What Parents Should Know
Parents should know that even though there are no
traditional bad guys in this movie, there are still some very
scary moments, including creatures with zillions of sharp
teeth, an apparent death of a major character, and many tense
scenes with characters in peril. At the beginning of the movie,
Marlin's wife and all but one of their eggs are eaten by a
predator. There is a little potty humor. The issue of Nemo's
stunted fin is handled exceptionally well -- matter-of-factly
but frankly.
Families can talk about how parents have to balance their wish to protect their children from being hurt (physically or emotionally) with the need to let them grow up and learn how to take care of themselves. They could talk about Nemo's disability and about everyone has different abilities that make some things easier for each of us to do than for most people and some things harder. How do you know what your abilities are, and what do you do to make the most of them?
Common Sense Media Review
Pixar Studios may have the most advanced animation
technology in the world, but they never forget that what
matters in a movie is story, characters, imagination, and
heart. FINDING NEMO has it all. This epic journey filled with
adventure and discovery encompasses the grandest sweep of ocean
vastness and the smallest longing of the heart.
Marlin ( Albert Brooks) is a fond but nervous and overprotective clown fish. A predator ate his wife and all but one of their eggs. The surviving egg becomes his son Nemo (Alexander Gould), and when it's time to start school, Nemo is excited, but Marlin is very fearful.
Nemo has an underdeveloped fin. Marlin has done a good job of making Nemo feel confident and unselfconscious. They call it his "lucky fin." But it still makes Marlin a little more anxious about protecting Nemo, and it still makes Nemo a little more anxious about proving that he can take care of himself.
On his first day of school, Nemo swims too far from the others and is captured by a deep sea diver, a dentist who keeps fish in his office aquarium. Marlin must go literally to the end of the ocean to find his son and bring him home.
And so, in the tradition and spirit of stories from The Odyssey to The Wizard of Oz , Marlin takes a journey that will introduce him to extraordinary characters and teach him a great deal about the world and even more about himself. He meets up with Dory ( Ellen DeGeneres), a cheerful blue tang who has a problem with short-term memory loss. They search for Nemo together, in the face of stinging jellyfish, exploding mines, and creatures with many, many, many, many teeth.
Meanwhile, Nemo has made some very good friends in the dentist's aquarium, including a tough tiger fish ( Willem Dafoe) who helps him plan an escape before the dentist can give Nemo to his careless 8-year-old niece, whose record with fish portends a short lifespan.
