Rarely has a company in Hollywood had such a string of successes as the Pixar Animation Studios. It's five hits in a row if you count the two Toy Storys, A Bug's Life, Monsters Inc and now Finding Nemo which delves deep into the ocean to find its wonderful characters.
Marlin, Albert Brooks, lost his wife to the jaws of a shark before his only offspring Nemo, Alexander Gould, was born. Nemo has a weak or as Marlin calls it, a 'lucky' fin, he's a slightly disadvantaged young 'un and Marlin is overprotective. In an act of bravado Nemo is captured live by a skindiver and Marlin makes it his mission to find him. Cutting between Nemo's fate – life in a dentist's fishtank – and Marlin's odyssey to find his son with the help of Dory, Ellen DeGeneres.
Andrew Stanton who was the co-writer/director of Finding Nemo has actually been part of the writing team of all the Pixar successes. He's obviously a key creative asset because the humour, the connections made between this fish world and the human world are what make this film so utterly charming. I've always been a fan of sharp edge art and so for me the Pixar animation style is rich and pleasing.
Part of the pleasure for Australians is that much of the film takes place in Sydney Harbour and our gorgeous accents are taken for a ride by the likes of Geoffrey Rush, Barry Humphries, Eric Bana, Bruce Spence and Bill Hunter.
It takes a lot for me to be captivated by an animated feature film but I succumbed willingly to this one.
