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I went to see Finding Nemo this weekend, because I am madly in love with Pixar who seems to have remembered what Disney animation has forgotten: the pictures may catch the audience's eye but the story is what snags its heart. It was cold and rainy here on Lake Erie, so EVERYONE was at the theatre. However, despite a pretty full house, the children--and there were so many children--were remarkably well behaved.
Within the first five minutes of Finding Nemo, Marlin (Nemo's dad) has his wife and their brood of eggs devoured by a barracuda-like fish. Marlin escapes being made an entrée by being knocked unconscious and thrown into the anemone that was his family's new home. When he wakes, he finds his wife and the eggs gone, all but one. As he cradles the egg in his fins, he promises never to let anything happen to little Nemo.
The story then flashes forward to Nemo's first day of school. Nemo's right fin is smaller and weaker than his left, and this, combined with his father's promise from years back, makes Marlin a hovering, suffocating dad, and Nemo a rebellious kid, who is tired of hearing how he can't do things. In fact, a combination of both these tendencies that result in Nemo being captured by the diver.
Visually, Finding Nemo is lovely. From the fish and other sea life to the texture and currents of the ocean to the fishtank Nemo finds himself in, there is much to dazzle the eye. There are laugh-out-loud scenes. My favorites are the ones with Bruce the shark (Fish are friends, not food.) and the brotherhood of the tank.
However, the characters seemed a little flat. They were simple, each built around one single issue, one single struggle or flaw. As a result they were less interesting to me than Sully and Mike or the Toy Story toys. One of the main characters, Dorie, is voiced by Ellen Degeneres, and her lines had so much of the rhythm of her normal speech that it distracted me at times, pulled me out of the story in a way that Willem Dafoe (who also has a distinctive voice) did not.
The story was a solid effort, but not outstanding. It felt heavy-handed to me in the delivery of its messages. There is a message for parents and one for children about how each should interact with the other. There are messages about friendship. All these come together at one scene near the end of the film after Nemo has been found. A totally unbelievable thing happens when what everyone has learned comes together, and while I know why the writers did it, it shattered my suspension of disbelief as I thought, "No way that could happen."
So if I was not enthralled with Finding Nemo, I was at least somewhat enchanted. Definitely worth the price of an afternoon matinee admission.
Within the first five minutes of Finding Nemo, Marlin (Nemo's dad) has his wife and their brood of eggs devoured by a barracuda-like fish. Marlin escapes being made an entrée by being knocked unconscious and thrown into the anemone that was his family's new home. When he wakes, he finds his wife and the eggs gone, all but one. As he cradles the egg in his fins, he promises never to let anything happen to little Nemo.
The story then flashes forward to Nemo's first day of school. Nemo's right fin is smaller and weaker than his left, and this, combined with his father's promise from years back, makes Marlin a hovering, suffocating dad, and Nemo a rebellious kid, who is tired of hearing how he can't do things. In fact, a combination of both these tendencies that result in Nemo being captured by the diver.
Visually, Finding Nemo is lovely. From the fish and other sea life to the texture and currents of the ocean to the fishtank Nemo finds himself in, there is much to dazzle the eye. There are laugh-out-loud scenes. My favorites are the ones with Bruce the shark (Fish are friends, not food.) and the brotherhood of the tank.
However, the characters seemed a little flat. They were simple, each built around one single issue, one single struggle or flaw. As a result they were less interesting to me than Sully and Mike or the Toy Story toys. One of the main characters, Dorie, is voiced by Ellen Degeneres, and her lines had so much of the rhythm of her normal speech that it distracted me at times, pulled me out of the story in a way that Willem Dafoe (who also has a distinctive voice) did not.
The story was a solid effort, but not outstanding. It felt heavy-handed to me in the delivery of its messages. There is a message for parents and one for children about how each should interact with the other. There are messages about friendship. All these come together at one scene near the end of the film after Nemo has been found. A totally unbelievable thing happens when what everyone has learned comes together, and while I know why the writers did it, it shattered my suspension of disbelief as I thought, "No way that could happen."
So if I was not enthralled with Finding Nemo, I was at least somewhat enchanted. Definitely worth the price of an afternoon matinee admission.
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