An early classic from Pixar

Rating: 9/10 (1 September 2016)

Marlin in a timid clown fish living with his son Nemo in an anemone on the Great Barrier Reef that is until Nemo is captured by a diver. Now Marlin must brave the dangers of the open ocean to find Nemo again. He is accompanied by a regal blue tang named Dory; Dory has a problem with her short term memory so quickly forgets everything. Together they find a mask lost by one of the divers and learn that they came from Sydney; on the way there they encounter sharks, an angler fish, jelly fish and a group of sea turtles. Meanwhile Nemo finds himself in the aquarium of a North Sydney dentist. Here he meets a variety of other fish and learns that the dentist intends to give him to his niece as a pet something that means almost certain death given how she treated the previous fish she was given.
This, Pixar's fifth film, got off to a great start, it was darker than I expected but done in a way that shouldn't be too upsetting for even the youngest of viewers. Marlin's wife is killed by a barracuda and every egg except Nemo is lost but none of the details are shown. Once that is over it quickly moves on to introducing young Nemo then his capture by the diver that sets the story in motion. The parallel stories of Marlin, and his new friend Dory, searching for Nemo and Nemo's interaction with the other fish in the aquarium and their plans for his escape are nicely interwoven. Each has plenty of drama; none of it is too scary though and where there are scary moments they are lightened by some comedy such as the trio of sharks that are trying to stop eating fish. The characters may be fish but they still have plenty of personality; especially the central trio of Marlin, Dory and Nemo. Each of these is distinctive; Marlin is timid and pessimistic, Nemo is full of youthful enthusiasm and Dory is cheery despite her memory problems. The secondary characters are fun too; I particularly liked the 'surfer-dude' sea turtles! As one would expect from Pixar the animation is top notch, the undersea environment looks fantastic and the actors who provide the voices to the characters to an excellent job. Overall this is a fun film that, while aimed at a younger audience, can be enjoyed by all ages.