Finding Nemo

Story

Nemo is a clownfish who lives with his overprotective father Marlin in the Great Barrier Reef. On his first day of school, Nemo is given strict instructions to not go beyond the reef. But when Marlin is distracted talking to Nemo’s teacher, Nemo makes the decision to ignore his father’s advice. Will Marlin be able to find Nemo?

Why we chose it

An entertaining adventure set in a dazzling undersea world – the underwater animation is stunning. There is humour in the unlikely friendships and the cast of comedy creatures –the sharks who have given up eating fish, the seagulls with their single repeated word – and the hero is an anxious, overprotective single dad.

Where it came from

The director, Andrew Stanton, was inspired to make the movie from his own childhood experience of observing fish in a tank at the dentist surgery. As a child, he believed the fish wanted to return to the ocean. He was also inspired by the marine life he saw during a trip to Six Flags Discovery Kingdom in 1992 and wanted to create an underwater world through animation.

Where it went next

Finding Nemo won the Academy Award for the Best Animated Feature. The film inspired a video game released in 2003 for all game consoles. It was also turned into an interactive experience when Walt Disney Studios Park introduced ‘Crush’s Coaster’ in 2007.

Associated stories

An official sequel was released in 2016 titled Finding Dory. Andrew Stanton, the director of both films, has also worked on A Bug’s Life (1998), Monsters, Inc (2001) and the Toy Story films (1995-2019).