Amidst the ocean of movie releases that comes out each year, Finding Nemo has eluded me since it’s original 2003 release. But after receiving accolades as not only one of the best animated films, but one of the best feature films, of all time, then becoming one of the best-selling DVD releases in history, Nemo and his friends jump from the proverbial pond that is the small screen back to the sea of movie theaters, this time making an even bigger splash in 3-D.
Nemo (Alexander Gould) and Marlin (Albert Brooks) are a happy father and son in "Finding Nemo"
Though I can’t honestly compare the original version to this new 3-D version, what I can say is that Pixar definitely created a beautifully rendered animated version of the already colorful world that exists in the coral reefs and in the deepest, darkest parts of the oceans. It’s a world most of us never get to see in person, so seeing it brought to three-dimensional Pixar life is an impressive sight.
Like most Pixar films, no matter what setting the characters are in, it’s going to be a comical adventure. And Finding Nemo is no exception. After his wife and eggs are eaten by a predatory sea creature, Marlin (who’s not a marlin at all, but a clownfish voiced by Albert Brooks) becomes the lovingly overprotective father of Nemo (Alexander Gould), who is born with a gimp fin. Nemo has never betrayed his father’s trust, but in a sole act of defiance on his first day of school (see what they did there?), Nemo is captured by a scuba diver and added to the aquarium of an Australian dentist’s office. From there, Marlin’s search for Nemo is a parallel adventure to Nemo’s attempts to escape from the aquarium and get back to the ocean.
Along the way, they both encounter an interesting cast of characters. Marlin befriends Dory (Ellen DeGeneres), a Pacific blue tang with short-term memory loss. And Nemo meets an aquarium full exotic creatures such as a pufferfish names Bloat (Brad Garrett), a starfish named Peach (Allison Janney), a shrimp names Jacques (Joe Ranft) and Gill, a scarred moorish idol voiced by Willem Dafoe who wants Nemo to find his freedom as badly as Nemo himself does.
Dory (Ellen DeGeneres) and Marlin (Albert Brooks) are pursued by a great white shark (Barry Humphries) in "Finding Nemo"
Along the way to Sydney Harbour to find Nemo, Marlin and Dory encounter an Alcoholics Anonymous-like group of sharks who have vowed that fish are friends, not food, illuminated predators from the oceans darkest depths, a group of laid-back sea turtles and other helpful creatures willing to lend a helping fin. After a chase scene reminiscent of the Millennium Falcon‘s asteroid belt evasion, Marlin and Dory find themselves in a seemingly perilous Moby-Dick-like situation inside a whale, and in what has to be a reference to the field of poppies in The Wizard of Oz, they’re also bombarded by jellyfish when they make a wrong turn, and Dory comes out worse for wear after receiving a few jellyfish stings. But these are the types of tragedies that have always led to big Disney triumphs, and through determination and the learning of life lessons, Marlin and Nemo simply have to find each other in the end.
As visually and thematically glorious as Finding Nemo must have been the first time around, the added 3-D effects make it all the more immersive. But that’s not the only new addition to this release, as it is preceded by a new Toy Story short called Partysaurus Rex. After Woody (Tom Hanks) and the rest of the gang reject Rex (Wallace Shawn), he finds a new group of friends in the bathtub who want to party for more than their allotted 15 minutes each day. Because he has arms, Rex is able to turn the water on to help create a rave-like bubble bath scored by BT. So from the bathtub to the ocean, there are plenty of aquatic adventures to be had with this Finding Nemo rerelease.
Finding Nemo 3D. Directed by Andrew Stanton. Starring Alexander Gould, Albert Brooks and Ellen DeGeneres. Rated G. www.disney.go.com/finding-nemo/home/