Pixar’s Finding Nemo, a movie about a father’s chaotic journey through treacherous scenarios to find his kidnapped son reflects the pure beauty of family and how a child should always listen to his or her parents. In this rather cute, animated twist, Disney conveyed to opposing views: that children are often worshipped in society and that a child should always abide to his or her elders.
In most cartoon movies or television shows, children are deemed the most delicate pieces of society. The plot and characters of what hits the television are not necessarily important; what is important, however, is the tone, diction, and structure of these screenplays.
A prominent characteristic of Finding Nemo, like many other Pixar movies, is where the main character (most likely young or relating to young children) is faced with problems that he escapes with someone else’s help. In this movie, Nemo always seems to get himself caught into a pickle, only to be saved by either his friends or by his father. For an example, in the fishtank, Gill saves Nemo from being sucked up in the filter. Then later, upon his escape from the dreaded Darla and the dentist’s office, Nigel (the pelican) gave Nemo and his friends the key idea on how to escape. After playing dead, Nemo found his way to Sydney’s Bay. Finally, after relying on his friends, Nemo saved an entire school of fish by telling them to swim down after being caught in a mass feeding frenzy by local fishermen. The climax of the film, here Nemo becomes the “hero” and saves the day while getting reunited with his father.
Though the story is rather cute, the most significant attribute is the structure which seems to repeat in many Pixar movies. In Finding Nemo, the main character is faced with many troubles only to be relieved by his friends and family. The climax of the movie appears when the protagonist saves the day by himself. This sort of structure seems to play over in movies like The Lion King, Mulan, and Toy Story.
Another prominent attribute of this Pixar film is parental role which also correlates to many of the movies previously stated. Before his capture and Nemo’s first day of school, Marlin told his son not to swim out into open water and to stay with the class. Obviously defying what his father told him, Nemo swam out into the open water at “the drop off” in order to prove to his friends that he wasn’t scared to “touch the butt”. Not surprisingly, Nemo then gets captured by divers.
The last significant characteristic of Disney movies in general are their tone towards the younger audience. In almost a countless number of these children’s movies we find a very gentle tone appealing to the intended audience. These movies dabble with cute yet surreal characters, a happy, bubbly tone, and a traditional hero ending. Nowhere in these movies would you find horror, tragedy, or vice. This is because of society’s view on the next generation as being young, delicate, and emotional.
Hey Drew, Thorough nice blog. But I have some qualms with it. First, there is a difference with disney and pixar. Mulan for example is disney and not pixar. But more to the heart of your blog I have a fundamental difference in thought to you. You say that Marlin sees Nemo as fragile just because he is young and the screenplay writer wanted children to know that they are fragile. (If I misinterpreted I am sorry but then maybe a piece of advice would be to just be more clear) But Marlin was only this protective because his wife died in the open sea. I think that Marlin would have been protective no matter what age Nemo was. I think the more interesting piece was actually the connection that Marlin made with Dory. I also disagree with the lack of vice in animation films. I believe they center on vice. You cannot tell me Disney villans are not wicked. I think that the blog itself was good. If I did not disagree with what you were saying it would have been a good blog. The writing was good and you had a strong voice. The only thing structurally might have been a good conclusion paragraph.
ReplyDeleteDrew good observations in Nemo, but there could've done more. I understood how you did the parental idea, but I didn't really feel that the problem idea or the delicate generation idea were that strong. Don't get me wrong, I thought they were good ideas, but pertaining to finding nemo they were not the strongest you could have picked. If I were you I would have put the stereotype of Dorthy. She is the only lead female character besides the evil little girl and how is she portrayed? She is a forgetful, crazy mess. I feel like that would be a stronger idea. But overall, solid observations on society.
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