Finding Nemo

Further proving that the animators at Pixar are unflaggingly more clever and imaginative than anyone else working in feature animation today, this underwater CGI cartoon is their fifth great film in a row--smarter, funnier, and more entertaining than any other all-ages movie so far this year. Albert Brooks provides the anxiety-ridden intonations of an apprehensive, overprotective clownfish who traverses the sea in search of his missing son Nemo after the boy is scooped up by a scuba diver. Along the way he's helped by a dingbat blue tang (Ellen DeGeneres), a surfer-dude sea turtle (Andrew Stanton, the movie's director), a trio of 12-stepping sharks who are trying to go vegetarian, and an astute pelican (Geoffrey Rush) who happens to know that the clownfish's son is in a dentist's fish tank in Sydney, Australia. Resourceful in its storytelling, heartfelt, and steadily hilarious, Finding Nemo is also astounding to look at with its always-in-motion undersea universe that would be downright photo-realistic if Stanton and his animators hadn't dialed up the cartoonishness to aid in the fun. Definitely recommended. [Note: DVD extras on this two-disc set include both widescreen and full screen editions, the option of 11 “virtual aquariums” (depicting colorful, animated underwater scenes), brief explanatory intros featuring Pixar principals (including co-directors Andrew Stanton and Lee Unkrich, and executive producer John Lasseter), a visual commentary with deleted scenes and an index, the 25-minute documentary “Making Nemo,” design galleries (with commentary or isolated music options) for “Art Review” (8 min.), “Characters” (7 min.), “Environments” (stills) and “Color Script” (which includes over 300 images by production designer Ralph Eggleston); the seven-minute featurette “Exploring the Reef” with Jean-Michel Cousteau and several Finding Nemo characters; the four-minute 1989 short “Knick Knack” (with optional commentary); the 13-segment “Mr. Ray's Encyclopedia” (roughly eight minutes); a one- or two-player “Fisharades” game; a “Storytime” read along tale featuring Nemo; behind-the-scenes character interviews (2 min.); a five-minute studio tour of Pixar; publicity (including three “Fishy Fact” segments, and a print gallery with ads for posters, billboards, lobby cards, etc.), and trailers. Bottom line: a whale of an extras set for a whale of a hit tale.] (R. Blackwelder)[Blu-ray Review—Dec. 4, 2012—Walt Disney, 100 min., G, $39.99—Making its first appearance on Blu-ray, 2003's Finding Nemo sports a great transfer and a Dolby TrueHD 7.1 soundtrack. Bonus features include a “Cine-Explore” picture-in-picture commentary track, a “Making Nemo” featurette (26 min.), “A Filmmakers' Roundtable” retrospective discussion with crew including directors Lee Unkrich and Andrew Stanton (18 min.), “Reinventing the Submarine Voyage” on the Disneyland ride (15 min.), an “Old School” section with various brief behind-the-scenes segments (11 min. total), the production featurettes “Art Review” (9 min.), “A Lesson in Flashbacks” (8 min.), and “Exploring the Reef” (7 min.), a studio tour (6 min.), deleted scenes (6 min.), Pixar VP John Lasseter's 1989 short “Knick Knack” (4 min.), outtakes (4 min.), an alternate opening (3 min.), a publicity section with trailers and TV spots, “Mr. Ray's Encyclopedia,” various virtual aquariums, and a bonus DVD copy of the film. Bottom line: a beloved Pixar classic makes a welcome debut on Blu-ray.]