Finding Nemo is a 2003 American animated comedy-drama adventure film produced by Pixar Animation Studios for Walt Disney Pictures. Directed by Andrew Stanton with co-direction by Lee Unkrich, the screenplay was written by Stanton, Bob Peterson, and David Reynolds from a story by Stanton. The film stars the voices of Albert Brooks, Ellen DeGeneres, Alexander Gould, Willem Dafoe, and Geoffrey Rush. It tells the story of an overprotective clownfish named Marlin (Brooks) who, along with a forgetful regal blue tang named Dory (DeGeneres), searches for his missing son Nemo (Gould). Along the way, Marlin learns to take risks and comes to terms with Nemo taking care of himself.
Pre-production of the film began in early 1997. The inspiration for Finding Nemo sprang from multiple experiences, going back to Stanton's childhood, when he loved going to the dentist to see the fish tank, assuming that the fish were from the ocean and wanted to go home. To ensure that the movements of the fish in the film were believable, the animators took a crash course in fish biology and oceanography. Thomas Newman composed the score for the film.
Premiering in Los Angeles on May 18, Finding Nemo was released in theaters in the United States on May 30, 2003. Upon its release, it received widespread acclaim from critics, who praised the visual elements, screenplay, animation, Newman's score and characters that have been cited as funny to both young moviegoers and their parents. It also became the highest-grossing animated film at the time of its release, and was the second-highest-grossing film of 2003, earning a total of $871 million worldwide by the end of its initial theatrical run. The film received three nominations at the 76th Academy Awards, winning one for Best Animated Feature, becoming the first Pixar film to do so.
Finding Nemo is the best-selling DVD title of all time, with over 40 million copies sold , and was the highest-grossing G-rated film of all time before Pixar's own Toy Story 3 overtook it. The film was re-released in 3D in 2012. In 2008, the American Film Institute named it as the 10th greatest American animated film as part of their 10 Top 10 lists. A sequel, Finding Dory, was released in June 2016.
Plot
Clownfish Marlin lives in an anemone in the Great Barrier Reef with his partner, Coral. The couple are awaiting for their many eggs to hatch. A hungry barracuda sees Coral and Marlin, with the rest of their neighbourhood hiding. Coral fears she will lose her babies and rushes down to protect them, encouraging the barracuda to eat Coral and most of their eggs, knocking Marlin out in the process when he tries to protect Coral. One egg remains uneaten, with it being slightly cracked. Marlin vows to keep his only surviving child safe. Marlin becomes overprotective of his son, Nemo. While Marlin talks to Nemo's teacher on the latter's first day of school, Nemo approaches a speedboat, where a pair of scuba divers capture him. Marlin pursues the boat in vain and meets Dory, a blue tang with acute short-term memory loss, who offers her help. The two encounter Bruce, Anchor, and Chum, three sharks who have sworn to abstain from eating fish. Marlin finds a diver's mask that fell from the boat, accidentally hitting Dory and giving her a nosebleed. The scent of her blood sends Bruce into a feeding frenzy, but the sharks flee after accidentally setting off old naval mines, which knock Marlin and Dory unconscious.
Nemo is placed in a Fish Tank in the office of dentist Philip Sherman in Sydney. He meets the "Tank Gang" led by Gill, a Moorish idol. The Tank Gang tells Nemo that he will be given to Sherman's niece, Darla, who killed her previous fish. Gill decides to help Nemo and devises an escape plan: Nemo can fit inside the aquarium's filter tube and must block it with a pebble, obliging Sherman to put the fish into plastic bags while he cleans the tank. This will allow them to roll out the window and into the harbor. Nemo attempts to place the pebble, but fails and is almost killed.
Marlin and Dory awaken, but the mask falls into a deep trench. Descending after the mask, they are soon pursued by an anglerfish. Dory memorizes the address on the goggles, and they escape. The two disregard directions from a school of moonfish, taking what Marlin believes is a safer route. After being stung by a forest of jellyfish, they are knocked unconscious and awaken in the East Australian Current with a group of sea turtles, including Crush and his son, Squirt. The story of Marlin's quest is relayed across the ocean to Sydney, where a pelican named Nigel tells the Tank Gang. Nemo then successfully blocks the filter, and soon, the aquarium is covered in green algae.