FINDING NEMO – The Blu Review

By Joe Vanourney

“Finding Nemo” has finally made its way into High Definition with the release of both a 3-Disc Collector’s Edition (2 Blu-rays and 1 DVD) and a 5-disc Ultimate Collector’s Edition (3D Blu-ray, 2 Blu-ray, DVD, and portable media copy) from Pixar/Walt Disney Pictures and Buena Vista Home Entertainment.

“Nemo” is an underwater adventure film that deals with the tragedy of a parent’s worst nightmare…losing their child.  It also deals with overcoming one’s fear and of parents and children learning to grow on their own.

Marlin (Albert Brooks) is a clown fish and Nemo (Alexander Gould) is his son.  Marlin, having suffered through the traumatic experience of losing his wife and all of their eggs (except Nemo’s) to a predator fish, is very overprotective and fearful of the ocean and the dangers that hide in the waters.  One day, in a moment of rebellion, Nemo swims a little too far out past the coral reef they call home, and is captured by a diver who takes him to his new home—a fish tank in a dentist’s office.  Marlin teams up with Dory (Ellen Degeneres), a blue tang fish with short term memory problems, and together the two begin a quest to find Nemo and bring him home.  The two encounter everything from friendly sea turtles and reformed sharks, to a school of jellyfish and an underwater mine field.  Nemo, meanwhile plots an escape from the fish tank with his tankmates.  It is a fun, moving adventure, full of humor and emotion.  It deservedly won an Academy Award for Best Animated Feature Film in 2003.

VIDEO: “Nemo” is presented in 1080p High Definition with a 1.78:1 aspect ratio and looks fantastic.  The images are vibrant and colorful.  The animation looks slightly aged in comparison to today’s animated fare, lending a somewhat softer look in some parts, but my issue with that is minimal.  The film looks great.

AUDIO:  The audio on this disc is perfect.  The film is presented with a new 7.1 Dolby TrueHD audio track and sounds spectacular.  I cannot say one negative thing about it.  The dialogue is crystal clear, the music is loud and booming, and the underwater noises surround you.  Fish swim by, bubbles rise to the surface, seagulls chirp, and whales sing in full surround sound glory.

BONUS FEATURES: Once again, Disney and Pixar deliver a plethora of bonus features that will entertain you for hours.  Many of them appeared previously on the 2003 DVD release, but there are extensive new features as well.

I will start with what was my favorite:

Reinventing the Submarine Voyage (15 minutes)- This feature takes us behind the scenes of the Submarine Voyage ride at Disneyland and shows how it was updated and changed a few years ago to the Finding Nemo Submarine Adventure ride.  This was A+.  It went into the history of the ride from 1959 with footage of its construction and opening, showing us what riders would see through the ride’s portholes, and even had a bit on the real-life mermaids that would sit on the rocks to entertain those standing in line and would dive in the water to entertain those looking out the windows of the submarine.

It then had interviews with the imagineers who were tasked with updating the ride with a “Finding Nemo” theme and show what the ride looks like now.  A fantastic bonus feature.

Knick Knack (4 minutes)- This is an early Pixar animated short that was made six years before Toy Story.  It’s about a snowman trapped in a snow globe and his quest to hook up with a bikini-clad knick knack on the other side of the glass.  Very entertaining.

Finding Nemo: A Filmmaker’s Roundtable Discussion (18 minutes)- This recently produced feature reunites director Stanton, co-director Unkrich, co-writer Peterson, producer Graham Walters, production designer Ralph Eggleston, and technical lead Oren Jacob as they sit around a table 9 years after Nemo was released to discuss the making of the film, recalling fun stories, and talking about how the film has impacted their lives.

CineExplore (101 minutes)- This is basically a modernized picture-in-picture audio commentary track with director Andrew Stanton, co-director Lee Unkrich, and co-writer Bob Peterson.  While they are speaking, a second picture appears over the film with storyboards, photos, early concept art, animation tests, etc. This was an interesting way to get you to watch those things.  The audio track itself is mid-level, dry at times, yet somewhat informative.

Deleted Scene: Alternate Opening (3 minutes)- An alternate opening presented with voice over and early concept art.  Meh.

A Lesson in Flashbacks (8 minutes)- Stanton discusses what he learned about flashbacks while developing “Finding Nemo’s” story and structure.  Five flashbacks are presented in concept art form.  Again, meh.

Aquarium: A collection of HD ocean floor screensavers.

The rest of the bonus features are carried over on a second disc from the 2003 DVD release.  The best of those include Making Nemo (26 minutes), an excellent, yet too-short making of documentary covering various stages of production, and Exploring the Reef (7 minutes), where the voice cast of “Finding Nemo” join Jean-Michel Cousteau on an exploration of the world’s dying coral reefs.  Other bonus features carried over include trailers, Studio Tour (5 minutes), a behind-the-scenes look at Pixar Studios, a collection of outtakes and deleted scenes, publicity pieces, Art Review, and Old School, a collection of  behind the scenes shorts.

The new bonus features and upgraded video and audio quality (along with the new 3D version) make this new “Finding Nemo” worth owning.

FILM QUALITY:        4 OUT OF 5 STARS

VIDEO QUALITY:     4.5 OUT OF 5 STARS

AUDIO QUALITY:     5 OUT OF 5 STARS

BONUS FEATURES:  4.5 OUT OF 5 STARS

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