Finding Nemo is a film that I’ll always cherish. Not because it’s so good (which it is), but it was the first movie I ever saw in the theaters. I’m not someone who goes to the theaters much, so I was very excited to see a film in the theaters for the first time!
The film, as you all know, is about a father clownfish named Marlin, voiced by Albert Brooks, who teams up with a royal blue tang with short-term memory loss, named Dory, voiced by Ellen DeGeneres, to find his son, Nemo, voiced by Alexander Gould, who has been “fish-napped” by Australian divers.
Wow, what a wordy synopsis!
Anyway, my forgotten/minor character appears near the beginning of the movie at the drop-off. Marlin and Nemo have a squabble and Marlin tries to explain to Nemo’s teacher that Nemo shouldn’t be in school. Unbeknownst to Marlin though, Nemo swims away to touch the bottom of a nearby boat in order to anger his father.
But one of Nemo’s classmates, a blue fish, proclaims, “Oh my gosh! Nemo’s swimming out to sea!” causing Marlin and the others to turn their heads and notice Nemo performing the dastardly deed.
Now, here’s the thing. Let’s assume that this blue fish didn’t see Nemo swimming out to sea and/or didn’t draw everyone’s attention to the fact. What could have happened? Well, maybe another fish would’ve seen Nemo swimming out to sea and alerted everyone to that fact. It’s possible.
But, let’s say that nobody saw Nemo swimming out to sea. Maybe Nemo himself would probably call out to everyone when he reached the boat thereby drawing everyone’s attention. It’s plausible.
But, let’s say that Nemo’s even more spiteful and intended to go touch the boat and then go back to his dad and be like, “I touched the boat. What you gonna do about it, pops?”. If that was his plan, then nobody would see Nemo doing the deed, hence nobody would be informed unless and until Nemo himself came back and told everyone.
But, in the movie, what happens right after he touches the boat?
Right! He gets taken by a diver. So, if nobody’s attention was drawn to Nemo, it’s perfectly plausible that the diver would’ve just taken Nemo away while everyone else was ignorant of the fact. They’d soon after wonder where Nemo had disappeared off to, but have no clue where to look. It’s only because of Marlin watching the “fish-napping” take place that he notices the diver’s goggles which give him the clue as to where to find Nemo. So, my point is that if it wasn’t for the blue proclaimer classmate fish, there’s a good possibility that Nemo wouldn’t have ever been found!
Ok, maybe someone’s making the argument that when Nemo gets captured by the diver, he’d yell for help, thereby drawing the attention to him and everyone would see the diver and Marlin would know how/where to find Nemo. But, the problem with this is that everybody would notice Nemo probably too late. Maybe by the time the fish turned their heads towards Nemo, the diver would be halfway out of the water. Hence, Marlin probably wouldn’t have noticed the diver’s goggles and just notice the boat…not much of a clue!
Yeah, I’m probably looking too deeply into this. In the end, I just feel that this blue proclaimer classmate fish did a very important deed and should be recognized. Hence, I recognize him as the forgotten/minor character of this film.
The Animation Commendation 
I love that fish, especially his lisp for some reason. However, I’m very surprised that this was the first film you ever saw in the theater! I would never have guessed!
Yeah, I was 12 years old at the time. My parents weren’t too fond of me going to cinemas; they’d rather I watch films at home on VHS, but that was the first one they relented on.
And since then, I’ve seen less than 10 films totally in the cinema, but this will always be a memory for me.
I have not seen this film in at least 5 years, so I don’t have a fresh opinion on it. I do remember watching it in theaters though and enjoyed it. I forgot about that character.
Well, I made a good choice for the forgotten character since you forgot about him, lol.
I always thought that fish was a girl, LOL!
Anyways, I was obsessed with this movie for quite a while when I was younger, and it’s still one of my favorites. It probably would’ve stayed my favorite Pixar movie had it not been for Up and Toy Story 3!
Yeah, it’s definitely one of Pixar’s best films. And I’m pretty sure that fish is a guy.
Love Finding Nemo. It’s funny, tender hearted and the animation of the ocean gorgeous. Just curious why don’t you go to the theater often? I love seeing a movie on the big screen. Debating next week to go to Book of Life or Boxtrolls
Well, my parents weren’t really fond of seeing movies in theaters and preferred to see films on VHS, so that we could fast-forward anything deemed inappropriate. And that way of growing up became my norm.
Ah makes sense. My parents were like that hence my never seeing the saloon scene of Great Mouse Detective. We both had good parents I think :).
We couldn’t afford to go to movies much with 6 kids, but I have $2 theater by me which helps.
That’s a funny coincidence because Monsters, Inc. is the first movie I saw in the theaters, but only because I was so young at the time.
As a matter of fact I remember watching the saloon scene in The Great Mouse Detective with my aunt in her crowded back room on more than one occasion. I do have a funny memory of her telling me what a horrible thing that was to do to someone when the lady mouse blew smoke in Dawson’s face. I also kept wondering why she was smoking when she looked like she was just a teenager so Aunt Marilyn just kept repeating “She’s a bad girl”.
No adult ever made me fast-forward through anything, but my father disliked the scene where Woody and Buzz fought at the gas station in Toy Story.
Interesting!
It’s cool that Pixar films were our theatrical firsts!
And I’d rather go see ‘The Book of Life’.
I always laugh when that blue fish comes on!
I can relate to your love for this movie. While I didn’t watch it in theaters, I did watch the DVD a lot. You’re lucky to have Finding Nemo as your first film you saw in theaters. The first film I saw in theaters was Cars. And while I enjoy the film, I still think it’s not the best movie to start off on. 🙂
Lol, thanks for commenting!
Glad to see you around still even though you no longer use your blog.
Hey, I don’t think you’re looking too deeply into it at all! I think it’s great food for thought. Totally unknown character that was absolutely necessary in order to drive the plot. Great character choice for this type of post, Mark!
Thanks, Kristin! That’s why we get along so well 😉 !
Haha, that must be the case!
I love the fact that this was the first film you saw in the cinema, that’s such a lovely piece of trivia. It was a great choice too! I first saw ‘Finding Nemo’ on a first date and I had no idea there was going to be such a brutal death within the first few minutes…It killed the hand holding, giggly nervous mood a bit, because she started to cry but tried to cover it up and I didn’t know how best to react. Pixar: Not great for a first date!
Lol, I’ll remember never to watch this film when I want to be romantic.
Thanks for commenting!
Thaanks for posting this
You’re welcome.