Finding Nemo

Finding Nemo is a 2003 American computer-animated adventure film produced by Pixar Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures. Directed and co-written by Andrew Stanton with co-direction by Lee Unkrich,the screenplay was written by Bob Peterson, David Reynolds, and Stanton from a story by Stanton. The film stars the voices of Albert Brooks, Ellen DeGeneres, Alexander Gould, and Willem Dafoe. It tells the story of the overprotective clownfish named Marlin who, along with a regal blue tang named Dory, searches for his abducted son Nemo all the way to Sydney Harbour. Along the way, Marlin learns to take risks and comes to terms with Nemo taking care of himself.

Finding Nemo was released on May 30, 2003, and it won the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. It was also nominated in three more categories, including Best Original Screenplay. Finding Nemo became the highest-grossing animated film at the time and was the second-highest-grossing film of 2003, earning a total of $867 million worldwide by the end of its initial theatrical run.

The film is the best-selling DVD title of all time, with over 40 million copies sold as of 2006, and was the highest-grossing G-rated film of all time before Pixar's own Toy Story 3 overtook it. The film was re-released in 3D in 2012. In 2008, the American Film Institute named it the 10th greatest animated film ever made as part of their 10 Top 10 lists. In a 2016 poll of international critics conducted by BBC, Finding Nemo was voted one of the 100 greatest motion pictures since 2000. A sequel, Finding Dory, was released on June 17, 2016 in the United States.

Plot
Nemo is a young clownfish who lives with his father Marlin in an anemone in the Great Barrier Reef. Nemo, despite being hampered by a lame right fin, is eager to explore life around the ocean. Marlin, however, is overprotective of him, having lost his wife Coral and all their other eggs in a barracuda attack, leaving Nemo as his only child. On Nemo's first day of school, Marlin unintentionally embarrasses him, and while Marlin is distracted with the teacher, Mr. Ray, Nemo defiantly sneaks away from the reef toward a speedboat, where he is captured by a pair of scuba divers. Marlin tries to chase the boat and meets Dory, a blue tang who suffers from acute short-term memory loss, who offers her help. During an encounter with three sharks who have sworn to abstain from eating other fish, Marlin notices a diver's mask that fell from the boat that took Nemo. Marlin and Dory fight over the mask, giving Dory a nose bleed, which sends one of the sharks into a feeding frenzy, and Marlin and Dory narrowly escape, but are knocked unconscious when the sharks accidentally set off a ring of old naval mines.

Meanwhile, Nemo is placed in an aquarium in a dentist's office in Sydney, Australia, where 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. That night, Nemo learns he is to be given to the dentist's young niece, Darla, whose rough treatment has killed most 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 almost killed, leaving Gill guilt-ridden.

Marlin and Dory wake up unharmed, but the mask falls into a deep sea trench. Swimming after it, Marlin is chased by an anglerfish, while Dory reads the address and recites it repeatedly to commit it to memory. Dory and Marlin receive directions from a school of moonfish, but Marlin disregards their instructions to take what he believes is a safer route, leading them into a forest of jellyfish where they end up unconscious from all the jellyfish stings. Marlin and Dory wake up to find themselves on the East Australian Current with a group of friendly sea turtles including Crush and his son, Squirt. Marlin tells them about his quest, impressing them, and the story is relayed across the ocean, all the way to the dentist's office, where a pelican named Nigel tells the Tank Gang. Inspired by his father's bravery, Nemo makes another attempt to jam the filter and succeeds, and soon the aquarium's contents are covered in green algae.

Marlin and Dory exit the East Australian Current and are engulfed by a blue whale. Dory communicates with the whale, who carries them to Sydney Harbor and expels them through its blowhole. There, they meet Nigel, who help the pair escape from a group of seagulls and takes them to the dentist's office. Meanwhile, the dentist has installed a new high-tech filter, foiling the Tank Gang's escape. Darla arrives, and the dentist prepares to give Nemo to her. Nemo plays dead to save himself as Nigel causes a disturbance, terrifying Darla and throwing the office into chaos. After the dentist throws Nigel out, Gill helps Nemo escape through a drain that leads to the ocean.

Thinking that Nemo is dead, Marlin thanks and bids farewell to Dory and begins his journey home. Marlin's departure causes Dory to lose her memory. She meets Nemo as he reaches the ocean, but does not remember him. However, Dory's memory returns when she reads the word "Sydney" on a drainpipe. She reunites Nemo with Marlin, but is caught by a fishing trawler with a school of grouper. With Marlin’s blessing, Nemo enters the net and he and Marlin order the fish to swim down in order to break the boat's net to escape. After returning home to the reef, Marlin and Dory watch Mr. Ray take Nemo and his friends on a field trip. At the dentist's, the filter has broken, and the gang, having been put in bags, roll out of the window and into the harbor. Still stuck, they ponder what happens next.

