Pixar Animation Studios, the Academy Award®-winning creators of "Toy Story," "A Bug’s Life" and "Monsters, Inc." dive into a whole new world with "Finding Nemo." The film follows a comedic and eventful journey of two fish - Marlin (Albert Brooks) and his son Nemo (Alexander Gould) - who become separated in the Great Barrier Reef when Nemo is unexpectedly taken far from home and thrust into a fish tank in a dentist’s office overlooking Sydney harbor. Buoyed by the companionship of a friendly-but-forgetful fish named Dory (Ellen DeGeneres), the overly cautious father embarks on a dangerous trek and finds himself the unlikely hero of an epic journey to rescue his son - who hatches a few daring plans of his own to return safely home. Additional voices are provided by Willem DaFoe, Brad Garrett, Allison Janney, Geoffrey Rush and John Ratzenberger.
Written and directed by Pixar's Oscar® nominee Andrew Stanton, who co-directed the 1998 Disney/Pixar hit "A Bug's Life" and is credited as co-screenwriter on all four of Pixar's previous features, "Finding Nemo" sets a new "high water mark" for the art and technology of computer animation with its incredible underwater world populated with memorable characters. John Lasseter (Pixar's executive vice president, creative) serves as executive producer.
"Finding Nemo" marks composer Thomas Newman’s first foray into composing for an animated feature film. A Grammy® winner and Oscar®-nominated composer, his credits include the Title Theme to the HBO series "Six Feet Under," "Road to Perdition" and "American Beauty." “I was very scared to do it; I'd never done animation before,” says Newman. “My cousin Randy [Newman] has done the four previous ones. That was a daunting thing to come up against, because I so enjoyed his music.” Newman continues, “The film looks at the father-son relationship from the father’s perspective...making this a film geared to children but from the perspective of the parent. It also shows how these beings live together in nature.”
The "Finding Nemo" soundtrack features Brit rocker Robbie Williams’ version of “Beyond the Sea”, taken from his 2001 release Swing When You’re Winning. The song, which Bobby Darin originally made famous, perfectly captures the mystical nature of life underwater. Since leaving Take That in 1995, Williams has had numerous hits around the globe and has sold over 27 million records worldwide. His newest album Escapology was released in April 2003.
