How 'Finding Nemo' lampshaded Disney's dead parent troupe

Marlin (Albert Brooks) and Dory (Ellen Degeneres) journey through the ocean in 2003’s “Finding Nemo.” (Walt Disney Studios/MovieStillsDB.com)

Finally, we have an animated film under the Disney umbrella where the parent can swoop in and save the day for the child, but "Finding Nemo" also makes us consider if that's still a good idea for the child's development.

"Finding Nemo"
Released May 30, 2003
Directed by Andrew Stanton
Where to Watch

For as long as I can remember, the knock against Disney movies has been that the parents of their protagonists are almost always killed or missing in the story. 

"Bambi," "Peter Pan," "The Jungle Book," "The Lion King," and "Lilo and Stitch" are just a few of the movies with the troupe, and if you start counting single parents or those who become the villain, the list will be quite long. It's a storytelling trick to get the movie's primary audience – in this case, children – more invested in the story because without an able-bodied parent around, the stakes are raised even higher for the young heroes.

The opening moments of "Finding Nemo" establish the beautiful but dangerous setting. Marlin and his wife Coral are two clownfish ready to start their new life in the Great Barrier Reef near Sydney, Australia, with hundreds of baby fish eggs ready to hatch. However, a barracuda attacks and kills Coral and all of the eggs save for one – a young clownfish named Nemo, born with a smaller right fin – and Marlin promises to protect him at all costs.

A few years later, and Nemo is ready to start his first day of school. Marlin remains highly protective of his son, but when a few other students dare Nemo to touch the bottom of a boat, Marlin helplessly watches him get captured by a human and disappear into the vast ocean. Nemo is taken to an aquarium in a dentist's office in Sydney, where he meets several other aquatic creatures determined to escape. Meanwhile, Marlin continues to desperately search for Nemo. Along his journey, he meets Dory, a blue tang fish with short-term memory loss but is willing to help Marlin find his son.

With the advances made in computer animation and the setting under the sea, "Finding Nemo" was Pixar's best-looking picture to date. From the colorful coral reefs to a smack of pink jellyfish, Stanton's team of animators managed to take nature and turn it into a visual fantasy. Combined with the voice performances and chemistry between the two adult leads, Albert Brooks as Marlin and Ellen Degeneres as Dory, "Finding Nemo" was a delightful surprise that helped establish Pixar as a powerhouse original film company beyond the Toy Story films.

"Finding Nemo" is enchanting; written with an effortless blend of sweetness and silliness, and animated with such rainbow-hued beauty, you may find yourself wanting to freeze-frame it," wrote Moira McDonald for the Seattle Times. There's plenty of detail in "Finding Nemo" that will reward repeat viewings. But like all of the Pixar movies, it's ultimately a story of love and friendship, wrapped in wondrous visuals."

Beyond the sea life animation, "Finding Nemo" is a movie about a father and son, both of whom have suffered an enormous loss in their life. The movie begins with the sudden, shocking removal of a parental figure in a family film, not unlike a memorable scene in 1941's "Bambi." But unlike the early Disney movie, "Finding Nemo" leaves Marlin as a central figure in Nemo's life and in the film itself. Away from home for the first time in a foreign environment and forced to fend for himself, Nemo's journey to self-discovery often mirrors the arcs of many young Disney heroes. What's unique to "Finding Nemo" is that equal time is given to Marlin's physical quest to reunite with his son. Still, through his new relationship with Dory, Marlin wrestles with the idea of letting Nemo be his own person regardless of his vulnerabilities. It's an emotional leap Marlin must make while letting go of his past and insecurities. Finally, we have an animated film under the Disney umbrella where the parent can swoop in and save the day for the child, but "Finding Nemo" also makes us consider if that's still a good idea for the child's development.

"I felt it was the perfect metaphor for life," said Stanton of setting the story under the sea. "Infinite possibilities, but you have every reason to be afraid of it. We all know nature is a predatory world. I loved the challenge of using the real-world rules of nature because it's much more truthful. The minute I put it in that space, it's much more interesting to go, 'How do you deal with that if that is the truth, and you're the person trying to raise a kid?'"

Pixar's new twist on the "child in peril" story, the cliched parental death in these animated movies, was given a rest, although not entirely abandoned as the popular Frozen franchise can attest. Even so, "Finding Nemo" helped push animators to be more thoughtful in their storytelling. In movies like 2004's "The Incredibles," 2012's "Brave," and 2014's "Inside Out," parents became key players in the lives of the child protagonists. 

Pixar released its first movie, "Toy Story," in 1995, just as Disney reclaimed its status as a juggernaut of animation thanks to hits like 1989's "The Little Mermaid," 1991's "Beauty and the Beast," 1992's "Aladdin," and 1994's "The Lion King." By the time "Finding Nemo" was released, Pixar had ascended to the top of the mountain with acclaimed box office successes like 1999's "Toy Story 2" and 2001's "Monsters Inc," while Disney pictures weren't the sure-fire blockbusters they once were. "Finding Nemo" would be their next hit, grossing $339.7 million domestically and $871 million worldwide, becoming the second-biggest movie of the year after "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King." It also broke several other box office records to claim the title of the highest-grossing animated movie ever for a while.

Pixar would go on to dominate movies for the rest of the decade, both financially and creatively, with a string of acclaimed hits that were all original, animated films. Disney, which had been distributing the Pixar movies since the original "Toy Story," finally bought the company entirely in 2006 for $7.4 billion. It wasn't long before Nemo, Marlin, Dory, and many other popular Pixar characters were fully integrated into the growing Disney empire of films, television, toys, merchandise, and more.

As of late, Pixar has returned to several of its original films for sequels, including "Finding Nemo." "Finding Dory" reunited the crew in 2016 for a story about Dory searching for her own parents. The sequel was an enormous success with audiences of all ages. Stanton has not ruled out the possibility of another sequel, so perhaps "Finding Nemo" has traded out one trope of missing parents for another one: endless franchise series.

Still, there's no doubt "Finding Nemo" has earned its reputation as one of the best family movies ever; a beautiful and emotional summertime adventure at the movies. 

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