# Finding Nemo: Go see it. Now. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 31, 2003, 7:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finding-nemo-go-see-it-now/178742 "2003-05-31T07:13:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![SolGrundy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbce88/32.png) [@SolGrundy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SolGrundy)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2003, 7:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finding-nemo-go-see-it-now/178742/1 "2003-05-31T07:13:56Z")
[Finding Nemo](http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/FindingNemo-1122673/) is, of course, the latest Pixar/Disney movie. It was actually underneath my radar; I’d heard about it, I even knew a couple of people who were working on it, but I wasn’t all that jazzed to see it. I mean, I knew I’d see it eventually, but there was no rush. Pixar always does excellent work: flawless animation and effects; great character design; a good-natured sense of humor; and a blend of sentimentality, action, and comic relief that they’ve almost got down to a science. I liked _Monsters, Inc._ an awful lot, but could see the beginnings of a “Pixar Formula” that kept it from really sticking with me. And that was with an interesting concept; _Nemo_ is about a fish searching for his son. And the ads show the surfer-dude sea turtle. It must be boring, or overly-sentimental and formulaic. But today a friend of mine who’d been to a preview screening and told me I should check it out. Holy crap, this is a _great_ movie. Definitely the best I’ve seen this year (and I _loved_ _X-Men 2_), and it might even have ousted _Toy Story 2_ and _Lilo and Stitch_ as my favorite animated movie. The voice work is **perfect** , for starters. Often when they cast stars as cartoon voices, they lapse into their schtick, and you can see the actors instead of the characters. I thought this was going to be especially noticeable with Albert Brooks and Ellen DeGeneres, who are both known for their personality quirks more than anything else. But they never stopped being their characters, which is a credit to both the actors and the animators/character designers. And all the incidental voices are dead-on perfect as well; no celebrity cameos or voices that sound “fake” or as if they were done by a friend of the director. It’s almost a shame the animation is so perfect, because nothing stands out as a notable achievement – it’s all so amazingly well-done that there are no bad parts to make the good parts look better. The effects and camera work are stunning. It’s clear these guys are at the point where they can do anything they can imagine, and they’re just running with it. With Pixar’s other movies, you forget that you’re looking at CG and just accept that what you’re seeing is real. With _Nemo_, it’s as if they’ve realized they’ve conquered the mundane photo-realistic world, and can get back to blowing you away with visuals. You still never think, “I’m looking at CG,” but it doesn’t fade away into the background, either. And the story is surprisingly “mature” for a G-rated movie. I was tearing up all through it, but never felt manipulated. The themes aren’t as maudlin as “true friends stick by you” or “always believe in yourself,” although there are undercurrents of that. Instead, it’s a story about anxiety, and letting go of that anxiety and just _living_ (which is why Albert Brooks was perfectly cast, of course). It’s filled with moments that could be considered formulaic, but they’re so deftly handled that it never seems like formula – everything in the story happens so naturally that it all seems like a real series of events in the characters’ lives, instead of a story constructed to convey a message. Plus, there’s a hilarious preview of _The Incredibles_ before the movie. So don’t be put off by the somewhat lackluster marketing campaign, like I was. I think you’d have to be pretty hard-hearted not to enjoy the hell out of this movie. ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2003, 8:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finding-nemo-go-see-it-now/178742/2 "2003-05-31T08:25:33Z")
Well, considering it’s 1:30am here, and the wife and the son are asleep, and the theater’s closed, seeing **Finding Nemo** right now is rather difficult for me. 😉 But you can bet I’ll try to drag them to the theater toot sweet tomorrow and indulge ourselves with some Pixar brilliance. (Better than **Toy Story 2?** Is that even _possible?_ :eek: ) ---
**Author:** ![Drastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Drastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drastic)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2003, 10:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finding-nemo-go-see-it-now/178742/3 "2003-05-31T10:57:19Z")
Righto. You pretty much perfectly described why it was off my radar except as a vague “rent much later” note. Priorities shuffled accordingly. ---
**Author:** ![KarlGrenze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/dbc845/32.png) [@KarlGrenze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGrenze)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2003, 11:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finding-nemo-go-see-it-now/178742/4 "2003-05-31T11:53:20Z")
I saw it. I was not too interested in the main storyline, but the adventures and the animation were very good. I liked them… Did you stay until the end of credits to see all the stuff they put? They showed the whole cast of characters and also Mike from Monsters Inc. scuba diving. Oh, and a last appearance from the small fish. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Casey1505](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dc4da7/32.png) [@Casey1505](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Casey1505)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2003, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finding-nemo-go-see-it-now/178742/5 "2003-05-31T15:06:27Z")
I’ve wanted to see this movie for the past 6 months or so. I’ve patiently (for the most part) waited for opening weekend. My wife thinks I’m a spaz for being so excited about it. We’re going to take our 3 yr old to the 4:30 show. It’s only 11:15. It’s going to be a long 4 hours… ---