Voice cast[edit]

Voice cast

 * Albert Brooks as Marlin, a male clownfish, Nemo's father and the protagonist
 * Ellen DeGeneres as Dory, a Pacific Regal Blue Tang and the deuteragonist
 * Alexander Gould as Nemo, a juvenile clownfish, Marlin's son and the titular tritagonist
 * Willem Dafoe as Gill, a Moorish Idol, and the leader of the group
 * Brad Garrett as Bloat, a Pufferfish
 * Allison Janney as Peach, a Starfish
 * Austin Pendleton as Gurgle, a Royal Gamma
 * Stephen Root as Bubbles, a Yellow Tang
 * Vicki Lewis as Deb (and "Flo," Deb's reflection), a Four-Striped Damselfish
 * Joe Ranft as Jacques, a Pacific Cleaner Shrimp
 * Geoffrey Rush as Nigel, a Brown Pelican
 * John Ratzenberger as the school of Moonfish
 * Andrew Stanton as Crush, a Green sea turtle
 * Nicholas Bird as Squirt, a juvenile Sea Turtle, Crush's son
 * Bob Peterson as Mr. Ray, a Spotted Eagle Ray, the school bus of the class, and the teacher of the class
 * Barry Humphries as Bruce, a Great white shark
 * Eric Bana as Anchor, a Hammerhead Shark
 * Bruce Spence as Chum, a Mako Shark
 * Jordy Ranft as Tad, a juvenile Yellow Longnose Butterflyfish
 * Erica Beck as Pearl, a juvenile Flapjack Octopus
 * Erik Per Sullivan as Sheldon, a juvenile Seahorse
 * Bill Hunter as Dr. Philip Sherman, the dentist
 * LuLu Ebeling as Darla, Dr. Sherman's bratty niece
 * Elizabeth Perkins as Coral, Marlin's wife

Additional Voices

 * Carlos Alazraqui
 * Jack Angel
 * James S. Baker
 * Bob Bergen
 * Bobby Block
 * Susan Blu
 * Geoff Brooks
 * Jane Carr
 * Jennifer Darling
 * Paul Eiding
 * Jessie Flower
 * Aaron Fors
 * Leland Grossman
 * Bradley Trevor Greive
 * Jess Harnell - Seagulls
 * Lili Ishida
 * Marc John Jefferies
 * Caroline Kindred
 * Oliver Kindred
 * Noah Luke
 * Sherry Lynn
 * Danny Mann
 * Andrew McDonough
 * Mickie McGowan
 * Royo McManus
 * Alec Medlock
 * Laura Marano
 * Vanessa Marano
 * Nicole Miller
 * Laraine Newman
 * Annelise Nolting
 * Lisa Peers-Lyleson
 * Bob Peterson
 * Jeff Pidgeon
 * Phil Proctor
 * Jan Rabson - Seagulls
 * Katherine Ringgold
 * Daryl Sabara
 * Evan Sabara
 * David Ian Salter
 * Emmott Shoemaker
 * Eliza Schneider
 * Andrew Stanton
 * Ben Stanton
 * Lee Unkrich
 * James Kevin Ward
 * Kali Whitehurst

Marketing
McDonald's promoted the film with a set of 8 happy meal toys featuring the characters from the film.
 * The film's teaser trailer was released on September 17, 2002 which was attached the Monsters, Inc. DVD and VHS, and was later shown in theaters with other films such as Spirited Away, Lost in a City, Jonah: A Veggietales Movie, Tuck Everlasting, and The Truth About Charlie.
 * The film's first theatrical trailer was released on November 1, 2002, and was shown before films such as One Lost Elmor, The Santa Clause 2 and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, and The Emperor's Club.
 * The film's second theatrical trailer was released on November 27, 2002, and was shown before films such as Treasure Planet, The Hot Chick, 25th Hour, Nessy: Tale of the Sea Monster, The Lion King (I-MAX release), The Wild Thornberrys Movie and Kangaroo Jack. 
 * The third and final theatrical trailer was released in February 2003, and was later shown before The Jungle Book 2, Ghosts of the Abyss, Puyo Puyo, Holes, Piglet's Big Movie, X2, The Lizzie McGuire Movie and Daddy Day Care.