Finding Nemo (franchise)

Finding Nemo
Finding Nemo logo; its spin-off sequel Finding Dory uses a similar logo (see below)
Created by	Andrew Stanton
Original work	Finding Nemo (2003)
Owner	The Walt Disney Company
Years	2003–present
Films and television
Film(s)	Finding Nemo (2003) Finding Dory (2016)
Short film(s)	Exploring the Reef with Jean-Michel Cousteau (2003) Marine Life Interviews (2016) Dory Finding (2021) Field Trip (2024)
Theatrical presentations
Musical(s)	Finding Nemo – The Musical (2007)
Games
Video game(s)	Finding Nemo (2003) Disney Friends (2007)^* Kinect: Disneyland Adventures (2011)^* Disney Infinity series (2013)^* Rush: A Disney–Pixar Adventure (2017)^*^†
Audio
Soundtrack(s)	Finding Nemo (2003) Finding Dory (2016)
Miscellaneous
Theme park attraction(s)	Turtle Talk with Crush (2004–present) The Seas with Nemo & Friends (2007–present)^‡ Finding Nemo – The Musical (2007–present) Crush's Coaster (2007–present) Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage (2007–present)
^* Work where this franchise's characters or settings appeared as part of a crossover. ^† A remastered re-release of Kinect Rush: A Disney•Pixar Adventure (2012); Finding Dory was added to the re-release. ^‡ Pavilion opened in 1986 as The Living Seas.

Finding Nemo ^[a] is a CGI animated film series and Disney media franchise that began with the 2003 film of the same name, produced by Pixar and released by Walt Disney Pictures. The original film was followed by a standalone sequel, Finding Dory, released in 2016. Both films were directed by Andrew Stanton. The film series received widespread critical acclaim from critics and audiences with two films released to-date, the series has grossed $1.9 billion worldwide.

Film series

Finding Nemo (2003)

Main article: Finding Nemo

Finding Nemo is the fifth Pixar film. The film tells the story of a clownfish named Nemo (voiced by Alexander Gould) who gets abducted from his home in the Great Barrier Reef and winds up in a dentist’s office aquarium. His over-protective father Marlin (voiced by Albert Brooks) who, along with an amnesiac regal tang named Dory (voiced by Ellen DeGeneres), searches for him all the way to Sydney Harbour. Along the way, Marlin learns to take risks and let little Nemo take care of himself.

Finding Dory (2016)

Main article: Finding Dory

Finding Dory is the seventeenth Pixar film. The film focuses on the amnesiac character Dory (voiced by Ellen DeGeneres), who travels to California to find her long-lost parents, Jenny and Charlie, as well as exploring the idea of her being reunited with her family.^[3] It takes place one year after Finding Nemo and is set off the coast of Morro Bay, California.^[4][5]

Future films

Director Andrew Stanton commented in June 2016 about the possibility of a third Finding film, stating:

"I really do feel like that this was the missing piece, emotionally, for the first movie. Now, I’ve stopped saying never for anything because there are a lot of new characters that get introduced and we’ve broadened the universe for this movie. And again, I’m very used to seeing that world continue to open up from the Toy Story movies, so I’ve learned to just say, to my knowledge, I think everything that was born of the first movie is wrapped up. But we’ll see. With any of the other sequels, we strive to try and make it seem like it was inevitable, like it was meant to be, that all these extended stories and journeys with these characters were part of the whole canon. And that's really hard, but it's so satisfying for me when I’m experiencing that, whether it's a great second season of a TV show or another book in a series. It's a small club when it's done successfully. Regardless of how much people may vocalize that they don’t enjoy or wish that there weren’t extensions, sometimes it's really nice to go back and spend more time with these characters if they evolve, if they grow, if they expand. So that, I’m very happy with. I feel like it was just as hard, if not harder, on Finding Dory to get it to feel inevitable and preordained, and that it was always of the larger piece."^[6]

In May 2024, Pixar CCO Pete Docter suggested that the studio is considering making a third installment in the Finding Nemo franchise. He stated "Where else have we not gone in the ocean? The ocean's a big place. I think there's a lot of opportunity there. We're kind of fishing around."^[7]

Short films

Exploring the Reef with Jean-Michel Cousteau (2003)

Main article: Exploring the Reef with Jean-Michel Cousteau

Exploring the Reef is a short documentary film. It features Jean-Michel Cousteau, exploring the Great Barrier Reef, but Marlin, Dory, and Nemo keep interrupting him. The short film is included on the Finding Nemo DVD.^[8]

Marine Life Interviews (2016)

Marine Life Interviews focuses on some of the supporting characters within Dory as they give brief interviews and thoughts on Dory herself. This is similar to the character interviews for Finding Nemo.

