Finding Nemo (2003)
★★★★ — Finding Nemo (2003)
Released in May 2003, Finding Nemo arrived at a point when Pixar was already widely regarded as the most consistent creative force in mainstream animation, with a string of films behind them that had redrawn the expectations audiences carried into a family picture. Set largely in and around the waters of the Great Barrier Reef and the Sydney coastline, the film plants itself in a very specific corner of the natural world and uses it to tell a story that is, at its core, about parenthood and the terror of helplessness. It is the kind of premise that could easily tip into saccharine territory, yet the film holds its nerve throughout its hundred-minute runtime. Andrew Stanton, who had co-written several earlier Pixar pictures before stepping into a full directing role here, brought a genuine interest in character-driven storytelling to the project, and his subsequent work, including WALL·E (2008), would confirm him as one of the studio's most distinctive voices. Pixar produced the film through their arrangement with Disney, and by any commercial measure it was a substantial success, but what is more interesting now, two decades on, is how well the film has aged as a piece of craft.
The voice cast assembled here is worth pausing over. Albert Brooks plays Marlin, the anxious, overprotective clownfish father whose worst fears come true in the film's opening minutes. Brooks had spent his career building a particular kind of neurotic, self-aware comic persona, and he channels that into Marlin without ever letting it become a shtick. Ellen DeGeneres voices Dory, the cheerfully forgetful fish who becomes Marlin's unlikely travel companion, and the casting is inspired: DeGeneres brings a warmth and a physical energy to the voice work that keeps Dory sympathetic rather than simply annoying. Willem Dafoe and Geoffrey Rush round out the principal cast, with Dafoe voicing the aquarium's senior fish and Rush appearing as a pelican, and both bring considerably more weight than such roles might seem to demand. Young Alexander Gould voices Nemo himself, the missing son whose captivity in a Sydney dentist's fish tank runs as a parallel strand to his father's search. For those curious about other animation worth comparing it to, the site has reviews of The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996) and Josep (2020) that cover very different corners of the form.
The film also came with a sequel some years later in Finding Dory (2016), again directed by Stanton, which shifted the focus onto Dory's own backstory and her search for her family. But that came later, and Finding Nemo stands perfectly well on its own terms as a self-contained story. What follows is the full review.
Finding Nemo is a masterclass in how to balance spectacle, emotion, and storytelling within the framework of an animated adventure. What begins as a simple tale of a father’s desperate search for his missing son quickly unfolds into a richly detailed journey across the vast, unpredictable ocean. One that’s as thrilling as it is heartfelt. The animation, even years later, remains astonishing: sunlight filtering through water, the undulating movement of jellyfish, the bustling life of the reef, every frame feels alive, textured, and full of wonder. The brilliance lies in how effortlessly it shifts tone. One moment you’re caught in the quiet grief of Marlin, a clownfish whose world has been shattered by loss; the next, you’re swept into the buoyant, scatterbrained energy of Dory, whose short-term memory loss is played not just for laughs, but with genuine empathy. Their odd-couple dynamic becomes the emotional engine of the film, and the supporting cast (from the laid-back turtles to the gruff but kind dentist’s office crew) are more than gags; they’re fully formed characters in a world that feels expansive and real. It’s not quite perfection , some of the side characters verge on caricature, and the plot occasionally relies on convenient coincidences but the emotional core never wavers. Finding Nemo understands fear, love, and the painful necessity of letting go, all while keeping the story accessible and engaging for children. It’s a film that swims just shy of Pixar’s absolute peak, but still emerges as one of their most enduring, beautifully crafted achievements.
Those reservations about convenient plotting are fair ones, and I wouldn't argue against them, but for me they barely register in the moment because the film earns so much goodwill through the consistency of its emotional honesty. The relationship between Marlin and Dory is doing real work here, and the film trusts that work enough not to wrap everything up too neatly. It's the kind of animated picture that reminds you the genre isn't a lesser category of cinema, it's just a different set of tools. And in the right hands, the tools are extraordinary.
Rating: ★★★★ | Year: 2003 | Watched: 2025-07-24
Trailer
▶ Watch the official trailer for Finding Nemo (2003) on YouTube
Where to watch
Watch in the UK
Stream: Disney Plus
Rent: Apple TV Store · Rakuten TV · Sky Store
Buy: Apple TV Store · Rakuten TV · Amazon Video · Google Play Movies
Physical: Amazon UK · Zavvi
Watch in the US
Stream: Disney Plus · Hulu · fuboTV
Rent: Amazon Video · Apple TV Store · Google Play Movies · YouTube
Buy: Amazon Video · Apple TV Store · Google Play Movies · YouTube
Physical: Amazon US
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Related on Movies With Macca
More from Andrew Stanton: Finding Dory (2016) · WALL·E (2008)
More with Albert Brooks: Finding Dory (2016)
More from the 2000s: Kirikou and the Wild Beasts (2005) · Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004) · Daredevil (2003) · Apocalypto (2006)
More animation: Fantastic Planet (1973) · Alice in Wonderland (1951) · Mononoke the Movie: The Phantom in the Rain (2024) · Mononoke the Movie: Chapter II - The Ashes of Rage (2025)
More family: Alice in Wonderland (1951) · Wonder (2017) · Kirikou and the Wild Beasts (2005) · Anastasia (1997)
