A Funny Joy!

Rating: 10/10 (22 December 2005)

"Finding Nemo" is a complete joy!
It shows the value of using character actors for voices, rather than bimbos and himbos whose faces you can't see anyway. Not only wonderful are Albert Brooks as a worry wart dad (that's not a fish species) and Ellen DeGeneres (whose character is clearly inspired by Ani Di Franco's song "Little Plastic Castle": "They say goldfish have no memory/I guess their lives are much like mine/and the little plastic castle/is a surprise every time/and it's hard to say if they're happy/but they don't seem much to mind."), but we get to hear real Australian accents via Geoffrey Rush and Eric Bana. Phil Procter (of Firesign Theater) was listed as one of the many ancillary voices -- my husband commented that he could have done all the voices.
The side characters are more than charming -- surfer dude tortoises, 12-stepping sharks and dynamic interactions in a prison, er, aquarium. The references to old movies are very funny, including "The Birds" and "Psycho" (with credited use of that screechy music).
As a dentist's daughter, though, I do protest the stereotypes about pain and tooth-pulling.
And why do all Disney movies have to have a dead parent?
But at least we didn't have to suffer through the usual schmaltzy ballads as surprisingly this isn't a musical.
It's worth staying for all the credits as the amusing animation continues to the very end.
Though the jokes should appeal to all ages, the toddler running loose in our theater was probably too young, until a character on screen shouted out "You there, stop!" and she did, mesmerized wide-mouthed that the movie was talking to her, giving her mother time to catch her and take her outside.
(originally written 6/15/2003)