Finding Nemo
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Buena Vista Home Entertainment / 2003 / 100 Minutes / Rated G
Street Date: November 4, 2003 
Finding Nemo is another slam-dunk for Pixar. A studio on a winning streak unrivaled in recent Hollywood history, this family-friendly fish tale ruled the summer box office with one fin tied behind its back, outgrossing every live-action sequel in its path and becoming Disney's biggest animated blockbuster to date. One wonders how long the hit streak can last - what goes up must eventually come down, and the only thing Hollywood loves more than a rags-to-riches success story is tearing down the once-mighty. So I'll just enjoy it all while it lasts; Finding Nemo is Pixar's best yet, which is saying a great deal for a studio that can do no wrong. It is a magical, mystical adventure and an instant classic. A mix of fish-out-of-water and you-can't-go-home-again conventions, our tale begins when Nemo, a cute little clownfish, gets unexpectedly picked up but a pet store scuba diver. Dropped in a dentist's fish tank - and soon to be a neglected birthday present for the dentist's young and very scary-looking daughter Darla - it is Nemo's overprotective father Marlin and a friendly but scatterbrained regal blue tang named Dory to the rescue. An epic journey ensues, filled with vegetarian sharks, surfer turtles, hypnotic jellyfish and a flock of very hungry seagulls.
Truth be told, Finding Nemo is a fairly typical father-son story. But they say there are only about seven or eight basic stories to tell anyway, and the magic is in how you say it. Too bad Pixar can't patent their secret ingredients. Is it the gorgeous animation? The sharp and witty dialogue? The enchanting and memorable characters? The impeccable voice talent they can assemble with the flick of a cell phone? Or just great marketing? I bet it is a little bit of everything. Rare do all of the elements that make a great movie seem to line up so effortlessly. That Pixar only chooses to tell their stories with computer animation is besides the point; while every other studio, including Disney, continues to flounder with half-baked stories and misguided attempts at reimagining the classics (Sinbad? Treasure Planet?), Pixar realizes that it is not the tools that ultimately matter most. Even beneath the skin of a synthetic fish can beat the flesh and blood heart of a human being. But none of this matters anyway. Finding Nemo is a film impervious to criticism. Millions loved it, millions will buy it on DVD, and it is the closest you are going to get to a movie you can hug like a teddy bear. I can only hope that Pixar's hit streak will continue, but it is hard to imagine an animated film being any more perfect than Finding Nemo.
Video: How Does The Disc Look? Disney and Pixar have teamed up to bring you Finding Nemo on DVD in a two-disc set that tries to be everything to everybody. Which is not an aim entirely lacking in nobility. Here we get THX-certified 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen and 4:3 "recomposed" full screen transfers, each on a separate disc. And no surprise, they look gorgeous. Colors are simply magnificent - deep blues, blistering oranges, lush greens and rich reds leap off the screen, perfectly saturated and free from any noise or bleeding. THe sense of depth here is often amazing - it is, literally, like looking at a fish tank. The image is sharp and detailed, with even the "dark" scenes flush with fine textures and no jaggedness or rough edges to destroy the illusion. Unfortunately, both of these discs are pretty packed, and if there looks to be a tad bit of fuzziness in some shots - and most of the video-based supplements are compressed to hell - one wonders if the image could have been improved even more had they dropped the full frame version and moved all the extras to disc two. Otherwise, Finding Nemo looks all-around wonderful. Audio: How Does The Disc Sound? The great thing about animated movies is that, since they are entirely "fake," their soundtracks have to be created from scratch and built from the ground up. Once again utilizing the talents of Oscar-winning sound designer Gary Rydstrom, Finding Nemo may be Pixar's most engrossing yet. It is that wonderful. The oceans - and fish tanks - of Nemo come alive with a highly engaging, fully 360-degree Dolby Digital Surround EX soundtrack. What most impresses is actually the subtle ambience. Whooshes, burbles and flapping fins emanate from all channels; transparency and imagine is all-around excellent. Frequency response and dialogue recording is predictably reference-quality. The .1 LFE is also very strong, pure and powerful. And don't be fooled that this is family film - despite the lack of big action scenes and explosions, turn this one up loud...the better to hear how much love and care obviously went into the creation of this sound. French and Spanish EX dubs are also provided, along with English, French and Spanish subtitles and English Closed Captions.
