Finding Nemo (2003)

February 23rd, 2010 · 4 Comments · Movies

Review By JESSICA ALMY

“Fish are friends, not food!” No wonder PETA loved this animated flick aimed at the preschool and early elementary crowd. While parts were scary for my kiddo, she empathized with the plight of fish in captivity, reasoning that they would be happier in the wild with their families.

Personally, I loved that the sharks had formed a support group to wean themselves from eating fish. How many of us have felt the need for a little help — particularly in the early days of our vegetarianism or veganism? I guess our veg meetups and picnics function as informal support groups, but imagine what the world would be like if people trying to rid themselves of meat-eating had sponsors and twelve-step programs!

Rated G. Common Sense Media rates this is as “on” for ages 4+, but some veg kids might appreciate this more when they’re 6+.

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4 Comments so far ↓

  • Jen

    I remember being in a Japanese restaurant when FN was released and a family of 5 came in, all wearing FN t-shirts and hats. They had a huge spread of non-veg sushi while discussing how much they loved the movie. I was a fish eater still (I think) but it seemed to me that they missed some points. 🙂

  • Doris

    I had mixed feelings about the movie. I don’t think the filmmakers had this intention, but the movie convinced a lot of kids to flush their pet fish down the drain, because they thought the fish would end up in the ocean, happy and free.

  • Jen

    We finally watched this a few weeks ago and its turned into a favorite. I really liked a few of the subplots– the overbearing parent learning to let go, the fact that though Nemo was “different” he was still extraordinarily capable, and of course, one of my favorite scenes is when the school of fish are fighting their fishstickian fate by working together cooperatively! I was surprised at how much my family enjoyed this movie, but its been in heavy rotation for post-camp afternoon viewings lately.

  • Jenn Kali

    We finally watched this with our almost 4 year old. We knew that it had scary elements and our daughter does not handle scary movies very well. However, everyone kept shockingly saying “You have shown her Finding Nemo yet?” so we felt it was time. I was not prepared for how scary this movie is. It’s marketed at 3 year olds but it’s incredibly scary. The entire movie is about a kid getting lost and then essentially getting kidnapped. The dad, while searching for Nemo, encounter sharks, boat propellers, etc. There is never a nice moment to relax, and dad never does relax because he is so worried about his missing kid, which is really scary. My daughter was sobbing throughout the movie but didn’t want to turn it off. I don’t know why kids movies have to be so scary.

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