One of Pixar's greatest animated features

Rating: 10/10 (13 February 2017)

Pixar has been on a consistent roll of success since their first animated feature "Toy Story". With their beloved oceanic tale of a clown-fish father looking for his kidnapped son, Pixar struck gold with their audiences all over the globe.
The animation juggernaut is well known for creating relatable characters and the fishy residents of Sydney, Australia, and the Great Barrier Reef are no different. Many parents can relate to the worrisome nature of clown-fish Marlin, a father who has grown far too overprotective of his son (the titular Nemo) after a tragedy takes away his family except for his lone son, and children can relate to Nemo wanting to rebel and care for himself, but is stifled by Marlin's constant hovering, as well as Nemo's fear when he first arrives in the tank at the dentist's office. And then there can those of us who are forgetful can see ourselves in the lovably space-case Dory, but Dory also is loyal, cheerful and kindhearted despite her lapses in memory.
The voice casting in the film is pitch perfect. Forming the film's familial bond are comedic-dramatic actor Albert Brooks as the high-strung Marlin, hilariously overzealous while maintaining a serious tone in appropriate scenes, and young actor Alexander Gould brings a wonderful naivety yet youthful boldness to Nemo, maturing well through the film as he goes from an impulsive child to a smarter and brave kid who will pull his weight.
The film's first set of comedic relief is the hilariously diverse tank gang who reside in an Austrailian dentist's fish tank where Nemo ends up and needs to escape from. With memorable characters like the bubble-obsessed yellow tang Bubbles (voiced by 'NewRadio' alumni Stephen Root), French cleaner shrimp Jacques (voiced with a spot-on faux accent by the late Joe Ranft), the motherly and tank gang watchdog starfish Peach (voice of Allison Janney of 'Juno' and the sitcom 'Mom' fame), kindhearted and prone to random bloating flair-ups blow-fish Bloat (voiced by Brad Garrett), neurotic royal gamma Gurgle (voiced to perfection by Austin Pendleton) and the ditzy but sweet Deb (voived by another 'NewsRadio' alumni Vicki Lewis) who thinks her reflection in the tank's glass is her twin sister. Leading the ragtag group that Nemo finds himself surrounded by is the grizzled and father figure-like butterfly fish Gill (voiced perfectly by Willem Dafoe, whose iconic low vocal tones are utilized to perfection), the tank leader who is more than determined to escape the confines of the office and glass prison.
However the film's scene-stealing, or should it be said movie-stealing, character is the lovably forgetful Dory voiced to comedic brilliance by talk show host and comedienne Ellen DeGeneres. Dory is initially a massive pain in the neck for Marlin as her memory lapses test the clown-fish's patience, but her devoted and helpful nature soon grow on the stingy Marlin. The film's comic relief from the drama of the situation that Marlin finds himself in, Dory is always an optimist who sees the bright side of a problem. Her funniest moment would arguably be Dory's whale-talking after she and Marlin have disembarked the sea turtle driven EAC (East Australian Current). DeGeneres goes hilariously over the top as she makes various oddball sounds that sometimes sound like whale intonations but other times are just random guttural or bizarre shouts that will split sides and force tears of laughter.
Lush animations based on actual sketches of the Great Barrier Reef and its oceanic specimens as well the surrounding Sydney neighborhood are breathtaking and put us right in the environments the characters live in.
A wonderful family film that will make you laugh, cry and hug your relatives even tighter.