Nemo (voice by Alexander Gould), is a clownfish who is smothered by his overprotective father, a widower named Marlin (Albert Brooks). When Nemo tries to prove that he doesn't need all this protection, he is captured by a human diver at the edge of the Great Barrier Reef. Marlin desperately swims after the diver's boat into the open ocean but he quickly falls behind. Afraid that he is about to lose his son forever, Marlin asks for help from a number of fish before finally finding one who knows where the boat went: Dory (Ellen DeGeneres), a palette surgeonfish who is suffering from short-term memory loss. While young Nemo finds himself in an aquarium in a dentist's office on the coast of australia, filled with an unusual assortment of welcoming sea-creatures bent on escape, Marlin and Dory race to Nemo's rescue, meeting many different types of fish, several sharks, and even a group of 'groovy' sea turtles in the East Australian Current (EAC). After a number of misadventures for both groups, Marlin and Nemo are finally reunited.
Finding Nemo set a record as the highest grossing opening weekend for an animated feature, making $70 million (surpassed in 2004 by Shrek 2). With a total domestic gross of $339.7 million, Nemo was, for a time, the highest grossing animated film of all time, eclipsing the record set by The Lion King. However, about a year later, Shrek 2 surpassed Finding Nemo's domestic gross. By March 2004, Finding Nemo was one of the top ten highest-grossing films ever, having earned over $850 million worldwide.
The film's prominent use of clownfish prompted mass purchase of the animals for children's pets in the United States, even though the movie portrayed the use of fish as pets negatively and saltwater aquariums are notably tricky and expensive to maintain.[2] As of 2004, in Vanuatu, clownfish were being caught on a large scale for sale as pets, motivated by the demand.[3]
At the same time, the film had a central theme that "all drains lead back to the ocean" (A main character escapes from imprisonment by going down a sink drain, ending up in the sea.) Since water typically undergoes treatment before leading to the ocean, the JWC Environmental company quipped that a more realistic title for the movie might be Grinding Nemo.[4] However, in Sydney, much of the sewer system does pass directly to outfall pipes deep offshore, without a high level of treatment (although pumping and some filtering occurs.)[5]
Tourism in Australia strongly increased during the summer and autumn of 2003, with many tourists wanting to swim off the coast of Eastern Australia to "find Nemo."[citation needed]
The Australian Tourism Commission (ATC) launched several marketing campaigns in China and the USA in order to improve tourism in Australia many of them using Finding Nemo movie clips. [1][6]Queensland, Australia also used Finding Nemo to draw tourists to promote its state for vacationers.[7]
The similarities between the two creations sparked a long and expensive lawsuit betweeen Pierrot author Franck Le Calvez and Walt Disney Pictures.
In late 2003, the Frenchchildren's book author Franck Le Calvez sued Disney, claiming that the story and the characters were stolen from his book Pierrot Le Poisson-Clown (Pierrot the Clownfish). The idea of Pierrot was protected in 1995 and the book was released in France in November 2002.[8] Franck Le Calvez and his lawyer, Pascal Kamina, demanded from Disney a share of the profits from merchandising articles sold in France. In March 2004, Le Calvez and Kamina lost the lawsuit.[9] Two years later, in February 2005, a New Jersey dentist named Dennis G. Sternberg filed suit against Disney/Pixar, alleging they had plagiarising his concept for a film entitled Peanut Butter the Jelly Fish, which he had discussed with Andrew Stanton in the nineties.[10] Sternberg soon dropped the lawsuit, saying he could not afford to lose.
Saturn Awards for Best Animated Film and Best Supporting Actress, Ellen Degeneres
Seven different Annie Awards in multiple categories
Finding Nemo was also nominated for:
Three additional Academy Awards (Original screenplay, Andrew Stanton, Bob Peterson and David Reynolds; Achievement In Music Written For Motion Pictures (Original Score); Achievement In Sound Editing)
Since the great box office response to Finding Nemo in 2003, there have been rumors about a sequel. Now that Disney has purchased Pixar, there will likely be additional pressure from Disney for a Finding Nemo 2; however, one aspect of this merger agreement was that Pixar would be given back the rights to determine which of the Disney/Pixar films released to date would be made into a sequel.[citation needed] Pixar would also be tasked with creative responsibility and control for the making of any and all sequels.
