Best of Black Sheep: FINDING NEMO 3D

FINDING NEMO 3D

Written by Andrew Stanton, Bob Peterson and David Reynolds

Directed by Andrew Stanton

Voices by Albert Brookes, Ellen Degeneres and Alexander Gould

Dory: Well, you can’t never let anything happen to him because then nothing would ever happen to him.

There is something about being submerged in the ocean that is inherently magical. The scenery is brilliantly colorful and altogether breathtaking; the tone itself set by the constant rocking back and forth of the currents. Save for the occasional shark attack, every moment literally just goes with the flow, without any real idea where you’ll end up. It is an incredibly intricate yet subtly delicate balance that only a greater power could have created. Well, a greater power and the great creativity of Pixar anyway.

FINDING NEMO is both an underwater adventure and a contemplation at the same time. Marlin (Albert Brookes) is an overprotective father, not to mention also a clown fish, to little Nemo (Alexander Gould). It’s just been the two of them since Nemo was born and Marlin’s fear of life is starting to infringe on Nemo’s development. Fortunately for Nemo, his dad’s fear is eclipsed only by his love for his son, because when Nemo is taken by divers one day, his dad stops at nothing to get him back.

Andrew Stanton’s direction is so unexpected and alive. With every turn Marlin’s pursuit takes, Stanton takes us somewhere we never would have dreamed. Whether that’s fending off sharks who are trying to swear off eating other fish or surfing a current on the back of a 150-year-old sea turtle that speaks like a beach bum (incidentally voiced by Stanton himself), FINDING NEMO keeps the viewer in a constant state of awe and amazement. And when Marlin is joined by a blue tang with short term memory issues named Dory (Ellen Degeneres), the fun only gets funnier from there.

FINDING NEMO, now in the kind of sprawling 3D one wants to get lost in, is a perfect film for both parents and kids. This father and son tale gives kids the chance to see everything parents do for them while they are inspired to face their own fears. Meanwhile, parents learn that they don’t get to choose when their little ones are ready to leave the reef, that all you can do is make sure they know how to swim as best they can for when that day comes. Perhaps most importantly though, anyone who sees is learns that all any of us can ever do is just keep swimming, just keep swimming.