ANI-MOVIES, *Finding Nemo

Andy Stanton co-directed Pixar's hit A Bug's Life, so when he became sole director of their blockbuster Finding Nemo, he had some big shoes to fill for what eventually became one of the highest-grossing animated movies of all time. Having no connection to 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea, this Pixar movie was written by Stanton was of course released by Disney. It was one of the first animated movies in a while that takes place largely underwater, but not in a fantasy or fairy tale setting, so it contains some realistic CGI even though the sea life maintains a cartoonish design to it.

In the Great Barrier Reef, a clownfish named Marlin has his wife and all of their eggs eaten up a barracuda, except for one surviving egg that he raises into his single son Nemo who Marlin is strongly dedicated to raising as safely as possible. When Nemo finally gets old enough to go to "school", the young fish with a shortened fin gets taken by a scuba diving dentist who takes him back to a tank at his office waiting to be a gift for his clueless niece. Meanwhile, Marlin teams up with Dory, a well-meaning fish with short-term memory who helps him on his journey to rescue his son. The only clue they have is a scuba mask the dentist left behind with his address on it, and they run into hypocritical sharks, mocking moonfish, warm-hearted whales, and surfer dude sea turtles. Somehow, Marlin's exploits are rumored all over the sea to the point that even some pelicans on the coast of Sydney hear about it and one of them helps get Marlin and Dory get to the office Nemo is being held at, where the young fish is planning his own escape with his fellow tankmates. There is of course a happy ending, but even after they're reunited, Marlin and Nemo still have to overcome at least one other hurdle before they reach that finale.

Finding Nemo was so successful that it got a sequel 13 years later titled Finding Dory focusing on the side-character's backstory. The voice acting in this feature is top notch with Albert Brooks as Marlin, even though the controversial Ellen DeGeneres as Dory is acceptable. Pixar should be praised for the unique designs for each creature that still maintain their personal brand of charm that the studio is famous for. The movie has a firmly established place in the annals of family animated features and unlike most of these types of releases it doesn't wear out its welcome after your children watch it for the fifth time that day.