As good as animation gets

Rating: 8/10 (6 October 2004)

I'm not a big fan of animation. In fact, up until I saw Finding Nemo, I had never seen an animated film that I love. Now that I have seen it, however, that's all changed. With it's vivacious characters, sublime animation and wonderful voice acting; Finding Nemo is a winner all the way. The story follows a young clown fish who is, believe it or not, called Nemo. A shark killed Nemo's mother and siblings, and this has lead his father to be overprotective of his only son. This over-protectiveness leads to rebellion from Nemo - you know what kids are like - and no sooner has his dad told him not to go near the boat, is he tapping the bottom of it with his fin, getting caught by a diver and then being taken to a fish tank in a Sydney dentist's surgery. Of course, his dad isn't going to take this lying down and so begins an epic journey in which he risks life and fin (sorry) to, you guessed it, find Nemo.
As mentioned, the animation in this film is absolutely wonderful. By far and away the best picture that Pixar have ever created, in terms of looks and finished item. The colour scheme for the movie is extremely vibrant, and is therefore aesthetically pleasing for the duration. The film also does a fantastic job of creating it's own world; the sea is a place that is busy and bursting with life. Throughout the film, our hero's are confronted with many challenges and inventive characters - from the sharks that want to stop eating fish, to the forest of jellyfish, down to the escape artist Gill (voiced to perfection by William Dafoe), Finding Nemo has no shortage of vivacity in it.
The film is as impressive as far as substance goes, as it is on the visual front. The characters in Finding Nemo give the film a lot of it's substance and, aside from the fact that they're mostly talking fish, feel very real and almost have a life of their own. In an animated children's film, you don't expect to see characters the likes of what's on show here, but Finding Nemo delivers on the character front too. Our main hero's are great creations; we have Marlin, the father. He's very neurotic and wouldn't be out of place in a Woody Allen film (aside from the fact that he's a talking fish, obviously). His opposite number is a lovable, if forgetful female blue tang fish called Dory. Dory is a brilliant character, she is funny yet never irritating throughout the movie and it is somewhat because of her that the movie plays out so well. These two have a great chemistry on screen, which is better than a lot of the chemistries in 'serious' films. Nemo himself is your typical child  thinks he knows it all, but doesn't. And the film wins realism points for this too. There is a great menagerie for the support cast, which includes turtles, whales, sharks and much more; and all of them are brilliant examples of the kind of imagination that has gone into this film.
There are also several life lessons on display in this film, and those are what lifts Finding Nemo from merely an animation film, to a film that can be respected by adults, as much as by children. The life lessons on offer are; listen to your parents, shown clearly by the fact that this whole fiasco is born of a result of Nemo disobeying his dad. There's also themes, on the other hand, of how overprotecting your children can lead to them viewing you with contempt; and the movie strikes a balance, like it does on the whole, between both sides of the parental structure. Aside from the family based messages, the film also has things to say that certain people and countries would do well to note; first of all, interfering with nature is not nice, and stemming from that is the message that if you have the power, it doesn't mean you have the right to use it; clearly portrayed by the diver that takes Nemo from his home. The fact that the film has all these themes, and still manages to be deliriously entertaining is testament to it's brilliance. Many films that profess substance don't have as much as this little caper does.
Overall, animation doesn't get any better than this. Finding Nemo is fun for children, but there is MORE than enough for adults to enjoy, and I would have no qualms with recommending this movie to anyone.