Finding Nemo

Finding Nemo is a computer-animated film produced by Pixar Animation Studios and released to theatres by Walt Disney Pictures and Buena Vista Distribution in the United States on May 30 2003, and in the United Kingdom on 10 October 2003. This is the first Disney-Pixar film not to premiere in the United States in November, making it the first to be released in the UK in the same year, rather than the next.

Cultural references

As usual for Pixar movies, it is packed with subtle references and sight gags:

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• Mr. Ray sings a song, "The Zones of the Open Sea" (about the different biological regions of the ocean), which is a pastiche of Tom Lehrer's periodic table song.
• Mount Wannahockaloogie ("wanna hock a loogie") is the "mountain" in the dentist's aquarium. "Hock a loogie" is American slang for , a common occurrence in a dentist's office. When Nemo jumps through the "Ring of Fire" at the summit of Mount Wannahockaloogie, he earns himself the new name Sharkbait.
• The obligatory A113 inside joke: the scuba diver who briefly blinds Marlin uses a camera with model code "A-113".
• There are two nods to director Alfred Hitchcock:
• The overhead shot of the seagulls gathering to dive for Marlin and Dory stylistically echoes a similar gull scene in The Birds.
• In the dentist's office, two shots of dangerous brat Darla's face are accompanied by the shrieking violin chords from the shower scene in Psycho.
• The dentist's office has a picture of "Motif Number 1" hanging on the wall, a tribute by director Andrew Stanton to his hometown of Rockport, Massachusetts.
• Another nod to Stanton's roots: When the story of Marlin's journey is being spread throughout the ocean, one of the creatures telling the tale is a lobster with a Boston accent who uses the common local adjective, . ("It's wicked dahk down there, you can't see a thing...") Not surprisingly, this lobster was voiced by Stanton himself.
• Two of Dory's several misnamings of Nemo are "Chico" and "Harpo," references to the Marx Brothers.
• One of the toys that can be seen in the dentist's office is a Buzz Lightyear action figure. There is also a Mister Incredible comic book based on the then-forthcoming Pixar movie The Incredibles. An M is for Monsters book is lying on the table, an obvious reference to Monster's Inc.
• The often recurring uses of the number 42, such as in P. Sherman's address and the time it takes the dentist to use the restroom, are likely a reference to Douglas Adams' radio play/novel The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy, in which that number plays a prominent role in the meaning of the universe.
• The great white shark's name is Bruce, which is also the name given to the mechanical shark used to film the movie Jaws. Bruce speaks with an Australian accent, so he is also likely a reference to a Monty Python sketch about a group of Australian university professors, all of whom are named Bruce.
• In the scene where Bruce tries to eat Dory/Marlin, Bruce says "Here's Brucie!" after popping through the door, in a reference to Stanley Kubrick's film The Shining.