Dory Finding (2021)

Dory Finding shows Dory finding items from the surface in the coral reef. This short is part of the Pixar Popcorn series on Disney+.

Field Trip (2024)

TBA

Reception

Box office performance

Finding Nemo is the second highest-grossing film of 2003, behind The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.^[9] It was the highest-grossing Pixar film, up until 2010 when Toy Story 3 surpassed it.^[10] Finding Dory is the third-highest-grossing film of 2016, behind Civil War and Rogue One.^[11]

Finding Nemo is the 10th highest-grossing animated franchise.^[12]

Film	Release date	Revenue			Rank		Budget
		United States	Other territories	Worldwide	All-time domestic	All-time worldwide
Finding Nemo[13]	May 30, 2003	$380,843,261	$559,492,275	$940,335,536	#26 #55 (A)	#36	$99,000,000
Original release	May 30, 2003	$339,714,978[13]	$531,304,279[14]	$871,019,257			$94,000,000[13]
3-D re-release	September 14, 2012	$41,128,283[15]	$28,187,996[15]	$69,316,279			$5,000,000[16]
Finding Dory[17]	June 17, 2016	$486,295,561	$541,068,765	$1,027,364,326	#7 #71 (A)	#22	$200,000,000
Total		$867,138,822	$1,100,561,040	$1,967,699,862			$299,000,000
List indicator(s) ^(A) indicates the adjusted totals based on current ticket prices (calculated by Box Office Mojo).

Critical and public response

Each film is linked to the "Critical response" section of its article

Film	Critical		Public
	Rotten Tomatoes	Metacritic	CinemaScore
Finding Nemo	99% (270 reviews)[18]	90 (38 reviews)[19]	A+[20]
Finding Dory	94% (339 reviews)[21]	77 (48 reviews)[22]	A[23]

Accolades

Further information: List of Pixar awards and nominations (feature films) § Finding Nemo

Both films received universal acclaim, with the first film winning the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. It was a financial blockbuster as it grossed over $921 million worldwide. It is the best-selling DVD of all time, with over 40 million copies sold as of 2006^[24] and is the 2nd highest grossing G-rated movie of all time. In 2008, the American Film Institute named it the 10th greatest American Animated film ever made during their 10 Top 10.^[25] It also won the award for best Animated Film at the Kansas City Film Critics Circle Awards, the Las Vegas Film Critics Society Awards, the National Board of Review Awards, the Online Film Critics Society Awards, and the Toronto Film Critics Association Awards.

Cast and characters

List indicators

This section includes characters who will appear or have appeared in the franchise.

• An empty, dark grey cell indicates the character was not in the film, or that the character's official presence has not yet been confirmed.
•  ^Y indicates a younger version of the character.

