30 Second Bottom Line: An overprotective clownfish searches the waters of Australia’s Great Barrier Reef to rescue his son, a captive in a dentist’s fish tank.

Story Line: It’s all about letting go. Yeah, giving the kids freedom, letting them wing it. But, man, that is tough to do. So it goes for overprotective fish-dad Marlin, voiced with perfect anxiety by the always-paranoid Albert Brooks. After losing his wife and all of his children except little Nemo to a hungry bigger fish, it’s no wonder he’s a nervous wreck about the welfare of his only son. When Nemo—in an act of typical childhood rebellion—disobeys his dad’s warnings and swims toward the water’s brightly lit surface, the youngster finds himself captured by a scuba diver and plopped into a dental office’s fishtank.

Surrounded by a hilarious assortment of fish specimens—including Gill, a mysteriously scarred angelfish voiced by Willem Dafoe—Nemo begins to plot his escape. ("Fish aren’t meant to be in a box, kid," Gill mutters to Nemo, "it does things to you.") Meanwhile dad Marlin—normally a timid scaredy cat—must muster his limited courage and hunt down Nemo. En route he hooks up with a kookily forgetful tang fish named Dory (DeGeneres) and travels to the ends of the ocean earth with all of its dangers to reclaim his son.

Tell Me More About It: My dentist husband’s 100 gallon fish tank has taken on a whole new meaning after watching this clever film from the Disney folks who brought us Toy Story, Toy Story 2, A Bug’s Life and Monsters Inc. The hilarious conversations between the captive aquarium inhabitants as they observe the goings-on in the dental office are among the highlights of this very witty computer generated family film. Bored by their confinement, they have become adept at dental terminology and procedures. Their matter-of-fact comments—laced with dental lingo—are amusing, as well as the humorous characterization of the doc.

Written and directed by Andrew Stanton, the film brims with enough sophisticated humor to keep parents laughing out loud and plenty of screwball antics for the kiddies. Albert Brooks’ neurotic, overprotective dad—a throwback to his numerous film characters—is a fine counterpoint to DeGeneres’ Dory—a true original. When can you remember a comedic character whose persona is defined by her short-term memory loss? Funny stuff, indeed.

The impressive cast includes Geoffrey Rush as the sea gull Nigel and none other than Barry Humphries—better known as Dame Edna—as the shark Bruce who’s trying to overcome his addiction to fish. "Fish are our friends—not food," he repeats like a mantra.

As in Disney’s previously produced CG efforts, the animation is simply amazing, with colors, shapes and shadows rendered in an incredibly pleasing fashion. A real crowd-pleaser, Finding Nemo offers a timeless adventure that is spun via a technical mastery that dazzles the eye. Not to be missed.

Mini Filmography