**Author:** ![smaft](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c2a13f/32.png) [@smaft](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smaft)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2003, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finding-nemo-go-see-it-now/178742/6 "2003-05-31T15:31:43Z")
So have your kids turned into lesbians yet? ---
**Author:** ![SolGrundy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbce88/32.png) [@SolGrundy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SolGrundy)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2003, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finding-nemo-go-see-it-now/178742/7 "2003-05-31T19:21:25Z")
One other thing: the theater was _packed_, which surprised me because I just assumed that the movie was as low a priority for everyone else as it had been for me. I ended up having to sit in the third row, which might’ve been even better; it felt like being surrounded by all the visuals and actually being inside the ocean/fish tank. And the crowd kind of surprised me too. There were lots of teenagers and pre-teens that I would’ve expected would be “too cool” to see a G-rated movie, but they were all laughing and crying and clapping along with it. And be aware that there are some scary scenes. Nothing too bad, and I’d have no problem taking kids of any age to see it, but I did hear a good bit of crying from the back of the theater. > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by smaft \* > \*\*So have your kids turned into lesbians yet? \*\* I really look forward to the day when no one would even think to make a comment like this one. And it’s doubly pointless in this case, because as I said, the actors are completely absorbed by their characters. ---
**Author:** ![Moe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moe/32/2972_2.png) [@Moe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moe)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2003, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finding-nemo-go-see-it-now/178742/8 "2003-05-31T19:56:47Z")
I notice that there’s no mention of _Shrek_ in the OP’s comparisons to other animated films (which happens to be a personal favorite of mine). Can a comparison be made? It’s movies like this that make me wish I had kids, since I’ll probably not go to see it in the theatre with my peers. Of course it’s seeing the people who have kids, and how they’ve changed, that makes me glad I don’t. I’ll wait for cable. ---
**Author:** ![KarlGrenze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/dbc845/32.png) [@KarlGrenze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGrenze)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2003, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finding-nemo-go-see-it-now/178742/9 "2003-05-31T21:52:38Z")
Hey! I was one of the young adults laughing all the time! 🙂 At the end of the movie, the only ones left who saw the credits and extra animation were young adults. ---
**Author:** ![Cubsfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Cubsfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cubsfan)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2003, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finding-nemo-go-see-it-now/178742/10 "2003-05-31T22:55:09Z")
I took my daughter to see it this morning. She was kinda bored, as was I, but there were some good scenes. The jelly fish forest was pretty cool. The scene from the commercial with the 2 birds where one says “nice” and flys away was much funnier in the movie when you actually know what is going on. I thought Doreen (I think that was her name) speaking whale was pretty funny. Anyone else notice that there was not even one song in this whole movie? All in all Toy Story is still the best of the bunch, this one is avg in the story dept, above avg in the animation, and totally lacking in the music dept. On a side note, the teaser for “The Incredibles” was hysterical. Not out till next Thanksgiving though. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2003, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finding-nemo-go-see-it-now/178742/11 "2003-05-31T23:22:43Z")
For the benefit of the genteel folk who never venture into the Pit, it should be noted that **smaft** was making an ironic reference to this thread: [Finding Nemo turning kids on to lesbianism](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=187466&perpage=50&pagenumber=1) I’m gwinta try to ‘borrow’ my best friend’s daughter to go see a matinee this week. I hope it flies – she sits quietly through movies on tape, but she’s never been to a theatre before. (She’s three-and-a-half.) ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2003, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finding-nemo-go-see-it-now/178742/12 "2003-06-01T02:15:26Z")
Well, we were going to wait for the crowds to thin out before we saw it. But my daughter had her eye appt at Sears, I was wandering around applying for second jobs at the anchor stores, we ate lunch at Chik-Fil-A, so it seemed natural to pop in and see the movie. I loved it. The animation was superb, and I was squeezing my husband’s hand during several scenes, like the jellyfish forest, the whale, and the pebble in the filter. The part where Dory talked in Whale just cracked me up, and I wasn’t the only one. It wasn’t a plot that smacked you upside the head…it was very subtle. Just one thing…I want bloopers! Where were the bloopers? We stuck around after the credits waiting for the bloopers! ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Carnage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/max_carnage/32/12775_2.png) [@Max\_Carnage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Carnage)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2003, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finding-nemo-go-see-it-now/178742/13 "2003-06-01T02:25:44Z")
C’mon people. What’s with all the “I can’t go see a cartoon if I don’t have a kid” crap? It’s attitudes like that that keep animation down and disrespected as a serious medium. I went tonight to see it by myself and enjoyed every bit. And guess what? No one pointed at the 32 year old man watching an animated movie! Monsters Inc, Toy Story 2, and Bugs Life all added bloopers only after they’d been out for a month or so, in order to drag you bag to the theater to see it again. They way they did the credits this time, I don’t see where they could put bloopers. There was something constantly going on throughout the credits and it’d be a shame to shrink that down for bloopers, though they are usually hilarious. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2003, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finding-nemo-go-see-it-now/178742/14 "2003-06-01T02:52:01Z")
