Pixar is on a roll! Right on the heels of Monsters, Inc. the tiny film company has raised the quality, and complexity of their animation, and applied it to a very heart-warming story.

Finding Nemo is a wonderful story about a father's love for his son. Marlin (Albert Brooks) is a timid Clown Fish. Nemo is his young son, the only surviving member of his family following a barracuda attack. Marlin wants his boy to be careful as he heads off for his first day of school. Nemo, a little head-strong and foolish is caught by a human and hauled away to an aquarium. The rest of this story is about these two beginning to understand each other.

In Marlin's quest to rescue Nemo, he is helped by a very fun collection of characters. Ellen DeGeneres plays the lovable Dory, a fish with a very short memory, but always wanting to help. I was also roaring with laugher over three sharks who have gone on the wagon. "Fish are friends, not food." is their motto, but not easy to accomplish. The sharks add to a central theme that all of these characters are trying to better themselves. They want to be more than they are. Marlin is working on his courage, Dory needs to improve her memory to help Marlin. The sharks want to mend their ways.

The animation is just incredible. Since the setting is underwater, nothing can ever be still. To create depth of field, there must be particulates in the water. This animation is a magnitude beyond Monsters, Inc.. This technology in service of this above average story (which is the only real reason for the technology to exist in the first place) has created a film that will be not only profitable this summer, but will be around for a very long time in home video.

This is the last film of Pixar's deal with the Walt Disney Company. There is much speculation about whether or not Pixar will re-new with Disney. If they don't it's very clear Disney will be hurt, because Pixar is clearly the new animation powerhouse.

No Suction!

Film Facts

Cast
• Albert Brooks
• Ellen DeGeneres
• Alexander Gould
• Willem Dafoe
• Brad Garrett
• Allison Janney
• Austin Pendleton
• Stephen Root
• Vicki Lewis
• Joe Ranft
• Geoffrey Rush
• Andrew Stanton
• Elizabeth Perkins
• Nicholas Bird
• Bob Peterson
• Barry Humphries
• Eric Bana
• Bruce Spence
• Bill Hunter
• LuLu Ebeling
• Jordan Ranft
• Erica Beck
• Erik Per Sullivan
• John Ratzenberger

Directed by
Andrew Stanton
Lee Unkrich

Released in 2003

MPAA Rating: G

Reviewed by Mongo