in France. Le Calvez and Kamina lost the lawsuit on March 12 2004, but intended to file an appeal on October 5.
Tourism in Australia has increased during the Summer and Fall of 2003, with many tourists wanting to swim off the coast of Eastern Australia to "find Nemo."
In 2005, the movie was alluded to in the smash hit TV show Lost. One of the characters in the show, Shannon, is asked to translate some notes that are written in French. She later recognizes some of the notes as lyrics from a song played in the credits of a "cartoon fish movie". The song is Charles Trenet's "La Mer", the French original of Bobby Darin's classic "Beyond the Sea". She then proceeds to sing the song, confirming the connection.
Fish featured in the film
The following species feature prominently in the film
In the tank
The class
Trivia
- As usual for Pixar movies, it is packed with subtle references and sight gags:
- Mount Wannahockaloogie ("wanna hock a loogie") is the "mountain" in the dentist's aquarium. "Hock a loogie" is American slang for expectoration, a common occurrence in a dentist's office. When Nemo jumps through the "Ring of Fire" at the summit of Mount Wannahockaloogie, he earns himself the new name Sharkbait.
- The obligatory A113 inside joke: the scuba diver who briefly blinds Marlin uses a camera with model code "A-113".
- The overhead shot of the seagulls gathering to dive for Marlin and Dory stylistically echoes a similar gull scene in The Birds.
- In the dentist's office, two shots of dangerous brat Darla's face are accompanied by the shrieking violin glissandi from the shower scene in Psycho.
- There several objects around the dentist's office, including a small device that says on the bottom, "Engineered by a bunch of Pixar TDs," with the alien from Toy Story next to it, this is a reference to the technical directors that create these objects for the sets. A diploma in the waiting room shows the alien in the middle and it says "Pixar High School of Dentistry."
- Another nod to Stanton's roots: When the story of Marlin's journey is being spread throughout the ocean, one of the creatures telling the tale is a lobster with a Boston accent who uses the common local adjective, wicked. ("It's wicked dahk down there, you can't see a thing...") Not surprisingly, this lobster was voiced by Stanton himself.
- Two of Dory's several misnamings of Nemo are "Chico" and "Harpo," references to the Marx Brothers. She also calls him "Elmo", a reference to the popular Sesame Street character, and "Fabio", likely in reference to Fabio Lanzoni, the Italian male model.
- There are several references to previous and forthcoming Pixar films. One of the toys that can be seen in the dentist's office is a Buzz Lightyear action figure, from Toy Story. Another reference from Toy Story can be found when a character rolls out onto the street (during Gill's outline of the escape plan); one of the cars which flashes by is a "Pizza Planet" delivery truck, the same restaurant featured in Toy Story. An M is for Monsters book is lying on the table, an obvious reference to Monsters, Inc.. In the actual dentist room, an art project is featured hanging from the ceiling. This same handmade art piece is in Monsters, Inc., as it is made by the character Boo, and gets stuck to Sully's foot when he exits her room. Also Mike Wazowski, the green one-eyed monster from Monsters. Inc., swims across the screen as the credits roll up. There is also a "Mister Incredible" comic book based on the then-forthcoming Pixar movie The Incredibles, and when a character rolls into a street, vehicles from Cars can be seen.
- The often recurring uses of the number 42, such as in P. Sherman's address ("42 Wallaby Way, Sydney") and the time it takes the dentist to use the restroom (4.2 minutes), are likely a reference to Douglas Adams' radio play/novel The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy, in which that number is supposedly the answer to the question of "Life, the Universe and Everything". Also, one of the sharks has a perticular dislike for dolphins, possibly another reference to Hitchhikers, as dolphins are featured prominatly in the series.
- The great white shark's name is Bruce, which may be an allusion to the name given to the mechanical shark used to film the movie Jaws. Bruce speaks with an Australian accent, possibly suggesting a reference to the Monty Python "Bruces" sketch about a group of Australian university professors, all of whom are named Bruce. The writers were also aware that Barry Bruce, an Australian shark researcher with CSIRO, was radio tagging white sharks.
- Several references to Monty Python's Flying Circus such as the Australian shark named Bruce, (reference to the famous "Bruces" sketch about a group of Australian university professors, all of whom are named Bruce), the krill and Bruce shouting "Swim Away!" during various scenes, (reference to the recurring line "Run Away" in Monty Python and the Holy Grail), and finally Marlin forbidding Dory to sing (similar to the scene in the Swamp Castle).
- In the scene where Bruce tries to eat Dory/Marlin, Bruce says "Here's Brucie!" after popping through the door, in a reference to Stanley Kubrick's film The Shining.
- A notable portion of the production crew were Filipino, and the name "P. Sherman" was chosen because it sounds like how one with a Filipino accent would say the word "fisherman"
- Interestingly enough, real clown fish have a trait in which if the mother dies then the father fish actually biologically transforms into a female fish.
Other Movie Appearances
- Monsters Inc. - Near the end of this film Boo hands Sulley a Nemo Toy. Interestingly, Monsters Inc. came out before Finding Nemo
- Looney Tunes: Back in Action In a short clip near the start Bugs is fishing and says "hey, I found Nemo!"
External links
Template:Wikiquote
Template:Pixar filmsde:Findet Nemo
el:Ψάχνοντας τον Νέμο
es:Buscando a Nemo
et:Kalapoeg Nemo
fr:Le Monde de Nemo
hr:Potraga za Nemom
ja:ファインディング・ニモ
nl:Finding Nemo
no:Oppdrag Nemo
nn:Finding Nemo
pl:Gdzie jest Nemo?
pt:Finding Nemo
sq:Finding Nemo
simple:Finding Nemo
sv:Hitta Nemo
zh:海底总动员
