My Top Disney Films #9

#9 Finding Nemo

[exasperated] "Who's that? Who else would it be? It's me!"
"Are... are you my conscience?"
[sighs] "Yes, I'm your conscience. We haven't spoken for a while. How are you?"
"Eh, can't complain."
"Good. Now, Dory, do you see anything?"
"Yes, I see... a light. Hey, conscience, am I dead?"
"No, I see it too."

Marlin (Brooks) is a cautious fish. His wife and all but one of his children are killed by larger fish. His surviving child, Nemo (Gould) has a crippled fin, and is overprotected. On his first day of school, after being publically embarassed, Nemo goes into open water and is captured by a diver. Marlin swims after their boat, but isn't fast enough. Luckily, he meets Dory (DeGeneres) a fish with short term memory problems, who can read and saw the direction the boat was heading. On their journey to Sydney, Australia they have run ins with sharks, a whale, jellyfish (see below)

Squishy!

and some surfer-dude turtles.

Meanwhile, Nemo is the newest addition to the fish tank in a dentist office. The leader of these fish, Gil (Dafoe) is a master of escape, and begins formulating a plate to liberate the occupants of the tank which involves Nemo taking a risk, and everybody getting a little dirty.

Reason I chose this film:
This is my favorite Disney / Pixar film. I had the opportunity to see this film in theaters twice and was impressed by the technical advances (it looks pretty impressive). There are lots of apparent themes (or as my father says, "themes for parents"). Plus, this film is willing to laugh at itself and similar types of films.

Finding Nemo (2003) 100 minutes
Director: Andrew Stanton and Lee Unkrich
Starring: Albert Brooks as Marlin
Ellen DeGeneres as Dory
Alexander Gould as Nemo
Willem Dafoe as Gil
Brad Garrett as Bloat
Allison Janney as Peach
Austin Pendleton as Gurgle
Stephen Root as Bubbles
Vicki Lewis as Deb / Flo
Geoffrey Rush as Nigel