May 15, 2003

The large and lovable Roger Ebert often talks about the reverie state that he and others believe is created by the actual physicality of celluloid being projected frame by frame as opposed to electronically produced television images…

So how can I explain the reverie state induced by Finding Nemo?

Roger's argument is that video creates a "hypnotic mindset." But I believe that our relationship to film is different because it is a completely different kind of experience from watching television, just as theater is different, concerts another experience, Walkman listening with headsets another, and on and on and on, ad infinitum. Sitting in the public space of a theater in our own private dark not only demands our focus, but more importantly in this era, allows our focus, creating a virtual church that indulges every kind of artistic religion… at least, for a couple of hours or so.

Two movies this year have made the connection directly into my heart. One is Jim Sheridan's magical and mature In America, which most of you will sadly not be able to see until November. (The better for a worthy Oscar run, my dear.) The other is Pixar/Disney's Finding Nemo.

There was great joy in the Toy Story movies. Monster's Inc. was the next step in defining the Pixar style, not just of the animation - in fact, the animation style is secondary - but the heart of that company, a company for which Disney deserves no small credit for building. But Pixar is not Disney in its emotional essence.

Walt Disney himself left his mark by making movies that were really operating above children's heads. For all the lovely songs, Disney made films about the deadly sins of humanity, not the pleasures. The heroines' sweetness was only a launching pad for the real stars of the Disney shows… the villains.

Under Jeffrey Katzenberg, irony came to Disney animation. Sidekick characters existed in the earlier films and sometimes they were funny. But it was different in the Katzenberg films. The sidekicks and their ironic commentaries drove the stories as much as the leads. Even in the penultimate Katenzberg-era Disney animated film, The Lion King, the villain is great, but he is not nearly as well remembered ad Pumbaa & Timon.

Pixar's voice has emerged as Disney Animation's primary voice, as the rest of the division has struggled, righting itself with Lilo & Stitch and reportedly going well again with Brother Bear. But still, it's been rough over there. Pixar's films have kept Disney on top. The Pixar films have been the most gentle of all the Disney films. They have all focused on anthropomorphized characters in universes to which we do not normally have access. The journeys have all had emotional resonance, but take place in a very limited space, made large by the physical limitations of the characters. Music has been important to all the films, but none are musicals.

Finding Nemo is a major extension of Pixar's voice. Real life and death issues are raised for the first time. Deeper than normal emotional issues lurk, as a single parent is separated from its child. There is a strong, but subtle multiple character theme about overcoming physical handicaps. And the journey stretches across what feels like a wide berth of ocean.

But water is the major theme that washes through this film. It has a natural ebb and flow. Finding Nemo is the sound of the slight chop of water you hear when you sit quietly by a dock. It is the smell. It is the gulls squawking hundred of yards away. It is, even in its powerful journey of reunion, amazingly peaceful… a reverie state.

Unlike the first four Pixar features, there are no major vocal star turns here. The voice casting is masterful. Ellen DeGeneres is the show stealer, in a role so vivid that I believe it will result in renewed interest in her as a movie actress. (She's going to have to give up on the movie star thing and allow herself to go wild as a starring character actress.) Albert Brooks is surprisingly restrained in the first-ever role as straight man. Willem Dafoe, Barry Humphries, Geoffrey Rush, Brad Garrett and especially the film's director, Andrew Stanton as Crush (the turtle) are all terrific.

But the real star of the movie is the animation… and the water… it is just so beautiful. The colors and the design and the mixture of anthropomorphic characters and realistic sea life just washes over you, never screaming for your attention.

The filmmakers, above and beyond the film itself, seem to get it. The credits come over Bobby Darin's "Beyond the Sea" and they linger with the images of the sea that, like an aquarium, have a vividness you just want to sit and watch. The song is just right for this trip, even if it didn't fit into the main body of the film.

If you want to get a good idea of what I am talking about, there is actually an opportunity to relax into Finding Nemo on the web. Assuming you have Flash, click here. It is Disney's website for the film. And there is plenty of stuff there to chew on. But I suggest just letting this page sit on your screen for a while. (Hopefully, you have speakers.) And feel how peaceful the sounds are. You don't even have to think about them after a while.

In the end, Finding Nemo is like a great foreign film, its visual and energy having such clarity that subtitles (or words or stories) are almost unnecessary. I suspect that kids, so often looking for the hottest thrill and the great moment, will find an unexpected peacefulness to this film, making it one of the great repeat viewing movies of the summer.

In an odd turn, I think the film will lose a little in the home viewing. The Church of the Movie Palace frees us so that we can hear and feel and be safe in or seats. Watching on TV at home does not afford that reverie.

I love the crash and smash and trash of summer movies. This has already been a good summer and it looks to get even better. But I think that this summer, home will be wherever Finding Nemo is playing on a big screen with great sound and happy children. With Lilo & Stitch last summer and now this, Disney seems to be finding its new voice, bringing something to kids and families that would have made Walt proud… a trend of its own rather than a reflection of others'.

E ME: Is it easier or harder to let your heart connect with movies these days?

 

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