Finding Nemo is a masterpiece. Not just a great family film, but a bona fide masterpiece. After the two Toy Storys, and Monsters, Inc., Pixar has already set the bar for animated films pretty high. Remember that at the turn of the century the core Disney studio was putting out stuff like The Emperor’s New Groove, Lilo and Stitch and Brother Bear. Hardly all-time classics.
But Nemo is fantastic on any number of levels…
- Monsters, Inc. had a gimmick for the techie animation geeks. It did fur more realistically than ever before. In amidst all the slapstick and stunning action sequences, Sulley looks brilliant. But Nemo took this further with the most realistic depiction of underwater landscapes, motion and lighting there has ever been. From the reef to the fishtank, from the EAC to Sydney Harbour, each environment has its own rules and feel.
- The plot is brilliantly simple, and appeals to our most fundamental basic humanity. A bereaved and over-protective father loses his son, and sets out to get him back. This purpose gives the film both narrative drive, but more importantly, it resonates emotionally with us far more than many more recent animated blockbusters, like the utterly forgettable Monsters vs Aliens and Kung Fu Panda.
- There is real humanity and depth to every character that Marlin encounters in his quest. From the sharks to the community in the fishtank, the turtles to the pelicans. Even the ‘collective’ shoal of tuna (voiced by the excellent John Ratzenberger) have more personality than many newer characters driven more by merchandise potential…
- The voice work is uniformly brilliant. Albert Brooks and Ellen Degeneres are perfect, Willem Defoe is inspired casting as Gill, Allison Janney as Peach the starfish, Barry Humphries as Bruce (a shark in remission) and Geoffrey Rush as Nigel the Pelican. There’s never a sense of showboating ‘star’ performances, like Seth Rogen, or Robin Williams.
- The writing is sensational. Every scene is terrific and there are truly hilarious lines from start to finish
Shark bait woo ha ha!
Don’t hurl on the shell, dude – just waxed it
And I know funny. I”m a clown fish!
Fish are friends, not food
Just keep swimming, swimming, swimming…
We did it, we did it, there’ll be no eating here tonight, no eating here tonight, you’re on a di-et…
First you were all like “whoa”, and we were like “whoa”, and you were like “whoa…
That’s the shortest red light I’ve ever seen!
All this makes Nemo charming, laugh-out-loud funny, breathtaking, exc iting, touching, memorable, and eminently rewatchable. I should know, I’ve probably seen it more than 30 times… good job my kids like it too!
[…] June 9, 2009 by theproseandthepassion Nick Davies’ excellent Flat Earth News is a coruscating dissection of the state of the media today, uncovering poor fact-checking, little or no analysis, simply reporting what someone, anyone says. Then when that turns out to be BS, just report the opposite story later and pretend like the first article never happened. Kind of like Dory from Finding Nemo. […]