(A Bug's Life, Finding Nemo, A Story)
and Lee Unkrich (Finding Nemo, Monster's Inc, Toy Story 2, TV: Silk Stalkings)
Cast:
Marlin: Albert Brooks
Dory: Ellen DeGeneres
Nemo: Alexander Gould
Gill: Willem Dafoe
Bloat: Brad Garrett
Peach: Allison Janney
Gurgle: Austin Pendleton
Nigel: Geoffrey Rush
Crush: Andrew Stanton
Coral: Elizabeth Perkins
Bruce: Barry Humphries
Fish School: John Ratzenberger
Disney animation would be in a sorry state if it weren't for their
collaboration with Pixar.
Since The Lion King nearly a decade ago, the
quality of their animated output has been on a steep downhill slope to
oblivion with only Lilo & Stitch and Tarzan showing an upward blip. For the
most part the films have been average or forgettable (Hercules, The
Hunchback of Notre Dame, The Emperor's New Groove) but in the last couple of
years they've basically stunk (Dinosaur, Treasure Planet) with the emphasis
purely on flash and empty spectacle instead of story and characters.
Fortunately for Disney, their creative bankruptcy has been offset by the
genius of the entirely computer generated films of Pixar Animation Studios.
In the years since The Lion King, they've brought us the hilarious A Bug's
Life, the heartwarming Monsters Inc. and, in Toy Story and Toy Story 2, two
of the finest films ever made, animated or not. If not for Pixar, Disney
would be cartoon also-rans like Fox and Dreamworks.
Remarkably, the fifth feature from Pixar, Finding Nemo, finds them still at
the very top of their game. In a scene setter to rival the shooting of
Bambi's mother, clownfish parents Marlin and Coral are about to name their
several hundred babies when a barracuda attack leaves only Marlin and one
egg still floating. Naming it Nemo, he vows there and then never to let
anything happen to him. By the time Nemo's ready to start school (I know -
they're fish! But go with me here!) Marlin's over protection has become so
severe that Nemo rebels against him, swims off, and ends up being caught by
a diver and plonked in an aquarium in a dentist's waiting room.
The rest of the movie divides its time between Nemo in the tank and Marlin's
search for him. Along the way, both meet new friends and a plethora of
marine beasties to help and hinder them. Marlin's main companion is Dory, a
fish with short term memory loss, while Nemo befriends the tank escape
committee led by Angelfish Gill, who plot to spring Nemo before he's taken
home by the dentist's pet murdering niece.
Finding Nemo is truly glorious. Everything you could want in a great movie
is here - it's eye wateringly funny, eye wateringly poignant and eye
wateringly beautiful. At its heart it's a tale of the bond between father
and son, and this alone would be enough for most films. But throw in some
wonderful supporting characters, terrific set pieces, hilarious jokes both
visual and verbal, movie references from Mission: Impossible to The
Terminator to Hitchcock, and the fact that every single frame is an absolute
work of art and it all adds up to a movie that is a complete joy from start
to finish.
And I haven't even mentioned a voice cast that probably couldn't have been
bettered. Albert Brooks plays neurotic as good as anyone and he's perfect,
the running joke being that he's a clownfish who isn't funny. Dafoe reprises
his role from Animal Factory in fish form and he's also excellent, as are
turns from Geoffrey Rush as a helpful pelican and Barry Humphries as a
fishaholic shark. Director Stanton shows up as a surf dude turtle and steals
some of the best lines for himself. Best of all is DeGeneres, both hilarious
and moving as Dory, who has to have everything explained to her again every
two minutes.
I can't praise Finding Nemo highly enough. It's funny and exciting and
handles big themes without being preachy or schmaltzy, all topped off by the
best closing line in years. There shouldn't even be an argument - this is
the best film of 2003 by a country mile.
As of April 2009, Blu-rays and DVDs reviewed by the editor are watched on a Panasonic TH-37PX80B
37" Plasma TV with a Sony BDP-1500 Blu-ray player and played through a Yamaha DSP-AX820 amplifier.
PC games reviewed by the editor are on:
Since Jan 2011: Intel Quad Core Dell XPS 8100, i7 CPU 860 @ 2.80Ghz, 8Gb RAM, nVidia GeForce GTS 240, Windows 7
Since Nov 2005: Intel Pentium D 830 3.0Ghz, 1Gb RAM, 128Mb nVidia GeForce 6700XL, Windows XP
Since Aug 2003: Intel Pentium 4 2.66Ghz, 512Mb RAM, 128Mb GeForce4 MX440 graphics, Windows XP
Since May 2003: Intel Pentium 4 2.6Ghz, 512Mb RAM, 128Mb ATI Radeon 9600TX graphics, Windows XP
Since Jun 2002: Intel Pentium III 600Mhz, 384Mb RAM, Windows 98 SE, 64Mb ATI Radeon 8500LE
Since May 2000: Intel Pentium III 600Mhz, 384Mb RAM, Windows 98 SE, Voodoo 3 3000 AGP
