Finding Nemo: A Cultural Phenomenon
Audiences went wild for Finding Nemo in 2003 and engaged with the film at a level above any prior Pixar film. What made it stand out in the canon?
Finding Nemo (2003) represents numerous achievements for Pixar. It was Pixar’s first film to win the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. It’s the best-selling DVD title of all time. It was the highest grossing G-rated film to date (and still is when adjusted for inflation).
As soon as it came out, probably even before it came out, zoos and aquariums everywhere filled with the shouts of “Look at the Nemo!” These shouts are somewhat shockingly just as prevalent today as I remember them being in 2003. Pixar had made good films and popular films prior to Finding Nemo. They made films that were technologically important to the animation canon. But Finding Nemo was possibly their first true pop hit, cultural phenomenon. In researching for this piece, I found more think pieces on Medium about how Finding Nemo was personally inspiring to the authors, or how it’s their favorite childhood film, than any of the prior four Pixar films combined.
People love this film.
The animation for the ocean is gorgeous. Sunlight on corals and anemones, flecks floating past in the water, differing levels of transparencies in fish fins and ocean flora, the way Marlin and Dory glint…
