An animated film with both Pixar and Disney qualities

Rating: 7/10 (18 July 2006)

Finding Nemo can be seen as the bridge between Pixar Studios and Walt Disney Studios. It is the result of filmmakers and crew meeting halfway on this bridge and including aspects from both production companies and making it work. Finding Nemo brings some of the adult humour of Pixar (as seen in Ice Age, Monsters inc, etc) and combines it with the morals and lessons that Disney wants to teach (as seen inuh.. every Disney film).
While it would be more than OK with me to simply omit the latter in animated features to leave room for comedy and nice visuals, I see at least some faint need for moral statements as films like this primarily cater to children. These kinds of morals and values lessons are thankfully kept to a minimum in Finding Nemo - but they are present and they do drag the film down on occasion.
Finding Nemo tells the story of a widowed clownfish named Marlin who frequently goes overboard trying to protect his only living son, Nemo, from the dangers and non-dangers of the ocean world. One day, Nemo is captured by a scuba diver and Marlin, devastated, is left to face his own fears to go and find Nemo.
Finding Nemo is an ocean ride with superb animations of sharks, jellyfish, whales, gulls, pelicans, lobsters, and humans. The film parodies human behavior by creating an ocean world that greatly reflects our own (crayfish mowing their lawns, sting-rays as teachers). At the same time it brings some of nature in. I loved the sea gulls more than anything because they are seen in such great contrast to Marlin who is so human; he is complex, thinking and refined. The gulls are simply "rat with wings" in this film and are portrayed as such. Totally brainless creatures but providers of the greatest comedy in Finding Nemo. So it is not only Disney and Pixar meeting halfway, but nature and human behavior meeting halfway too.
This is probably the closest (aside from maybe The Emperor's New Groove) Disney has come to making an adult-humoured animated film - and they needed Pixar to do it. 7/10