Pixar is way cool–five movies under their collective belts, and every
one so far has been a winner. Not only are they making money, I
understand that their distribution deal with Disney is one of the few
things keeping Disney afloat these days.

But I digress.

Last Thursday, I took the afternoon off from work, my mother-in-law came
to watch the baby, and Jane and I took our two sons to see Finding
Nemo. David has been to the movies with me a number of times, but it
was James’ first time–and I can tell you, he was enrapt the whole time.

It’s the story of Nemo, a young clownfish with a gimpy fin, who gets
collected by a scuba diver; and of his loving but over-cautious and
over-protective father Marlin who has to leave the safety of the reef to
find him. (I’ll note that Marlin has every reason to be
over-protective.) Along the way, Marlin has to brave just about every
hazard of the sea, including sharks, jellyfish, currents, horrors of the
deep, pelicans, and seagulls–I loved the seagulls. Meanwhile, Nemo is
learning many of the same lessons on a smaller scale.

The story is simple: dad discovers hidden reserves of courage and skill,
and learns to let his son stand on his own; son learns new respect for
Ahis dad, and learns to stand on his own. And, as always, Pixar’s
story-telling is flawless and delightful.

So how does Finding Nemo stack up against its predecessors? I’d
say it ranks fourth, above A Bug’s Life, but below Monsters,
Inc. and the Toy Story movies.

Oh, and Jane would want me to say that she really liked the turtles.