Finding Nemo

Produced by
John Lasseter (executive)
 Written by
Andrew Stanton
Bob Peterson
David Reynolds
Story:
Andrew Stanton
 Starring
Alexander Gould
Ellen DeGeneres
Willem Dafoe
Brat Garrett
Allison Janney
Austin Pendleton
Vicki Lewis
Stephen Root
Joe Ranft
Geoffrey Rush
John Ratzenberger
Andrew Stanton
Nicholas Bird
Barry Humphries
Eric Bana
Bruce Spence
Bob Peterson
 Music by
 Editors
 Cinematography
Jeremy Lasky
 Studios
 Distributors
 Release date (s)
 Language
 Preceded by
 Followed by
*Finding Dory* (2016)

“*71% of the Earth's surface is covered by water. That's a big place to find one fish.*”

―Tagline

***Finding Nemo*** is an American computer-animated comedy-drama film written and directed by Andrew Stanton, released by Walt Disney Pictures on May 30, 2003, and the fifth film produced by Pixar Animation Studios. It tells the story of the over-protective clownfish named Marlin (Albert Brooks), who searches for his son Nemo (Alexander Gould), along with a regal tang named Dory (Ellen DeGeneres) in Sydney Harbour. It is Pixar's first film to be released theatrically during the Northern Hemisphere summer. The film was re-released in 3D on September 14, 2012 and it was released on Blu-ray for the first time on December 4, 2012.

The film received critical acclaim and won the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. It was the second highest-grossing film of 2003, behind *The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King*, earning a total of $868 million worldwide. *Finding Nemo* is also the best-selling DVD of all time, with over 40 million copies sold as of 2007 (which was both before and after the release of the 2007 film Ratatouille), and was the highest-grossing G-rated film of all time, before Pixar's own *The Tigger Movie* overtook it. It is also the 5th highest-grossing animated film of all time and the 27th highest-grossing film of all time.

In 2008, the American Film Institute named it the 10th greatest animated film ever made during their Top 10. The sequel, *Finding Dory* was released on June 17th, 2016.

## Plot

Two clownfish, Marlin and his wife Coral, are admiring their new home in the Great Barrier Reef and their clutch of eggs that are due to hatch in a few days. Suddenly, a barracuda attacks them, leaving Marlin unconscious before eating Coral and all but one of their eggs. Marlin names this egg Nemo, a name that Coral liked.

A few years later, Nemo's first day of school arrives. Nemo has got a tiny right fin, due to a minor injury to his egg from the barracuda attack, which limits his swimming ability. After Marlin accidentally humiliates and infuriates Nemo during a school field trip, Nemo disobeys his father and sneaks away from the reef towards a boat, resulting in him being captured by scuba divers. As the boat sails away, one of the divers accidentally knocks his diving mask into the water.

While unsuccessfully attempting to save Nemo, Marlin meets Dory, a blue tang with short-term memory loss. While meeting three sharks on a fish-free diet, Bruce, a great white shark, Anchor, a hammerhead shark, and Chum, a mako shark, Marlin discovers the diver's mask that was dropped from the boat and notices an address written on it. However, when he argues with Dory and accidentally gives her a nosebleed, the scent of blood causes Bruce to lose control of himself and attempt to eat Marlin and Dory. The two escape from Bruce but the mask falls into a trench in the deep sea. During a hazardous struggle with an anglerfish in the trench, Dory realizes she is able to read the words written on the mask, "P. Sherman 42 Wallaby Way Sydney." The address leads them to Sydney, Australia, and Dory manages to remember it. After receiving directions to Sydney from a large school of moonfish, Marlin and Dory accidentally run into a bloom of jellyfish that nearly sting them to death; Marlin falls exhausted after the risky escape and wakes up to see a surf-cultured sea turtle named Crush, who takes Dory and him on the East Australian Current. In the current, Marlin reluctantly shares the details of his journey with a group of young sea turtles; his story spreads rapidly across the ocean through word of mouth and eventually reaches Nemo in Sydney.

