This week's random Disney classic wheel landed on one of my all time favorites:
Finding Nemo. The amount of hours I put into watching this movie...unimaginable. And please, if you have not seen this movie yet (and I may judge you for it), please go and do so ASAP, especially before reading this blog, which will contain many spoilers. AND, if you watch this film, you can then go see it's predecessor,
Finding Dory. The original, though, is truly a classic and one of the most esteemed animated films of all time, so I highly recommend it.
Back to the critique... Possibly starting off as one of the most depressing scenes in the Disney franchise, Finding Nemo introduces Marlin, who is a clownfish living in an anemone (yeah, try pronouncing that one) in the Great Barrier Reef. However, he suffers a tragic incident where almost all of his and his wife, Coral's, eggs are killed in a barracuda attack. Only one damaged egg remains, which Marlin names Nemo. Once I saw this for the first time, I was in tears - I'm sure you all were, too.
Some time later in life, Marlin is overprotective of Nemo, who was born with a stunted right fin due to the barracuda attack that occurred when he was only an egg. It seems that Marlin is afraid that Nemo is not capable of doing things on his own, specifically cause of his deformed fin. So, on Nemo's first day of school, Marlin embarrasses Nemo, and the two argue. As an act of defiance, Nemo swims into open water - something he has not done before, especially due to his hurt fin - and approaches a nearby speedboat and hits the bottom of it. Of course, this is the emergence of the famous "he touched the butt" quote, thanks to Nemo's school friends. However, Nemo is then captured by a pair of scuba divers, taking him far across the sea and away from his father.
Horrified, Marlin pursues the boat in vain but meets Dory, a blue tang who suffers from acute short-term memory loss, and she offers her help. On the other hand, Nemo is placed in an aquarium at a dentist office in Sydney, Australia. He meets the "Tank Gang," including yellow tang Bubbles, starfish Peach, cleaner shrimp Jacques, blowfish Bloat, royal gramma Gurgle, and damselfish Deb, led by Gill, a Moorish idol. Nemo learns he is to be given to the dentist's young niece, Darla, who has killed lots of her previous fish. Gill devises a risky escape plan: Nemo, who can fit inside the aquarium's filter tube, will jam the filter with a pebble, forcing the dentist to put the fish into plastic bags while he cleans the tank, giving them the opportunity to roll out the window and into the harbor. Nemo attempts the maneuver, but fails and is even almost killed. Poor Nemo ):
On their adventure, Marlin and Dory encounter three sharks who have sworn to abstain from eating fish. Which, speaking of, I am just now realizing how many famous quotes are in this film - this scene is also where the famous "fish are friends, not food" quote comes from. Even though, after Marlin discovers a diver's mask that fell from the boat, he then accidentally hits Dory with it, giving her a nosebleed, causing the scent to send the great white shark into a feeding frenzy. Thankfully, though, the two fish flee after accidentally setting off a ring of old naval mines, which knock Marlin and Dory unconscious.
Marlin and Dory then wake up unharmed, but the mask falls into a deep trench. They descend after it and encounter an anglerfish that chases them. Surprisingly, Dory memorizes the address written on the goggles, and they escape. As they continue on their journey, Dory and Marlin not only receive directions from a school of moonfish, to which Marlin ignores, and stumble into a forest of painfully stinging jellyfish, but they also awaken in the East Australian Current with a group of sea turtles, including Crush and his son, Squirt - the most "surfer-dude" characters in the film. Marlin tells them about his quest, and the story is then relayed across the ocean to Sydney where a pelican, Nigel, tells the Tank Gang at the dentist office. Inspired by his father's bravery, Nemo makes another attempt to jam the filter and succeeds, and soon the aquarium is covered in green algae, succeeding in their previous plan.
Just to think that they have encountered enough on their adventure, Marlin and Dory exit the East Australian Current and are consumed by a blue whale. Dory even tries communicating with the whale, humorously, which pushes them through its blowhole at Sydney Harbour - just the place where they need to be. They meet Nigel, the pelican, who helps the pair escape from a group of seagulls ("MINE!") and takes them to the dentist's office. Unfortunately, the dentist has installed a new high-tech filter and rids the tank of the green algae, thus foiling the Tank Gang's escape. Darla arrives (Hey Alexa, play "Psycho" music), but Nemo plays dead to save himself. Nigel causes a disturbance, terrifying Darla, and throwing the office into chaos. Marlin, seeing Nemo's act, truly believes Nemo is dead. After the dentist throws Nigel out of the window (along with Marlin and Dory), Gill helps Nemo escape through a drain that leads to the ocean.
In low spirits, Marlin bids farewell to Nigel and Dory, and begins his journey home. Marlin's departure causes Dory to suddenly lose her memory and lose her sense of self. Nemo luckily reaches the ocean and meets Dory, but she does not remember him. However, her memory returns when she reads the word "Sydney" on a drainpipe, which matched the address on the scuba diver's mask. Dory then reunites Nemo with Marlin - so wholesome! - but a fishing trawler captures her in a net along with a school of groupers. With his father's blessing, Nemo creates enough courage to enter the net, and he and Marlin instruct all of the fish to swim down. Their combined force breaks the boat's net, allowing them to escape. Marlin and Nemo reconcile, leading their father-son bond to be unbreakable.
After a long adventure and returning home to the reef, Marlin is more confident, especially about Nemo going out on his own, while Dory has remained friends with the three sharks from before. As a way to finish off the story, Marlin and Dory see Nemo off as he goes to school all on his own, as it should be.
But what about the other fish at the dentist office? Well, the filter has broken, and the gang, having been put in bags, have escaped into the harbor. Still stuck in the bags, though they ponder what to do next, thus ending our fish favorite film.
All in all, Finding Nemo tells the story of an overprotective father who searches for his missing son. And yet, along the way, he learns to take risks and comes to terms with his son taking care of himself without his overprotective nature overwhelming the two. This Disney movie has all kinds of lessons to be learned from all types of backgrounds, but the most important one, of course, is to face your fears, take risks, and just keep swimming.
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