Finding Nemo (2003)


Since there's an "Ocean" movie opening today, I thought it would be a good day for a Disney-Pixar double-header that actually takes place in the ocean, starting with Finding Nemo.

The Movie:

 Finding Nemo is the 5th movie from from Pixar.  It was wildly popular upon release, and became at the time the highest-grossing animated film of all time.  (It currently ranks 9th.)  It was also the first Pixar film to win the Oscar for Best Animated Film, though it should be noted it was just the third year that award was given.

Finding Nemo tells the story of a clownfish named Marlin, whose son Nemo is the only survivor of a barracuda attack that claimed his wife and other unhatched children.  Nemo is taken by a SCUBA-diving dentist, and Marlin tracks him across the ocean with the help of Dory, a blue tang with short term memory loss.

I will admit, I don't put Finding Nemo in the category of my personal favorite Pixar films, but there's no denying it's a good movie, and it's easy to see why it is so popular.  The story is well told and has a a lot of heart.  One of the biggest strengths of the movie is the voice acting, especially with Albert Brooks and Ellen DeGeneres as Marlin and Dory respectively.  (I don't know why, but the line "I shall call him Squishy" is one of my favorite quotable lines.)

Music-wise, Finding Nemo has a solid soundtrack composed by Thomas Newman, the first of this three Pixar scores (and the first chronologically that wasn't composed by his cousin Randy Newman.)  Even more memorable is the use of the Robbie Williams cover of the Bobby Darin classic "Beyond the Sea" over the closing credits.

Presence in the Parks:

Finding Nemo can be found in two big ways at Walt Disney World.  The first is at The Seas Pavilion at Epcot.  This building first opened as The Living Seas in 1986, and at the time contained the largest saltwater tank in the world.  The original attraction had the guests board a slow-moving "seacab" that transported them to Sea Base Alpha, which was an aquarium with various exhibits.  In 2001 the seacabs were shut down, leaving guests to walk a corridor instead to arrive at Sea Base Alpha.

In 2003, the pavilion began the retheming process to Finding Nemo.  In late 2004, Turtle Talk with Crush was installed inside the pavilion.  In 2005 the pavilion closed, but was partially reopened that same year with a temporary entrance.  In 2006, the pavilion completely reopened, with "clamobiles" replacing the seacabs, and the new entrance to the attraction was now a Nemo-themed dark ride and transport to the Sea Base.  The pavilion was renamed as The Seas with Nemo and Friends and rededicated in 2007.

The other place to find Nemo in Florida is at Animal Kingdom.  On the edge of Dinoland, USA, near the bridge to Asia, is the Theater of the Wild.  This building was originally an open-air theater, though now it is enclosed.  From 1998 to 1999, the theater housed Journey into Jungle Book, followed by Tarzan Rocks from 1999 to 2006.  In 2007, Finding Nemo - The Musical opened at the Theater of the Wild.  The show is based on the movie and features original songs written by Robert Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez (who would later do Frozen).



Finding Nemo - The Musical, May 2015

On the west coast, Nemo can be found at the Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage in Tomorrowland, which opened in 2007.  This attraction is a retheme of the class Submarine Voyage which ran from 1959 to 1998.

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