Meanwhile, Nemo's captor - P. Sherman, a dentist - places him into a fish tank in his office on Sydney Harbour. There, Nemo meets a group of aquarium fish called the "Tank Gang", led by a crafty and ambitious moorish idol named Gill. The "Tank Gang" includes Bloat, a pufferfish; Bubbles, a yellow tang; Peach, a starfish; Gurgle, a Royal gramma; Jacques, a pacific cleaner shrimp; and Deb, a Blacktailed Humbug. The fish are frightened to learn that the dentist plans to give Nemo to his niece, Darla, who is infamous for killing a goldfish given to her previously, by constantly shaking her bag. In order to avoid this, Gill gives Nemo a role in an escape plan, which involves jamming the tank's filter and forcing the dentist to remove the fish from the tank to clean it manually. The fish could only be placed in plastic bags, at which point they could only roll out the window and into the harbor. After a friendly pelican named Nigel visits with news of Marlin's adventure, Nemo succeeds in jamming the filter, but the plan backfires when the dentist installs a new high-tech filter.

Upon leaving the East Australian Current, Marlin and Dory have become lost and are eaten by a whale. Inside the whale's mouth, Marlin desperately tries to escape while Dory tries to communicate with it. In response, the whale carries them to Sydney Harbour and expels them through his blowhole. They are met by Nigel, who recognizes Marlin from the stories he has heard and rescues him and Dory from a flock of hungry seagulls by scooping them into his beak and taking them to the dentist's office. By this time, Darla has arrived and the dentist is prepared to give Nemo to her. Nemo tries to play dead in hopes of saving himself, and, at the same time, Nigel arrives. Marlin sees Nemo and mistakes this act for the actual death of his son. When Nigel suddenly gets thrown out the window by the dentist, Gill helps Nemo escape into a drain through a sink after a chaotic struggle.

Overcome with despair, Marlin leaves Dory and begins to swim back home. Dory then loses her memory and starts complaining, but meets Nemo, who has reached the ocean through an underwater drainpipe. Dory's memory is restored after she reads the word "Sydney" on a nearby drainpipe and, has remembered her journey, she guides Nemo to Marlin who changes his sadness to happiness. After the two joyfully reunite, Dory is caught in a fishing net with a school of grouper. Nemo bravely enters the net and directs the group to swim downward to break the net, reminiscent of a similar scenario that occurred in the fish tank earlier. The fish, including Dory, succeed in breaking the net and escape. After some days, Nemo leaves for school once more and Marlin is no longer overprotective or doubtful of his son's safety, proudly watching Nemo swim away into the distance.

Back at the dentist's office, the high-tech filter breaks down and The Tank Gang have escaped into the harbor, but realize they are confined in plastic bags of water that the dentist put them into (when their plan has now worked) while cleaning the tank.

## Cast

* Alexander Gould as Nemo, a juvenile clownfish, Marlin's son
* Albert Brooks as Marlin, a male clownfish, Nemo's father
* Ellen DeGeneres as Dory, a Pacific Regal Blue Tang
* Willem Dafoe as Gill, a Moorish Idol, and the leader of the group
* Brad Garrett as Bloat, a Pufferfish
* Stephen Root as Bubbles, a Yellow Tang
* Vicki Lewis as Deb (and "Flo," Deb's reflection), a Four-Striped Damselfish
* Austin Pendleton as Gurgle, a Royal Gramma
* Allison Janney as Peach, a Starfish
* Joe Ranft as Jacques, a Pacific Cleaner Shrimp
* Barry Humphries as Bruce, a Great white shark
* Eric Bana as Anchor, a Hammerhead Shark
* Bruce Spence as Chum, a Mako Shark
* John Ratzenberger as the school of Moonfish
* Andrew Stanton as the seagulls, and Crush, a Green sea turtle
* Nicholas Bird as Squirt, a juvenile Sea Turtle, Crush's son
* Rove McManus as a Crab
* Geoffrey Rush as Nigel, a Brown Pelican
* Bob Peterson as Mr. Ray, a Spotted Eagle Ray, the school bus of the class, and the teacher of the class
* Erica Beck as Pearl, a juvenile Flapjack Octopus
* Jordy Ranft as Tad, a juvenile Yellow Longnose Butterflyfish
* Erik Per Sullivan as Sheldon, a juvenile Seahorse
* Bill Hunter as Dr. Philip Sherman, the dentist
* LuLu Ebeling as Darla, the dentist's niece
* Elizabeth Perkins as Coral, Marlin's wife

## Trivia

* Phil Proctor the voice actor of Bob, also played Igor from *The Rugrats Movie.*