Full Movie Plot: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finding_Nemo#Plot
Finding Nemo is the one Disney movie that I honestly think is geared towards both children and their parents. The story centers around a little clownfish named Nemo and his over protective father, Marlin. At the beginning of the movie Nemo is kidnapped and Marlin has to journey all over the ocean in order to find him. Marlin’s over protectiveness is due to a tragic accident that occurred when little Nemo was just an egg. This incident almost caused Marlin to lose Nemo, and he is so terrified by losing his son again that he smothers him.
Though Finding Nemo is clearly a kid’s movie, I am not sure small children will understand this whole concept, so maybe it is geared towards kids who are a bit older. I was about ten when I first watched it (it came out in 2003), and I don’t think that whole concept really hit me until when I was little older. For the kids who do understand it, I think it is a great message to put in a kids movie. A lot of the tension between Nemo and his father stems from the fact that his father is so overprotective. Nemo views his father as annoying and unreasonable, but he fails to understand that his father is the way he is because he really cares about him. I think a lot of kids can relate to this. I know that when I was younger (and sometimes even now) I got annoyed at my parents for not letting me do the things that I wanted to do. As I got older I realized that my parents only put restrictions on me because they love me. Knowing this doesn’t make it any less annoying, but it does help relieve some of the tension, because I am able to take a step back and look at things from my parent’s point of view. I think part of what makes Finding Nemo so great is that the whole movie takes place from a concerned parent’s point of view, so it gives kids a chance to see what it is like to care about someone the way Marlin cares for his son Nemo and the way their parents care for them.
That being said I do not think that anyone can fully empathize with Marlin until they have actually had kids (maybe I’ll have to watch this one again sometime with my own kids), which is why I say that this movie is geared towards both parents and children. During his journey, Marlin begins to realize the harm that he is doing to his son in being too overprotective. He realizes that, despite his good intentions, he has been stifling Nemo’s independence and holding his son back. Dori, a kind and quirky fish who helps Marlin find Nemo, sums Marlin’s realization up with the words “if you never let anything happen to him, well then nothing will ever happen to him.”
I posted these scenes because I think they accurately sum up what Marlin learns about parenting. Sometimes he needs to just stand back and let Nemo do his own thing. I think this message is geared more towards parents than children. It shows parents they have to let their kids make their own decisions and learn from their own mistakes for them to reach their full potential. In order for them to fly you have to let them jump.
All of this gives Finding Nemo more of a serious quality than most other Disney movies. Don’t get me wrong the movie did have a lot of funny moments, but its lack of light hearted songs and classic romance makes it a lot different from the other Disney movies I have watched. That isn’t necessarily a bad thing.
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