**Max** , I seemed to remember bloopers at the end of \* A Bug’s Life\*. In fact, some of the critics, who screened the movie beforehand, told people to stick around for the credits for some extra laughs. Am I remembering wrong? I know there were \*two[i/] sets of bloopers, that they changed them halfway through the release of the movie, but you got all the bloopers when you bought the video or DVD. And this was the first I’d heard about _The Incredibles_. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2003, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finding-nemo-go-see-it-now/178742/15 "2003-06-01T03:03:09Z")
Oops. Sorry about the coding there. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Carnage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/max_carnage/32/12775_2.png) [@Max\_Carnage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Carnage)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2003, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finding-nemo-go-see-it-now/178742/16 "2003-06-01T04:25:00Z")
I think you’re right about Bug’s Life. Still, having a second set was a way to get you to pay for another showing. Didn’t work on me though. I just watched 'em all on DVD last week 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Carnage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/max_carnage/32/12775_2.png) [@Max\_Carnage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Carnage)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2003, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finding-nemo-go-see-it-now/178742/17 "2003-06-01T04:26:13Z")
And another vote for "oblivious to _The Incredibles_. I love comics and I love Pixar. It’s gonna be a long wait till Nov 2004! ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2003, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finding-nemo-go-see-it-now/178742/18 "2003-06-01T05:08:10Z")
> [@](#): > > **MaxCarnage** : C’mon people. What’s with all the “I can’t go see a cartoon if I don’t have a kid” crap? Sorry 'bout that, Max… It’s not that it’s an animated film, for me. I’ve gone to plenty solo-- _James & the Giant Peach_, and _Shrek_… Lotsa of “kid” movies, too, like the _Harry Potter_ films, and the _Grinch_… It’s something about _Nemo_, specifically… based on the trailer, I don’t think i’d see it alone or with another adult, but I expect that I’ll enjoy it enough once I’m there… Of course, I thought the same thing about _Monsters, Inc_ and now I really regret waiting until it came out on DVD – and then only picking it up thinking of the aforementioned Best Friend’s Daughter. I think it was the actual-kid voice of Nemo in the trailer that makes me shunt it into the “kid-required” category… Somehow, **SolGrundy** ’s advice “So don’t be put off by the somewhat lackluster marketing campaign, like I was. I think you’d have to be pretty hard-hearted not to enjoy the hell out of this movie,” kind of slipped off the bumpy bits of my brain without sticking. Okay, I promise, I’ll go see it, even if the small person can’t work me into her busy schedule. Yes, I changed my mind halfway through this post. Thanks for that, by the way. ---
**Author:** ![SolGrundy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbce88/32.png) [@SolGrundy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SolGrundy)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2003, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finding-nemo-go-see-it-now/178742/19 "2003-06-01T06:01:55Z")
I hadn’t seen that Pit thread, but I had a feeling that **smaft** was being sarcastic/ironic. So that wasn’t meant as a jab against him/her, just that the whole idea of its being an “issue” in the first place is just sad. Anyway, about the seeing-it-alone “issue,” I agree with **Max Carnage**. I, too, am a 32-year old man and I went to see it by myself. I used to get really creeped out going to see movies alone, and doubly so if it were a Disney movie. But I eventually got over myself and stopped caring how it looked or feeling freakish. It’s not as if I _can’t_ get anyone to go with me (honest!), it’s just that I can go see whatever I want, whenever I want, on the spur of the moment without any hassle. _Finding Nemo_ in particular is an adult-friendly movie. The major theme is about the relationship between fathers and sons, and what it means to be a parent – I imagine that most kids in the audience would just find that dull. > [@](#): > > _Originally posted by Moe_ > **I notice that there’s no mention of Shrek in the OP’s comparisons to other animated films (which happens to be a personal favorite of mine). Can a comparison be made?** Maybe, but you’d have to get somebody else to do it. I despised _Shrek_, completely and thoroughly, and am dumbfounded as to its popularity and all the critical raves it got. I’ll stop there since you say it’s a favorite, but I can say that _Nemo_ doesn’t have all the topical references, relying more on character-driven humor. And decent animation for all the characters instead of just the lead two. And not beating jokes into the ground. And not having a completely mean-spirited, half-assed “moral.” Okay, I said I would stop. ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2003, 6:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finding-nemo-go-see-it-now/178742/20 "2003-06-01T06:22:16Z")
Random notes: 1. Bloopers appeared with the opening of _A Bug’s Life,_ and a second set showed up seveeral weeks later. I seem to recall seeing bloopers on the opening weekend of _Toy Story II,_ but might be mistaken. The whole “delay bloopers for the first few weeks of release” started with _Monsters Inc.,_ and frankly I dislike the practice. 2. If the movie is good, there’s no reason not to see it just because you don’t have a kid in tow. Support quality cinema! 3. Still haven’t seen _Nemo_ yet; for some silly reason, my wife decided to try to catch the 7:40pm showing at 7:25pm… :smack: And, of course, by the time we’re ready to queue up for tickets, we see that the 7:45pm, 9:15pm, and 9:55pm showings were all sold out. :eek: [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finding-nemo-go-see-it-now/178742.md?page=2)