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Nigel

Finding Nemo is a 2003 American animated comedy-drama film directed by Andrew Stanton, who co-wrote it with Bob Peterson and David Reynolds. Produced by Pixar Animation Studios fo…

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Finding Nemo is a 2003 American animated comedy-drama film directed by Andrew Stanton, who co-wrote it with Bob Peterson and David Reynolds. Produced by Pixar Animation Studios for Walt Disney Pictures, the film stars the voices of Albert Brooks, Ellen DeGeneres, Alexander Gould, Willem Dafoe, and Geoffrey Rush. It tells the story of an overprotective clownfish named Marlin (Brooks) who, along with a forgetful regal blue tang named Dory (DeGeneres), searches for his missing son Nemo (Gould). Along the way, Marlin learns to take risks and comes to terms with Nemo taking care of himself.

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Pre-production of the film began in 1997. The inspiration for Finding Nemo sprang from multiple experiences, going back to Stanton's childhood, when he loved going to the dentist to see the fish tank, assuming that the fish were from the ocean and wanted to go home. To ensure that the movements of the fish in the film were believable, the animators took a crash course in fish biology and oceanography. Thomas Newman composed the score for the film.

First premiering at the El Capitan Theatre in Los Angeles on May 18, Finding Nemo was released in theaters in the United States on May 30. Upon its release, it received widespread acclaim from critics, who praised the visual elements, screenplay, animation, Newman's score and characters who have been cited as entertaining to both children and adult moviegoers. It became the highest-grossing animated film at the time of its release, and the second-highest-grossing film of 2003, as well as the seventh-highest-grossing film overall at the time of its release, earning a total of $871 million worldwide by the end of its initial theatrical run. The film received four nominations at the 76th Academy Awards, and won the award for Best Animated Feature, becoming the first Pixar and Disney film to do so. In 2008, the American Film Institute named it as the 10th greatest American animated film as part of their 10 Top 10 lists. Since then, it has been widely regarded as one of the greatest animated films of all time.

Finding Nemo is the best-selling DVD title of all time, with over 40 million copies sold as of 2006, and was the highest-grossing G-rated film of all time before Pixar's own Toy Story 3 overtook it in 2010. The film was re-released in 3D in 2012. A sequel, Finding Dory, was released in June 2016.

Plot

Marlin and Coral, a clownfish couple who are waiting for their eggs to hatch, live on the edge of the Great Barrier Reef. After a barracuda knocks Marlin unconscious, Marlin awakens to find Coral and all but one of the eggs gone. Marlin names the surviving child Nemo and vows to keep him safe.

Years later, Marlin and Nemo live in a secluded sea anemone. Nemo is eager to start school and explore the outside world; however Marlin remains anxious and hyperprotective of his son. While dropping Nemo off at school, Marlin warns the teacher of Nemo's deformed pelvic fin. After discovering Nemo's class will be visiting the "drop-off", where the reef meets the open sea, Marlin panics and tries to withdraw Nemo from school. Nemo defiantly swims to a nearby speedboat to prove his independence and is captured by a pair of scuba divers.

Marlin frantically races after the boat, disappearing into the horizon. He meets Dory, a blue tang with short-term memory loss who offers to help him locate his son. The pair encounter Bruce, a great white shark who is part of a support group of sharks trying to abstain from eating fish. At the meeting, Marlin finds a diver's mask from the boat with an address written on it. When Marlin accidentally injures Dory, Bruce smells her blood and relapses into a rampage that sets off old naval mines. As they escape, Dory recalls that she can read the address.

Meanwhile, Nemo is placed in a fish tank in dentist Philip Sherman's office in Sydney. He meets the "Tank Gang", led by Gill, a scarred Moorish idol and consisting of Peach the Sea Star, Deb the striped damselfish, Gurgle the royal gramma, Bloat the pufferfish, Bubbles the yellow tang, and Jacques the cleaner shrimp. They inform him that Sherman plans to gift Nemo to his hyperactive niece, Darla, who has an infamous history of killing her pet fish. To prevent this, Gill hatches an escape plan: Nemo, the smallest of the gang, will clog the tank's filter, forcing Sherman to clean it and bag the fish. Then, they can roll their bags out of the window and into the harbour. Nemo attempts the plan but is nearly killed by the filter's machinery in the process, causing Gill to feel deeply regretful.

Dory accidentally drops the mask into an abyss and encourages Marlin to help her search for it. They find the mask but are attacked by an anglerfish. Dory exploits the anglerfish's light to read the address while Marlin traps the anglerfish with the mask. Their victory boosts Marlin's confidence and helps Dory remember the address. Marlin tries to continue his search without Dory until she convinces a school of moonfish to give them directions to the East Australian Current. On their way, Marlin and Dory become trapped in a forest of jellyfish. While trying to escape, they are both stung and fall unconscious.

Source: Finding Nemo (CC BY-SA)

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