Characters	Feature films		Short films
	Finding Nemo	Finding Dory	Exploring the Reef with Jean-Michel Cousteau	Marine Life Interviews
Nemo	Alexander Gould	Hayden Rolence	Alexander Gould
Marlin	Albert Brooks
Dory	Ellen DeGeneres	Ellen DeGeneres Sloane Murray^Y Lucia Geddes^Y	Ellen DeGeneres
Gill	Willem Dafoe
Bloat	Brad Garrett
Peach	Allison Janney
Gurgle	Austin Pendleton
Bubbles	Stephen Root
Deb	Vicki Lewis
Jacques	Joe Ranft	Jerome Ranft
Crush	Andrew Stanton
Squirt	Nicholas Bird	Bennett Dammann
Mr. Ray	Bob Peterson
Bruce	Barry Humphries	Deleted scene
Darla Sherman	LuLu Ebeling	Photograph
Tad	Jordy Ranft	Characters are mute
Sheldon	Erik Per Sullivan
Pearl	Erica Beck
Anchor	Eric Bana
Chum	Bruce Spence
Philip Sherman	Bill Hunter
Nigel	Geoffrey Rush
Coral	Elizabeth Perkins
School of moonfish	John Ratzenberger
Hank		Ed O'Neill		Ed O'Neill
Destiny		Kaitlin Olson		Kaitlin Olson
Bailey		Ty Burrell		Ty Burrell
Jenny		Diane Keaton
Charlie		Eugene Levy
Fluke		Idris Elba		Idris Elba
Rudder		Dominic West		Dominic West
Stan		Bill Hader
Inez		Kate McKinnon
Gerald		Torbin Xan Bullock
Becky
Bill		John Ratzenberger
Jean-Michel Cousteau			Himself

• Note: A grey cell indicates that the character didn't appear in the film.

Theme park attractions

• Crush's Coaster at Walt Disney Studios Park at Disneyland Paris.
• Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage at Disneyland at Disneyland Resort.
• Finding Nemo – The Musical at Disney's Animal Kingdom at Walt Disney World.
• The Seas with Nemo & Friends at Epcot at Walt Disney World.
• Turtle Talk with Crush at Epcot at Walt Disney World, Disney California Adventure at Disneyland Resort and Tokyo DisneySea at Tokyo Disney Resort.
• Nemo & Friends SeaRider at Tokyo DisneySea at Tokyo Disney Resort.^[26]

Other media

Video games

Finding Nemo

Main article: Finding Nemo (video game)

Finding Nemo was released in 2003 by THQ. The goal in the game is to complete different levels under the roles of film protagonists Nemo, Marlin or Dory. It includes cutscenes from the movie and each clip is based on a level. For example, Marlin and Dory hopping through a batch of jellyfish.

The game received mixed reviews. It received 2/5 stars on GameSpy,^{[27][28][29][30]} 6.2/10 points on GameSpot^[31][32][33] and IGN gave it 7.0/10 and 6.0/10 on its PS2 and Xbox, and GameCube platforms, respectively.^{[34][35]
[36]}

Disney Friends

Main article: Disney Friends

In 2007, Disney Interactive Studios released Disney Friends. It is a video game based on various Disney films. The game features characters Stitch from Lilo & Stitch, Dory from Finding Nemo, Pooh from Winnie the Pooh, and Simba from The Lion King.

Kinect: Disneyland Adventures

Main article: Kinect: Disneyland Adventures

Kinect: Disneyland Adventures is a video game released in 2011 by Frontier Developments. The game is based in various Disneyland attractions. It was released on Kinect for Xbox 360. Characters from Finding Nemo appear as part of a minigame based on Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage.

Nemo's Reef

Nemo's Reef was a mobile game available from December 20, 2012 to June 30, 2017 by Disney Mobile. The game is a casual reef building which features characters from Finding Nemo. It was released on Android and iOS devices.

Disney Infinity

Main articles: Disney Infinity and Disney Infinity 3.0

Disney Infinity was a video game series developed by Avalanche Software that ran from 2013 to 2016. Elements from Finding Nemo appeared throughout all three games in the series, with power discs based on the film released for the first game, and a playset based on Finding Dory along with Dory and Nemo figures released for the console versions of Disney Infinity 3.0 in June 2016. The aforementioned playset and figures were the last new content released for the series, which was cancelled by Disney in May 2016.

Rush: A Disney•Pixar Adventure

Main article: Kinect Rush: A Disney•Pixar Adventure

Kinect Rush: A Disney•Pixar Adventure is a video game developed by Asobo Studio originally released in 2012 for Xbox 360. On October 31, 2017, a remastered release without the Kinect branding titled Rush: A Disney•Pixar Adventure was released for Xbox One and Microsoft Windows 10. The remastered version adds a world based on Finding Dory alongside the original release's worlds.

