Finding Nemo is easily one of my favorite Pixar films. To me it just doesn’t get “old” holding up on repeated viewings. Recently remastered for 3D and a theatrical rerelease, we get the film on Blu-ray now. Unfortunately I didn’t get the 3D version, but thankfully Disney isn’t short changing consumers who don’t shell out for the full 3D version of the Blu-ray, actually putting all the special features on the standard Blu-ray edition of Finding Nemo, unlike some other recent Disney releases.
Why is this one of my favorite Pixar films? Part of it has to do with the fact that I am a father myself, sure, and I can relate to the emotions Marlin goes through. His journey is something many fathers can see themselves doing faced with similar circumstances. The characters are great, from Bruce the great white shark to Crush the giant sea turtle and even Dory, the fish that aids Marlin on his quest, all have enough depth to be interesting and balance to serve the story without taking the spotlight away. The story is one that is a very classic “road trip” or “quest” story, a rescue mission, but also one made all the better by having it be about family and loss.
And the animation is fantastic.
If you don’t somehow know the story to Finding Nemo, here’s a short synopsis that hopefully won’t spoil too much. I will say that everything works out in the end, but that’s actually to be expected. Marlin and his wife Coral move into a sea anemone and get ready for their family to hatch. After they are attacked, Coral is dead and only one egg survives. Flash forward to sometime later and Marlin is taking his only son Nemo to his first day of school. Marlin is a bit overprotective, not just because of the attack he suffered, but Nemo has one fin not fully formed as a result of the damage done to his egg in the attack. Nemo reacts to his father’s overprotectiveness and gets captured by humans. Marlin then embarks on a journey to get his son back and reunite what is left of his family.
For this Blu-ray release, either the 3D or standard 2D version, you may be wondering if upgrading is worth it. The short answer is “Yes.”
Do you own the film on DVD? Give it to somebody who doesn’t and pick up the Blu-ray. Unlike A Bug’s Life, everything of importance is carried over to this Blu-ray, so there’s no worry about missing anything or needing to keep both copies. What’s left off? The “full screen” version of the film which artificially cropped the film to fit television sets 9 years ago and a couple of games (using the term losely). We also get a few new items to help sweeten the upgrade pot.
Special features carried over from the DVD start off with what was originally the “visual commentary” with Andrew Stanton (co-writer and co-director), Lee Unkrich (co-director) and Bob Peterson (co-writer) and is now CinExplore. This is a nice upgrade to what was offered before. Then we get the 25 minute “making of” featurette looking at … well, the making of Finding Nemo. A couple of other short featurettes are jokey (studio tour and “Exploring the Reef”) and there are a number of really short pieces bundled together looking at a number of different aspects of the film’s development, some deleted scenes, outtakes, and more.
New for the Blu-ray release are aquariums turning your television into … yeah, you guessed it, an aquarium. This is much better than the menu-based item we got on the DVD. A new deleted scene, the film’s original opening is presented here as well. Then we get a “round table” discussion looking back on the film then a look at the reimagining of DisneyLand’s submarine ride converting it from 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea to a Finding Nemo themed attraction. Lastly we get Andrew Stanton discussing the use of flashbacks, or the non-use of them. All toled we get just under 45 minutes of new and worthwhile special features without losing anything.
One of the best Pixar films finally arrives on Blu-ray in an upgrade-worthy package, both in 3D and 2D. The only things missing from the 2D Blu-ray version of Finding Nemo are a disc of the 3D version and another disc containing a digital copy. If those are important to you, purchase accordingly.