Finding Nemo

Pre-production of the film began in early 1997. The inspiration for Finding Nemo sprang from multiple experiences, going back to Stanton's childhood, when he loved going to the dentist to see the fish tank, assuming that the fish were from the ocean and wanted to go home. To ensure that the movements of the fish in the film were believable, the animators took a crash course in fish biology and oceanography. Thomas Newman composed the score for the film.


Premiering in Los Angeles on May 18, Finding Nemo was released in theaters in the United States on May 30, 2003. Upon its release, it received widespread acclaim from critics, who praised the visual elements, screenplay, animation, Newman's score and characters that have been cited as funny to both young moviegoers and their parents.^[3] It became the highest-grossing animated film at the time of its release, and the second-highest-grossing film of 2003, earning a total of $871 million worldwide by the end of its initial theatrical run.^[4] The film received four nominations at the 76th Academy Awards, and won the award for Best Animated Feature, becoming the first Pixar film to do so.


Finding Nemo is the best-selling DVD title of all time, with over 40 million copies sold as of 2006,^[5] 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 as the 10th greatest American animated film as part of their 10 Top 10 lists.^[6] A sequel, Finding Dory, was released in June 2016.

Plot

Clownfish Marlin and his wife, Coral, live happily in an anemone in the Great Barrier Reef. They are about to become parents, waiting for their many eggs to hatch. A barracuda approaches the anemone and knocks Marlin unconscious. Upon awakening, Marlin discovers that Coral and all but one of the eggs have been eaten by the barracuda; the last remaining egg is cracked. Marlin vows to keep his only surviving child safe.


Marlin becomes overprotective of his son, Nemo. On Nemo's first day at school, the two have a heated argument regarding Marlin's parenting approach. Nemo defiantly swims to a speedboat and is captured by scuba divers. Marlin frantically pursues the boat in vain. Marlin meets Dory, a blue tang with acute short-term memory loss, who offers to help him. The two encounter Bruce, Anchor, and Chum, three sharks who have sworn to abstain from eating fish. Marlin finds a diver's mask that fell from the boat and accidentally injures Dory with it. The scent of her blood sends Bruce into a frenzy and he accidentally sets off old naval mines; the sharks are able to swim to safety before the mines blow up, as are Marlin and Dory.


Nemo is placed in a fish tank in the office of dentist Philip Sherman in Sydney. He meets the "Tank Gang", led by Gill, a scarred Moorish idol. Sherman plans to give Nemo to his niece, Darla, who killed her previous pet fish. Gill, who also wishes to return to the ocean, devises an escape plan: Nemo must squeeze inside the aquarium's filter tube and block it with a pebble, obliging Sherman to put the fish into bags while he cleans the tank. This will allow them to roll out the window and into the harbor. Nemo tries but fails and is almost killed by the filter's machinery, causing Gill to feel deeply regretful.


The diver's mask falls into a deep trench. As Marlin and Dory search for it, they are attacked by an anglerfish but manage to trap it using the mask. Dory memorizes the address written on the mask. A school of moonfish give the pair directions to the East Australian Current. On their way, Marlin and Dory become trapped in a forest of jellyfish. After being stung and knocked unconscious, they awaken in the East Australian Current with a large group of sea turtles, including Crush and his son, Squirt. The story of Marlin's quest is relayed by the turtles all across the ocean to Sydney, where it reaches Nigel, a pelican who regularly converses with the Tank Gang. Nigel tells the Tank Gang of Marlin's journey, motivating Nemo to try blocking the filter again. Nemo is successful, and the aquarium quickly becomes covered in green algae.


After exiting the current, Marlin and Dory get lost and are consumed by a blue whale. The whale expels them through its blowhole into Sydney Harbour. Nigel takes them to Sherman's office, where Nemo is playing dead to avoid being given to Darla; this causes Marlin to believe Nemo is really dead. Sherman forces Nigel out of his office, and Gill helps Nemo escape through the sink drain that leads to the ocean.


Deeply shaken, Marlin mournfully says goodbye to Dory and begins heading home. Nemo meets Dory, who helps him reunite with Marlin. However, a fishing trawler captures her in a net along with a school of groupers. Nemo and Marlin work together, instructing the fish to swim down. Their combined force breaks the net, saving Dory. Some time later, Marlin--now more confident and outgoing--drops Nemo off at school. Dory joins Marlin, and together, they wave goodbye to Nemo as he leaves with his class.


Meanwhile, after the dentist's new filter breaks, the Tank Gang escapes into Sydney Harbour in their plastic bags. Now successfully in the ocean but still stuck in the bags, they ponder what to do next.