Channel Awesome
How come they never bumped into Sebastian the crab? Doug takes a look at Finding Nemo.
Tagged with: 2003 animation channel awesome disney disneycember doug walker movies
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Love the movie and mostly agree with the review. My sister and I quote this movie more than any other movie (even non Disney movies). Every time I watch this movie I’m always left with a special feeling that I can’t place with a name. No other movies have been able to recreate it (although some have come close). And it isn’t a nostalgic feeling (though I have that too). It’s more like an uplifting feeling, just something more. It’s very strange and it’s very hard to define, but nevertheless, I still feel it every time I watch it.
What bothers me is the posters on this movie. It always portrays Bruce in the background with an evil grin like he’s gonna be the bad guy, which I thought to myself “Why is the shark the bad guy? That’s become cliched by now.”
Thankfully, the shark was actually not the bad guy. Okay, he does try to eat our heroes but it wasn’t exactly his fault.
I think that’s another great aspect of the film. There are no real villains. It’s just animals acting on instinct and humans being humans just doing their daily thing. I like the dentist. He clearly cares about fish and only took Nemo home with him because he thought he wouldn’t make it in the wild. He even cancels an appointment just to clean his fish tank, that’s a dedicated owner.
Oh and I’m really REALLY glad they didn’t make Bruce the villain. That’s just his smile 😀 I love how the posters were basically fooling the audience with looks can be deceiving.
This is one of the most perfect films in existence for me. Everything flows smoothly, all the characters are identifiable, the music is beautiful, the message is deep (no pun intended) and to top it off, it’s dark! It’s very Don Bluth in the idea that you can show kids anything as long as you have a happy ending. This movie definitely ups the drama and the stakes. In the first three minutes the main character’s beloved is murdered and so are her unborn children. Oh my God! That’s terrifying!
The whole point of the film is to show the world is beautiful and dangerous and they show both aspects perfectly. It’s actually very adult in its overall themes. We have parallels to the human world by using the animal world, very Kipling in a way.
Marlin is a fantastic character! Albert Brooks was just a wonderful casting choice. He’s like the male Mrs Brisby, constantly scared throughout the adventure but keeping level headed and summoning bravery to find his son proving a father’s love can overcome all obstacles. I just want to hug him after that ordeal he’s been through a lot and in my opinion deserves every ounce of respect.
The adult themes in this movie are great too, and I appreciate them a lot more now that I’m older.
-The Barracuda can be equated with serial killers
-Dory is a brilliantly written character and while she is seen by some as a comedic character I think she goes deeper than that. She has Short Term Memory but is shown to be incredibly intelligent throughout the movie, mentally and emotionally. She can be silly and spontaneous and get on the nerves of other fish but she can also be mature and wise, showing that just because someone has a mental illness that does not make them slow or stupid and by God that monologue of hers towards the end always gets me. Go Ellen!
-Nemo and the rest of the kids in this movie are written as what they are supposed to be. Kids! There’s never any cutesy pandering or precociousness, it’s all very natural. Nemo while not the main character is important to the story because his disability can wear him down but Marlin has to realise that he should focus on what his disabled son can do rather than what he can’t do.
-The Sharks represent don’t judge a book by its cover and may also represent alcoholics. Actor Barry Humphries was still struggling with alcoholism at this time and his character Bruce was apparently really helpful. This is one of the few films where they actually capture the truthful nature of sharks. Yes they can be dangerous and turn primal when they smell blood but they are NOT mindless killers. In real life sharks almost never kill humans or even go near them.
-Crush has now become the butt of jokes for being high but in the wild sea turtles are known to ingest jellyfish and the venom doesn’t harm them but it does intoxicated them. So Crush’s amazement at Marlin “taking on the jellies,” may have similar connotations than we thought
-The Anglerfish is another example of not judging something based on appearance. Scary looking sharks can be really nice and beautiful orbs of light can be instant death.
– The Jellyfish and the Seagulls can also serve as a metaphor for dangerous gangs. This contrasts perfectly with the Tank Gang being a good gang as they all protect Nemo, especially Gill acting as a surrogate father.
Willem Dafoe, Gill’s voice actor describes Nemo as “an innocent in a harsh world.”
-It’s just beautiful in the way it depicts these themes and I can watch this film over and over and still enjoy it every time. “The sea is a very dramatic, mysterious place with many dangers and many allies,” Couldn’t have said it any better myself, that what’s sums up this film. 🙂