Circle 7 Animation, an in-house CGI production house started at Disney largely to create Disney sequels to Pixar movies, was disbanded shortly after the merger was announced. [2]
Larger-than-life puppets in a scene from the stage adaptation of Finding Nemo at Disney's Animal Kingdom.
The stage musical Tarzan Rocks! occupied the Theater in the Wild at Disney's Animal Kingdom in Orlando, Florida from 1999 to 2006. When, in January 2006, it closed, it was rumored that a musical adaptation of Finding Nemo would replace it.[11] This was confirmed in April 2006, when Disney announced that the adaptation, with new songs written by Tony Award-winning Avenue Q composer Robert Lopez and his wife, Kristen Anderson-Lopez, would "combine puppets, dancers, acrobats and animated backdrops" and open in late 2006.[12] Tony Award-winning director Peter Brosius signed on to direct the show, with Michael Curry, who designed puppets for Disney's phenomenally successful stage version of The Lion King, serving as leading puppet and production designer.
Anderson-Lopez said that the couple agreed to write the adaptation of "one of their favorite movies of all time" after considering "[T]he idea of people coming in [to see the musical] at 4, 5 or 6 and saying, 'I want to do that'....So we want to take it as seriously as we would a Broadway show."[13] To condense the feature-length film to thirty minutes, she said she and Lopez focused on a single theme from the movie, the idea that "The world's dangerous and beautiful."[13]
The half-hour show (which is performed four times daily) went into previews at the Theater in the Wild on November 5, 2006, and opened on January 24, 2007. Several musical numbers took direct inspiration from lines in the film, including "(In The) Big Blue World," "Fish Are Friends, Not Food," "Just Keep Swimming," and "Go With the Flow." In January 2007, a New York studio recording of the show was released on iTunes, with Lopez and Anderson-Lopez providing the voices for Marlin and Dory, respectively. Avenue Q star Stephanie D'Abruzzo also appeared on the recording, as Sheldon/Deb.
It is unknown whether the show will be expanded and transfer to Broadway, though Walt Disney Parks & Resorts executive Ann Hamburger has said that "she would love for that to happen."[13]Nemo is notable for being the first non-musical animated film to which Disney has added songs to produce a stage musical.
Cultural references
In Finding Nemo
As usual with Pixar movies, Finding Nemo has many subtle references and sight gags.
During the scene with Marlin, Dory, and the school of fish, when the fish turn into the ship, they say "oh, it's a whale of a tale, I'll tell you lad...," a reference to the Walt Disney film adaptation of Jules Verne's 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.
PETA has a reference in which "Fish are friends, NOT food." is stated.
Mount Wannahockaloogie ("wanna hock a loogie") is the "mountain" in the dentist's aquarium. "Hock a loogie" is American slang for expectoration, a common occurrence in a dentist's office.
The obligatory A113inside joke: the scuba diver who briefly blinds Marlin uses a camera with model code "A-113."
While Marlin and Dory are in a whale, Marlin calls the whale Moby, a reference to Moby Dick.
Another nod to Stanton's roots: When the story of Marlin's journey is being spread throughout the ocean, one of the creatures telling the tale is a lobster with a Boston accent who uses the common local adjective, wicked ("It's wicked dahk down there, you can't see a thing..."). Unsurprisingly, this lobster was voiced by Stanton himself.
Two of Dory's several misnamings of Nemo are "Chico" and "Harpo," references to the Marx Brothers. She also calls him "Elmo", the name of a popular Sesame Street character and St. Elmo the patron of sailors, and "Fabio," likely in reference to Fabio Lanzoni, the Italian male model.
The first patient seen in the dentist's office is a Mr. Tucker. Tucker was the last name of a member of the storyboard team.
