This Oscar-winning Disney 00s movie almost had a pivotal scene cut | RA5Z22I | 2024-05-01 21:08:01
This Oscar-winning Disney 00s movie almost had a pivotal scene cut | RA5Z22I | 2024-05-01 21:08:01
Finding Nemo has long been considered an animated masterpiece, but the iconic opening scene looked very different until a last-minute change of heart.
The 2003 Disney Pixar film moved countless viewers to tears when single-finned clownfish Nemo (Alexander Gould) is kidnapped and his coddling father Marlin (Albert Brooks) undertakes a panicked oceanwide rescue mission with the help of the forgetful Dory (Ellen DeGeneres).
But it wouldn't have been the same without the memorable first scene that kicks off many years prior where killer fish brutally murders Nemo's mother and all their children, bar him. All that's left? Marlin and baby Nemo against the world.
The tragic backstory follows the blueprint for many Disney and Pixar staples such as Bambi, Up, Lion King and Coco which all feature grief and loneliness in some form.
Although only a few minutes, the vital scene laid the context for the high stakes across the rest of the Oscar-winning movie.
But now Pixar animator Jason Deamer has admitted the 'heartwrenching' flashback was originally chopped into tiny bits to scatter throughout the film.
Deamer recalled: 'We all went to the last screening before it was going to be finished and we all walked out the theater and no one was saying anything… [We thought] "Did we just just make our first bad movie?".'
'We were a little concerned,' he added to Unilad. Luckily, acclaimed editor Lee Unkrich stepped in and 'recut' all the flashbacks into our now-familiar opening sequence.
Unkrich has worked on several beloved Disney Pixar films over the years including the popular Toy Story quartet.
According to Deamer, the 11th-hour switch 'made the whole thing work' and crucially prevented Marlin from coming across as 'an overprotective, annoying character'.
'It was the same footage. We didn't animate anything new,' Deamer emphasised. '[Unkrich] just told the audience that [backstory] sooner. I know it's heart-wrenching, but otherwise you just didn't empathise with [Marlin's] over protective behaviour.'
But contrary to their worries, the film proved itself a critical and box office success. In fact it became one of the biggest global releases of the year, totting up almost $1billion (£800million) by the end of its theatrical release.
No surprise it swooped up Academy awards, Baftas and Critics Choice awards and nominations to spare.
It's hard to imagine a version of the beginning of the film without the moving swell of the soundtrack as Marlin picks up a tiny Nemo and emotionally proclaims: 'I promise I'll never let anything happen to you'.
So if you were looking for an excuse to rewatch the cinematic classic here it is. Grab that box of tissues and relive the magic.
Finding Nemo is available to stream on Disney+.
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