Finding Nemo is a 2003 CGI animated film. It was written by Andrew Stanton, directed by Stanton and Lee Unkrich and produced by Walt Disney Pictures and Pixar Animation Studios. It tells the story of the overly protective clownfish Marlin (Albert Brooks), who along with a regal tang called Dory (Ellen DeGeneres), searches for his son Nemo (Alexander Gould). Along the way he learns to take risks and that his son is capable of taking care of himself. The film received overwhelmingly positive reviews and won the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. It was a financial blockbuster as it grossed over $864 million worldwide. It is the best-selling DVD of all time, with over 40 million copies sold as of 2006 and is the highest grossing G-rated movie of all time. In 2008, the American Film Institute named it the tenth greatest animated film ever made during their 10 Top 10. It was also the first Pixar animations studio film not to be released in November.Shortly after the Ocellaris clownfish Marlin (Albert Brooks) and his wife Coral (Elizabeth Perkins), move into a new home, Coral is eaten by a barracuda along with all of their eggs, except for one. Marlin finds that egg and promises it he will never leave it, naming it Nemo as suggested by Coral. The attack has left the egg damaged.
Some time later, Nemo (Alexander Gould) begins his first day at school, but is frustrated and embarrassed by his overprotective and neurotic father. Marlin has constantly warned Nemo about the dangers of the ocean because he himself fears them, and also because one of Nemo's fins is much smaller and weaker than the other due to the damage to his egg (his "lucky fin"). Disobeying his father in order to show him that these fears are unfounded, Nemo deliberately swims out to open water; in the process, he is captured by a scuba diver. Marlin races after the diver's boat but quickly loses it. As he desperately searches for help, he bumps into Dory (Ellen DeGeneres), a regal tang who suffers from short-term memory loss but is nonetheless relentlessly optimistic, in contrast to Marlin. The pair soon encounter three sharks, Bruce, Anchor and Chum (Barry Humphries, Eric Bana and Bruce Spence respectively), who are members of "Fish Eaters Anonymous," an organization modeled after AA.
Marlin and Dory find the diver's scuba mask and, in a scuffle over the mask, inadvertently spark Bruce into a feeding frenzy and are forced to flee into a deep trench, only to be nearly eaten by a angler fish. Dory remembers that she can read and they discover that Nemo has been taken to Sydney, Australia. Dory surprises herself by being able to remember the name and address written on it. A passing school of fish (one of whom is voiced by John Ratzenberger) gives them directions to get there via the East Australian Current, and also advises them to go through the trench that leads to it. However, only Dory hears the warning and she quickly forgets it. Marlin doesn't like the looks of the trench and leads Dory over it, where both are nearly stung to death by a mass of jellyfish.
Meanwhile, Nemo is placed in a fishtank in a dentist's office. The dentist, who captured him earlier, plans to give Nemo to his niece Darla (Lulu Ebeling) as a birthday present; the other fish in the tank fear her greatly, knowing her tendency to handle fish so roughly that they die. Their leader, Gill (Willem Dafoe), a Moorish Idol, has been plotting a mass escape and calls on Nemo to jam the tank's water filter. The first attempt fails, nearly costing Nemo his life, and Gill apologizes for endangering him for personal gain.
Marlin and Dory are found by a group of sea turtles who are riding the East Australian Current, and they make a full recovery. As Marlin befriends the turtle Crush (Andrew Stanton) and his son Squirt (Nicholas Bird), he tells some of the sea turtles about his reason for venturing so far from home. His story travels among the sea creatures, eventually reaching Nemo via a friendly Brown Pelican named Nigel (Geoffrey Rush). Nemo is inspired by this account and makes a second attempt on his own to jam the filter, this time meeting with success. The tank begins to get dirty, and the fish hope that the dentist will take them out so he can clean it; once they are in individual plastic bags, they can roll out the window and into the harbor. However, while they are sleeping, he installs a high-tech filter to keep the tank clean automatically, foiling their plan.
Marlin and Dory are swallowed by a blue whale, which delivers them safely to Sydney. Confronted by a pelican and a flock of hungry seagulls in the harbor, they are rescued by Nigel, who takes them to the office as the dentist removes Nemo from the tank and puts him in a bag. When Darla arrives, Nemo pretends to be dead, hoping that he will be flushed down the toilet and thus be able to reach the ocean. Marlin and Dory are shocked to see Nemo belly-up and believe he is truly dead. After they and Nigel are thrown out the window, Gill helps Nemo escape down the drain of the dentist's sink to the ocean.
Deeply depressed in the belief that his rescue attempt amounted to nothing, Marlin thanks Dory and tells her he is going home on his own. Dory, however, is reluctant to be left by herself again, claiming that she can remember things better when he is around. Marlin still swims away to go home, leaving Dory hopelessly lost and confused. A chance encounter with Nemo jogs her memory of her adventures with Marlin and the two catch up with Marlin and there is a brief and happy reunion. Moments later, Dory is caught in a fishing net along with a school of grouper. Nemo has an idea to save her by telling the fish caught in the net to swim down, a trick the other fish in the tank had tried to use to save him from being scooped up in the dentist's net. Though Marlin is afraid to let him go out of fear of losing him again, he realizes that he has to let Nemo take this chance. The maneuver works, freeing Dory and the grouper, and Marlin reconciles with Nemo and apologizes for being overprotective.
Once they have returned home, Marlin is able to let Nemo "go have an adventure" at school, and he impresses and wins the respect of his neighbors for going across the ocean to find his son. In the epilogue, the automatic cleaner/filter in the dentist's fish tank breaks down, forcing him to put all the fish in plastic bags while he cleans it out; they soon reach the ocean, but are still stuck in their bags. As the credits roll, though, they are seen swimming freely in the ocean.