The Great White Shark's name is Bruce, which may be a reference to the name given to the mechanical shark used to film the movie Jaws supposedly named after Steven Spielberg's lawyer. The writers were also aware that Barry Bruce, an Australian shark researcher with CSIRO, was radio tagging white sharks. Alternatively, Bruce may just be considered to be a stereotypically Australian name. The name 'Bruce' may also be a reference to the sketch in Monty Python Live at the Hollywood Bowl, entitled Bruces' Philosophers Song, in which Eric Idle and other Python members portrayed staff of the University of Woolloomooloo's philosophy department who all called each other 'Bruce' in over-exaggerated Australian accents.
Bruce the shark has a scar on his nose in the shape of a four, this is a tribute to JAWS for which they made three mechanical sharks all named Bruce. This makes the shark in Finding Nemo the fourth Bruce.
In the scene where Bruce tries to eat the protagonists, Bruce says "Here's Brucie!" with his face showing through the door, alluding to Jack Nicholson's "Here's Johnny!" line in Stanley Kubrick's film The Shining. (The Nicholson scene in The Shining was an allusion itself, referring to Ed McMahon announcing Johnny Carson on the Tonight Show.)
"Hop inside my mouth, if you want to live" is a reference to The Terminator series - it is used, in both Finding Nemo and The Terminator series, where a seemingly dangerous character is actually an ally.
A notable portion of the production crew were Filipino, and the name "P. Sherman" was chosen because it sounds like how one with a Filipino accent would say the word "fisherman."[verification needed]
The scene where Nemo defies his father and touches the bottom of the boat as Marlin continually warns him to stop is arguably reminiscent of the ice cream scene in Kramer vs. Kramer.
In the sunken submarine wreck, Dory sees an escape hatch with the word ESCAPE on it and says: "Esscoppay...looks like the word escape!" Dory's initial pronunciation of escape is really the Spanish pronunciation of escape.
The seagull calls have been confirmed to be "Mine! Mine!" but many audiences hear them as saying "Mate!" in an exaggerated Australian accent.
Additionally, the dentist's address is "42 Wallaby Way," which is another Wallace and Gromit reference, since Wallace and Gromit live at "62 West Wallaby Street."
The name of Nemo's father, Marlin, a clownfish, is also the name of a much larger and much more formidable family of fish.
To other Pixar films
There are several references to previous and forthcoming Pixar films.
Just right of the Buzz lightyear toy is the aircraft that buzz rides on to prove to Woody he can fly in Toy Story, this aircraft also appears in Monsters, inc.
During Gill's outline of the escape plan:
One of the cars which flashes by is the Pizza Planet delivery truck, as seen in Toy Story.
Vehicles from Cars can also be seen, including an early version of the character Luigi, which can be seen when the tank gang escapes.
In the dentist room, an art project is featured hanging from the ceiling. This same handmade art piece is in Monsters, Inc., as it is made by the character Boo, and gets stuck to Sully's foot when he exits her room.
The mermaid from "Knick Knack" can be seen on the ship's bow in the fish tank.
One of the boat names is "For the Birds", a reference to the Pixar short For the Birds.
There are several objects around the dentist's office, including a small device that says on the bottom, "Engineered by a bunch of Pixar TDs," with the alien from Toy Story next to it; this is a reference to the technical directors who create these objects for the sets. A diploma in the waiting room that shows the alien in the middle says "Pixar High School of Dentistry."
The second of two Disney-Pixar films to feature a naughty human child as an antagonist e.g. Sid from Toy Story and Darla from this.
This is the second Pixar film to have a character refer to everyone as "dude", the first being in Toy Story when the driver of the Pizza Planet truck refers to the gas station attendant as "dude" and Crush does the same thing to Marlin.
To Finding Nemo
Pixar's previous film, Monsters, Inc., features references to Finding Nemo, which was in production at the time of Monsters, Inc.'s release:
At the Harryhausen's sushi restaurant, on the wall behind the octopus chef is a Finding Nemo wallpaper.
When Randall gets banished from Montropolis you can see a Nemo trophy mounted on the wall.
When Boo is showing Sulley some of her toys, one of them is a Nemo squeaker toy.
