thedriveintheatre

Copyright Disney Enterprises LLC

This is a very significant Pixar film for me, because it was the first one that my siblings and I saw in cinemas since Toy Story. It was also during a period for which I had an intense hatred for Pixar because of what I thought they were doing to traditionally-animated movies. I believed back then that Pixar started the whole CGI-craze that was killing the old-school animation industry, and I was quite bitter about it. I used to have motion-sickness when watching the poor CGI back then, and it was in that year (2004) that I read the announcement that ‘Home on the Range’ would be Disney’s final 2D animated film. But my parents wanted to take us because it received a great review in the local newspaper and it was doing well in the box-office, so they took it as an invitation to bring the whole family to the movies.

So I went in with anger and cynicism in my heart, and came out with an entire paradigm shift. I was moved to tears during that scene where Nigel was breathlessly telling Nemo and the tank gang of his father’s brave quest to save him, or when Dory pleaded with Marlin not to leave her because she doesn’t “want to forget”.

Of course, in two years time, a certain John Lasseter movie would change my love-hate relationship with the studio forever. But I must credit Finding Nemo for planting the seeds of doubt in the first place. And of course, here I am, in Sydney of all places, home of Nigel and the tank gang, pursuing my dreams of becoming a great storyteller like Pixar.

Happy birthday to Finding Nemo, and congratulations to Stanton and his talented team! Although the ending was perfect, I certainly wouldn’t mind a sequel, if one was ever made down the road.