This is What Animation is All About

Rating: 10/10 (24 November 2003)

Take cutting edge computer animation, add a stellar vocal cast, mix liberally with spectacular visual effects and a laugh-out-loud funny script, and you get something approaching "Finding Nemo". Trying to describe the movie would be as unsatisfactory as trying to describe what chocolate tastes like to a person who has never tasted it.
Pixar has created a movie that is aimed at all audiences, and finds the mark in each case. This is a rare movie that is well-suited to every age group (with the possible exception of the youngest children... there are some moments which might be a bit intense for toddlers). I admit I'm very glad I'm an adult so I could catch some of the jokes which might go over a younger audience's head, but that takes nothing away from this wonderful movie as a whole.
While the animation is utterly breathtaking, it's the vocal talents of Albert Brooks, Ellen Degeneres, and a host of other perfectly chosen performers who make this movie such a constant delight.
Seeing this in the theatre first and later on DVD, I actually appreciate this gem of a feature more than when I first saw it on the big screen. It works incredibly in a theatre, but the DVD features were perfectly suited to digital media.
Just one final note... I wish that Pixar had run the "Exploring the Reef" featurette as an epilog to the movie. It's a "mocumentary" starring Jean-Michel Cousteau (Jacque's son), and while it has a serious message, it's wonderfully funny and worth the price of the DVD set all by itself.