In the film Underclassman, Nick Cannon's character is scuba-diving and comes back up to the surface and says "I think I swallowed Nemo!"
The movie Flushed Away includes a scene where the main character Roddy is flushed into the sewer pipes and meets a small fish who asks, "Have you seen my dad?"
During a scene in The Home Teachers, the main character Greg is trying to stop the flow of an overflowing toilet. He says, "Yeah, find the ocean. Find Nemo."
The movie was parodied on The Wrong Coast as the animated version of The Search For Spock titled Finding Nemoy.
In The Incredibles another pixar film, very briefly in the family photo you can see baby Jack-jack is wearing a nemo napkin.
In 2005, the movie was alluded to in the TV seriesLost. One of the characters in the show, Shannon, is asked to translate some notes that are written in French. She later recognizes some of the notes as lyrics from a song played in the credits of a "cartoon fish movie." The song is Charles Trenet's "La Mer", the French original of Bobby Darin's classic "Beyond The Sea." She then proceeds to sing the song, confirming the connection, although she only refers to it as "the fish song" from that point on.
In 2006, the film was also mentioned on House when a seemingly overprotective mother explained that she knew that her sickly daughter needed to have some freedoms — "I need to loosen up... I saw Finding Nemo, I get it, I don't need another story," she quipped in frustration. Several episodes later, House made another reference to the movie, explaining that a little girl had gratification disorder by saying she was "marching the penguin... ya-yaing the sisterhood... finding Nemo."
At the beginning of Brother Bear, during Great Spirits, when the mammoth, which Kenai rides on, knocks all the fish down with its trunk, you see Nemo.[14]
In the Simpsons episode "The Ziff Who Came to Dinner" one of the movies on the list of movies currently showing is called "Eating Nemo".
In an episode of Desperate Housewives, Tom Scavo wants to be romantic with Lynette Scavo. He comes down the stairs saying "We have exactly 40 minutes before the boys actually find Nemo"
An internet pictorial joke, which circulated within a year after the film was released, bore the title "They found Nemo" and featured a typical group of sushi rolls with clownfish stripes, and Marlin's head sticking out of the one closest to the top.
A guild in the online game World of Warcraft that exists in the Balnazzar server is tited "We found Nemo" in reference to the movie.
Trivia
This article contains a trivia section. Content in this section should be integrated into peoples pants like a nooblet other appropriate areas of the article or removed, and the trivia section removed.
Finding Nemo was originally to be released in November 2002.[citation needed]
The tikis in the tank are caricatures of three Pixar employees. The employees are Peter Sohn, Nelson Bohol and Ricky Nierva, who are responsible for character and art design.
This film was the first Pixar film to have a advisory warning put on its G rating in Australia, which said "Some scenes may frighten young children."[citation needed]
The movie was dedicated to Glenn McQueen, a Pixar Animator who died of Melanoma in October 2002, seven months before the film was released.
The royal gramma in the tank, Gurgle, is not actually addressed by name in the film script. The name of this character was worked out by fans through a process of elimination of the character list in the movie credits.
The face of Gill was specifically designed to resemble Willem Dafoe who provided the voice.
The small hut in the fish tank wherein Nemo sleeps in is called a "kubo", a nipa hut commonly found in farms and other agricultural areas in the Philippines. The animator of the kubo in the film is Filipino.
Anchor the hammerhead shark has a mouth where a real hammerhead's neck should be.
Director Andrew Stanton not only voices Crush, but is credited in "additional voices". Other characters he voices include the flock of seagulls, the lobster, and, if Lee Unkrich is to be believed, a large number of other characters.
Mount Wannahawkaloogie is also a reference to Philippines' Mt. Mayon because some of the animators of the movie were Filipino. The name refers to the school prank of "hawking a loogie" into a drinking fountain (spitting into the drinking fountain).
Nemo means "no one" in Latin. An ironic spin meaning that the movie is about finding no one.
Dentist P. Sherman's first name is given as "Pablo" in the musical.
The Dentist's real name is Philip Sherman (video/audio commentary)
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