Disney Magic Kingdoms

Main article: Disney Magic Kingdoms

During a limited time Event focused on the franchise, under the name "Finding Marlin", the world builder game Disney Magic Kingdoms included Nemo, Marlin, Dory, Crush, Squirt, Bruce and Hank as playable characters, along with the attractions Crush's Coaster, Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage, and The Seas with Nemo and Friends.^[37] Bailey and Destiny were also included as playable characters in a later update of the game.^[38] In the game the characters are involved in new storylines that serve as a continuation of the events in the films.

Stage musical

Main article: Finding Nemo – The Musical

Finding Nemo – The Musical is a 40-minute show (performed five times daily), which opened on January 24, 2007 at the Theater in the Wild at Disney's Animal Kingdom in Orlando, Florida. It is a musical adaption of the film with new songs written by Tony Award-winning Avenue Q composer Robert Lopez and his wife, Kristen Anderson-Lopez. It would "combine puppets, dancers, acrobats and animated backdrops".^[39]

Appearance on Fetch! With Ruff Ruffman

Main article: Fetch! With Ruff Ruffman

In the PBS KIDS Show Fetch! With Ruff Ruffman, Crush the sea turtle appeared as a guest star in the Season 5 episode, "The Ol' Shell Game", voiced again by Andrew Stanton.

Magazine

In August 2016, Egmont Publishing launched a magazine, titled Finding Dory.^[40]

Music

Main articles: Finding Nemo (soundtrack) and Finding Dory (soundtrack)

Finding Nemo is the soundtrack album of the film of the same name. Finding Dory is the soundtrack album of the film of the same name. The soundtracks were scored by Thomas Newman.

The score was nominated for the 76th Academy Awards for Best Original Score but lost against The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.^[41][42] It received 5/5 stars from the Film Score Reviews^[43] and 3.5/5 stars from Soundtrack.net.^[44]

Crew

Film	Director(s)	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Executive Producer	Composer	Editor(s)
Finding Nemo	Andrew Stanton Co-directed by: Lee Unkrich	Original Story by: Andrew Stanton Screenplay by: Andrew Stanton, Bob Peterson and David Reynolds	Graham Walters	John Lasseter	Thomas Newman	David Ian Salter
Finding Dory	Andrew Stanton Co-directed by: Angus MacLane	Original Story by: Andrew Stanton Screenplay by: Andrew Stanton and Victoria Strouse	Lindsey Collins			Axel Geddes

Notes

1. sometimes referred to as simply Finding^[1][2]

