Finding Nemo, the latest animated film from Disney and Pixar - 2003-05-31

Finding Nemo, the latest animated film from Disney and Pixar - 2003-05-31. The story of a fish... in fact, an ocean full of fish and a zoo of sea creatures for the whole family. Nemo is a bright orange clownfish with white stripes who wants to see what the world outside the fish tank is like. Marlon, Nemo's father, is overly protective of his son. When a diver captures the young and adventurous fish, his father embarks on an epic quest to find him. Pixar, with popular animated films like 'Toy Story,' 'A Bug's Life,' and 'Monsters, Inc.,' has raised the bar and expectations for such films significantly. Andrew Stanton, the director of 'Finding Nemo,' says, 'I had been thinking about making a film with underwater adventures for a long time. In '92 or '93, I visited the Marine World aquarium in Northern California. The glass walls of one of the aquariums were 5 meters by 4 meters, so large that when a person stood next to it, they forgot their surroundings and it seemed like they were looking at amazing fish from the top of a beautiful coral reef. I remember telling myself ten years ago that, my God, we can create this scene and feeling with the technology we have. Such a thought from that collection stayed in my mind for years until I reached the current story.' The film's story, like other successful Pixar stories, is a gentle comedy with messages of love for family, friendship, and resilience. The voice of shy Nemo's father is Albert Brooks, but the most beloved character is 'Dory,' who accompanies Marlon on the journey to find Nemo. Dory's voice, with big eyes and always optimistic, is Ellen DeGeneres. This famous actress says, 'I think kids understand Dory well because she has a completely childlike demeanor. I don't know how old she seems in the film, but she has traits that all kids should have... but don't necessarily have, because today's kids grow up too fast.' Nemo is captured and thrown into an aquarium that has an office decor overlooking Sydney Harbor. The leader of the strange fish community in this aquarium and the escape plan designer is a fish named 'Gill,' voiced by the powerful actor Willem Dafoe, who usually plays tough and suspicious characters. Dafoe says, 'That's right, and Gill has such a character in the film, and his entry into the scene is somewhat accompanied by disaster and mild conflicts because no one knows what his motivation is. Just before I voiced Gill, I acted in a film about prison events, and that somewhat affected my voice.' Other characters in 'Finding Nemo' include a shark who practices not eating fish and a pelican who comes to everyone's rescue.