Finding Nemo (2003)

Pixar’s underwater adventure film “Finding Nemo” is another pearl in the studio’s collection. Here, a father clown fish (Albert Brooks in splendid Defcon 4 Meltdown) searches the Pacific Ocean for his only child, Nemo, who has been taken by an underwater diver. The captured boy fish is kept in a tank and befriends other sea creatures, quickly growing up away from his father’s helicopter parenting ways. Well, OK, so the plot riffs close to “An American Tail.” This is far better. “Nemo” has a pack of sharks forming a vegan support group, Ellen DeGeneres as a fish with a “Memento” problem, and a visual concept so marvelous, it’s a treat just to watch. The textures of the fish skins change in and out of water, and as they float, the body’s weight and fins are flawlessly rendered. I also dig Alexander Gould as Nemo, a scared boy with a damaged fin. In perfect child sync, Gould trips over many of his lines, barely able to get the words in order. In Pixar fashion, story and character still top the effects. Magical. A