6 out of 6 people found this review helpful.
Great Disney movie for BOYS
Date of Review: Jan 24, 2008
The Bottom Line: This is a great family movie, models good behavior, but watch it first if you have toddlers or younger. Perfect for age 5 and up. Hidden humor great for adults.
I have found it hard, among the Cinderella and Snow White movies, to find a really good movie for little boys. THIS IS A GREAT ONE! Plus, it's a great movie to see how boys can develop a relationship with their FATHERS.
PLOT SUMMARY: This is a heartwarming story of a clown fish father and his only son, Nemo, on a coral reef near Sydney, Australia. The father clown fish, Marlin, loses his wife and all his baby fish eggs in a tragic Barracuda attack. Nemo is the only egg remaining, so Marlin promises to protect his little Nemo from any harm. Unfortunately, though, he also prevents Nemo from living his life and learning how to become independent.
Marlin finally allows Nemo to go to school. On his first day, Nemo rebels against his father's overbearing restrictiveness and ventures off into the open ocean, only to be captured by a diver and taken back to Sydney. Marlin embarks on a quest to find and rescue Nemo, his only son. Marlin encounters a Blue Tang fish, Dory, who has short-term memory loss. Ellen Degeneres does the voice for Dory and is ABSOLUTELY PERFECT! Dory and Marlin have a series of adventures, with sharks, a school of fish, a field of stinging jellyfish (deadly to fish), a school of "totally righteous, dude" sea turtles, a whale and a flock of pelicans, all the way to Sydney.
Meanwhile, Nemo gets put into a dentist office aquarium and makes friends with a bunch of misfit aquarium fish, most of whom have some sort of psychological abnormality ("We're not meant to be confined to an aquarium. It does something to you."). They attempt to "break out" of the aquarium using a devious scheme, all to avoid Nemo being turned over to Darla, the dentist's young niece who kills fish by shaking their plastic bag -- it would mean sudden death for Nemo.
I won't give the rest of it away, but suffice it to say, that Marlin learns that although it is risky in the big, cruel world, it's worth the risk to learn about and live your life. And Nemo learns, from his father's example, how to have faith in yourself, stand up and be courageous, to take those risks. As a parent and as a child, this is truly a story about how to grow up.
I have a toddler and sometimes I just get sick of Barney and Winnie the Pooh. Then I put this movie in and it's SO refreshing! There are a couple scenes that are a little borderline for toddlers, with some not so nice sharks and a deep sea creature, but Pixar has made them funny and not too scary. (Winnie the Pooh is MUCH more tame, if you're a little worried).
The animation is absolutely exquisite. Pixar took the beautiful underwater scenery from The Little Mermaid and just took it to a whole new level! From the flowing sea fans to the shimmering surface of the water, both my toddler and I are mesmerized by the beautiful animations.
This is truly a grand adventure, and certainly a "right of passage" themed movie for boys.