Supplements: What Goodies Are There? You take the good, you take the bad, you take them both and there you have...the facts of Nemo. One can understand the desire to try to appease both the adults and the kids, but splitting up the extras across two discs is still kind of annoying. Ah, well, there is still enough good stuff here that it is hard to complain. After enjoying the cute and clever menus - narrated by the film's stars especially for the DVD - let's start with what is similar on both discs. Each includes an introduction by the filmmakers, plus a Virtual Aquarium - little loops that turn your TV into a fishtank - with the first disc with clips from the movie, the second with all-new animation. There are also three making-of featurettes/vignettes spread across the two discs. Platter one gets Making Nemo, which runs 25 minutes and covers the basics - the gestation of the story, putting it all together, the basics of the animation and the finishing touches. Platter two holds the "Behind the Scenes" section, with a Studio Tour (the same basic "Welcome to Pixar"-type thing we got on the Monsters, Inc., A Bug's Life and the Toy Story DVDs); less than 3 minutes of amusing Character Interviews; and Publicity, which is really a collection of one teaser and three theatrical trailers, three TV spots and a Print Gallery with various ad concepts and posters.
The widescreen version of the film gets the best extra. The Visual Commentary runs 133 minutes - a good 23 minutes longer than the feature and is a gas. Co-directors Lee Unkrich and Andrew Stanton and co-writer Bob Petersen are our hosts, and they are funny, smart and very personable guys who obviously realize they have the greatest job in the world. THe best thing about Pixar flicks is that they always seem to spring out of the hearts and minds of their creators - these are not movies made by committee, but very personal stories that just happen to utilize the talents of hundreds. And this is one of the few visual commentaries that actually works - access time is very quick, with only the full frame aspect ratio ruining the illusion. (Since this only works with the widescreen version of the film, why weren't the branching portions produced in 1.78:1?) In addition to seven deleted scenes (all in animated storyboard form with rough voice-over), there are almost 30 other vignettes, from test animations to scoring and voice session excerpts to cute if throwaway gags and in-jokes. But what if you don't want to sit through the whole thing? In a great touch, a complete index is also included, allowing you to jump instantly to any of the deleted scenes or additional video material. The rest of disc one contains four Design Galleries, a pretty comprehensive selection of over 450 or so stills: "Art Review" (a 6-minute montage with or without optional commentary or music-only); "Characters" (24 snippets of 3-D, 360-degree mockup renderings); "Environments" ("Reef," "Ocean" and "Harbor") and "Color Script," which alone contains 300 images created by production designer Ralph Eggleston to inspire the film's lighting by outlining the story's colors, moods and time of day. This stuff is likely a bit too heavy for the young ones but animation buffs should love it.
Disc two is far more kid-friendly, with a selection of edu-tainment materials and games. Exploring the Reef is a 7-minute mock-featurette hosted by Jean-Michel Cousteau, as the film's characters disrupt his attempt to educate us on the mysterious of the undersea kingdom. It certainly is funny. We also get the Pixar short Knick Knack, without without optional commentary. Mr. Ray's Encyclopedia is a 7-minute, odd sort of "video book" that introduces us to eight different sea creatures, narrated by the film's characters and each a montage of real sea footage. Kids should love it. Fisharades is an interactive game that is exactly what it sounds like - can you guess what each of the fishes are trying to mimic? Storytime is a read-along storybook of still pages, with or without optional narration. Rounding out the set are the usual Disney sneak peeks, including a teaser for the upcoming Pixar guaranteed blockbuster, The Incredibles. There is also an 8-page booklet with a map to the set's many extras. DVD-ROM Exclusives: What do you get when you pop the disc in your PC? What? No PC extras? Doesn't make much sense given the wealth of video-based goodies and the fact that kids love to play with their computers. Weird... Parting Thoughts Finding Nemo is an instant classic and my pick for Pixar's best so far. And this is a great two-disc set: an often stunning transfer and soundtrack and plenty of entertaining extras that should please both adults and kids alike. So don't hesitate - run out and get your copy today. |
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