References

1. Tilly, Chris (March 31, 2016). "New Finding Dory Characters Unveiled". IGN Africa. Retrieved January 29, 2024.
2. Ghosh, Sutrishna (September 6, 2016). "Finding Dory: New video reveals Dory remembering her family and parents". International Business Times. Retrieved January 29, 2024.
3. Risley, Matt (April 2, 2013). "Pixar confirm Finding Nemo sequel". Total Film. Retrieved April 2, 2013.
4. Zeitchik, Steven (April 2, 2013). "Ellen DeGeneres' 'Nemo' sequel, 'Finding Dory', set for 2015". The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved April 2, 2013.
5. Lussier, Germain (April 2, 2013). "'Finding Nemo' Sequel Officially Called 'Finding Dory', Releases November 25, 2015". /Film. Retrieved April 2, 2013.
6. Snetiker, Marc (June 20, 2016). "'Finding Nemo 3'? Here's whether it could happen". Entertainment Weekly. No. Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved July 27, 2016.
7. Buckley, Thomas (May 30, 2024). "Disney Is Banking On Sequels to Help Get Pixar Back on Track". Bloomberg. Retrieved May 31, 2024.
8. "Finding Nemo: Exploring the reef with Jean-Michel, Nemo and Dori". Ocean Futures. Retrieved April 5, 2013.
9. "Top Grossing Films of 2002". Box Office Mojo.
10. "Pixar". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved September 10, 2010.
11. "2016 WORLDWIDE GROSSES". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved January 29, 2017.
12. "Worldwide Grosses". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved August 28, 2015.
13. "Finding Nemo (2003)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved April 5, 2013.
14. McClintock, Pamela (August 5, 2009). "Nemo slips on 'Ice'". Variety. Retrieved January 26, 2014. It took six years for a toon to overtake Pixar and Disney's "Finding Nemo," which grossed $524.9 million internationally in its 2002 release.
15. "Finding Nemo (3D)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved January 26, 2014.
16. Kaufman, Amy (September 16, 2012). "'Resident Evil: Retribution' sinks 3-D version of 'Finding Nemo'". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved January 26, 2014. The studio said it spent under $5 million to convert the film to 3-D.
17. "Finding Dory (2016)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved June 21, 2016.
18. "Finding Nemo". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved May 2, 2022.
19. "Finding Nemo". Metacritic. Fandom, Inc. Retrieved April 12, 2022.
20. Geier, Thom (January 12, 2020). "53 Movies With A+ CinemaScore Since 2000, From 'Remember the Titans' to 'Just Mercy' (Photos)". TheWrap. Archived from the original on June 24, 2021. Retrieved March 2, 2020.
21. "Finding Dory". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved May 2, 2022.
22. "Finding Dory". Metacritic. Fandom, Inc. Retrieved April 12, 2022.
23. Anthony D'Alessandro (June 20, 2016). "'Dory's Record Animated Pic $135M+ Opening Is Also Second Best For June After 'Jurassic World'". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved June 21, 2016.
24. Boone, Louis E. Contemporary Business 2006, Thomson South-Western, page 4 - ISBN 0-324-32089-2
25. "AFI's 10 Top 10". American Film Institute. Retrieved April 5, 2013.
26. "Finding Nemo Ride, Pirate Shows, and New Electrical Parade Floats Coming to Tokyo Disney Resort in 2017". WDW News Today. September 21, 2016. Retrieved October 3, 2016.
27. "Finding Nemo (Game Boy)". GameSpy. Archived from the original on December 31, 2005. Retrieved April 5, 2013.
28. "Finding Nemo (PlayStation 2)". GameSpy. Retrieved April 5, 2013.
29. "Finding Nemo (Xbox)". GameSpy. Retrieved April 5, 2013.
30. "Finding Nemo (GameCube)". GameSpy. Retrieved April 5, 2013.
31. Tracy, Tim (June 3, 2003). "Disney/Pixar Finding Nemo Review (PlayStation 2)". GameSpot. Retrieved April 5, 2013.
32. Tracy, Tim (June 3, 2003). "Disney/Pixar Finding Nemo Review (Xbox)". GameSpot. Retrieved April 5, 2013.
33. Tracy, Tim (June 3, 2003). "Disney/Pixar Finding Nemo Review (GameCube)". GameSpot. Retrieved April 5, 2013.
34. Perry, Douglass C. (May 27, 2003). "Finding Nemo". IGN. Retrieved April 5, 2013.
35. Perry, Douglass C. (May 27, 2003). "Finding Nemo Review". IGN. Archived from the original on June 5, 2003. Retrieved April 5, 2013.
36. Perry, Douglass C. (May 27, 2003). "Finding Nemo". IGN. Retrieved April 5, 2013.
37. "Update 32: Finding Nemo | Livestream". YouTube. August 2, 2019.
38. "Update 50: Finding Dory NGO Event | Livestream". YouTube. May 28, 2021.
39. Hernandez, Ernio. "Avenue Q Composer Lopez Co-Pens Musical Finding Nemo for Disney Archived December 29, 2008, at the Wayback Machine,"Playbill.com (April 10, 2006).
40. "Egmont Publishing Launches Finding Dory Magazine" (Press release). Egmont Publishing. July 19, 2016. Archived from the original on August 16, 2016. Retrieved September 3, 2016.
41. "The 76th Academy Awards (2004) Nominees and Winners". Academy Award. Archived from the original on September 29, 2012. Retrieved April 8, 2013.
42. "Academy Award For Best Original Music Score". Listal. Archived from the original on August 6, 2016. Retrieved April 8, 2013.
43. "Finding Nemo". Film Score Reviews. Archived from the original on June 16, 2013. Retrieved April 8, 2013.
44. Brecher, Daniel (August 25, 2003). "Finding Nemo". Soundtrack.net. Retrieved April 8, 2013.