Mine. You know what's scary? Everything that lives in the ocean.
The ocean is just a waste bin full of God's rejected creature designs that no man was ever meant to see. And the fact that humanity has somehow been able to discover these nightmares only proves that we've already cemented our spot in hell. I'm looking at you, James Cameron, stay on the surface! To make up for this foul act of hubris, Hollywood will often release movies that I refer to as Pro-C Propaganda. The fish are singing, the seafloor is bright and happy, and it's all a lie.
But every now and then, a movie will come out that's bold enough to expose the true horror of the murky depths. A film that's not afraid to say, Hey, fish are evil. They don't wash cars, they don't sing.
Stay out of the ocean, there's nothing for you down there, you're gonna get us all killed! Finding Nemo is that kind of movie. As far as I'm aware, this is the only movie to fully utilize the potential of its underwater setting. With Finding Nemo, Pixar displayed a talent for recognizing what would make a film set underwater unique.
Capturing the vastness of the sea, its beauty, but also its danger. And for some reason, they decided to use this talent for evil. Finding Nemo is so goddamn scary that I genuinely believe it should be classified as a horror movie. Oh, you think I'm being dramatic?
80% of this movie consists of ominous things sneaking up behind people! And by the way, how does this keep happening? It's the ocean!
There aren't many hiding spots, guys! Marlin, you're prey! What you lack in teeth, you're supposed to make up for in peripheral vision!
This whole movie is Marlin and Dory bouncing from one nightmare fish to the next like they're in an undersea haunted mansion. Like, literally, that's the structure of the movie. The title's not a joke. Finding Nemo is actually structured like a horror movie. And I'm not even just talking about jump scares.
Having jump scares doesn't automatically make your film a horror movie, though believe me, this G-rated film has plenty. If it were just jump scares, I'd be fine with labeling this an overly scary family movie. But in rewatching this film, I was astonished at just how varied the horror actually is.
This movie utilizes three different types of horror, all of which are achieved by Pixar's complete and total understanding of what it's like to explore the ocean. Because the ocean is scary, for a variety of reasons, and Pixar has very generously taken it upon themselves to educate us in each and every one. Part 1 Jump Scare The most common and obvious form of horror is, of course, the jump scare.
And like I said, this movie's got its share of them. The film begins innocently enough with Marlin and Coral celebrating moving into a new anemone, which is cute. Uh, but wait three minutes and you'll get the home invasion scene that results in the mass murder of Marlin's wife and his 400 children.
This begins the movie's trend of introducing children to real-life monsters at way too young of an age. Are you kidding me? A barracuda?
How is this gonna be the first antagonist fish you introduce in your children's movie? Look at it! It looks like a human spine with teeth!
I didn't know what this thing was as a kid, but I was terrified of it showing up in literally any body of water I entered, whether it be a beach or a bathtub. Because, like, what kid knows what a barracuda is? I feel like if it was a shark, it'd be way less scary, because kids know sharks.
There was something so frightening about seeing this fish I didn't even know existed just snapping and thrashing and killing within the first five minutes of the film. It's the fact that this creature was so unknown that made it so intimidating. But if it were a shark, well, sharks make sense. Sharks are familiar. A shark would have made for a far less unsettling opening.
Hello? Jesus Christ, not that shark! Bruce's design is insane. He has 900 teeth, and they're all covered in blood.
And I get that the point is that him looking scary is meant to contrast with him actually being a really nice guy, but he looks a little too damn scary, guys! His massive grin and jiggling blubber are so unnerving. He's such a dominating presence. I don't even know if it's the size of his body or the size of his mouth that makes him so frightening. But okay, whatever, he's a nice guy.
So just because he looks scary doesn't mean he's going to be... Oh, never mind, he's trying to kill him! Not only are a lot of the designs in this film terrifying, but the fluidity and movement of the animation adds so much intensity to every scene.
Like I said in my Incredibles video, which you should go check out, Pixar used to be great at really making you feel the danger they put their characters in. Look at how fast and powerful Bruce's attacks are, how lethal his bites look. Marlin and Dory look like they escape death by a millisecond every time Bruce gnashes his jaws. And look, Bruce is cool and all, but what more can I really say about him? He's a big scary shark.
I think you get the idea. And thankfully, Bruce is the only other jump scare fish in the movie, which means we can move on to part two. Oh, wait. Actually, there is one other scene I almost forgot to cover. There's a scene where Marlin and- Dory entered this inky black abyss where the only light is this tiny luminescent orb.
They don't know what it is, but its glow is comforting and its movement is playful. They follow this dancing little orb before it illuminates... well...
What do I even have to say about this scene? Can I end the video now? Have I made my point?
This one's literally a jump scare. Like, the jump scariest part of the movie. Like, what is this thing? I didn't need to know this existed!
And it like, like, oh god, it-AHHHHHH It screams! Why does it scream?! Yeah, okay, screw this thing.
It's literally 80% teeth. On top of that, the fact that Marlon and Dory find this thing in a dark, empty abyss only adds to the horror. Especially if you're a kid that's learning about the sea through this movie.
Seconds after we enter this dark new environment, we're immediately introduced to the scariest thing I've ever seen in an animated film. What is this evil part of the ocean? What other nightmares are down here?
Why can't this fish talk? Is there something about the abyss that makes fish go feral? This scene fills you with this feeling that you've entered a foreign, hostile territory.
One where you have no control because you have no knowledge over it. And this isn't the first time the movie makes you feel this way. This isn't the first time the movie fills you with so much, so much... PART 2 DREAD This is what I was talking about earlier.
If this movie just had jump scares in it, I could excuse it as being an overly intense children's movie. But the majority of this film's tone is so ominous, so foreboding. The film often lingers on wide, quiet shots that highlight the vast emptiness of the ocean.
Even the boat hanging ominously in the distance makes for such a tense visual. This mysterious object just floating there, a single chain sinking deep into nothingness. A part of you shares Nemo's excited curiosity, but another part... The part that's seen the Barracuda shares Marlin's trepidation.
The scene grows more and more tense as Marlin calls for Nemo to come back to the reef, and Nemo continues to disobey. Then the tension finally snaps when Nemo touches the boat and this nightmare appears. Marlin gets flashbanged, Nemo gets stolen, and the movie has just taught us our second lesson in fear. If the Barracuda taught us to fear the ocean's monsters, the boat teaches us to fear its vastness.
And the whole movie is full of menacing set pieces like this. The minefield, the trench, the abyss, whatever this thing is. And what makes this so genius is that while most horror movies prey on people's fear of enclosed spaces, this horror movie conditions you to fear wide open ones. This movie is constantly putting its characters in vast empty spaces before revealing that they aren't as empty as we thought.
It fills you with that feeling you used to get as a kid when you'd wake up in the middle of the night wanting a glass of water. But you were terrified of the darkness between your bedroom and the kitchen, so you'd end up sprinting down the stairs. That terror you felt between your bedroom and your kitchen, that sinister, unknown region? Well, that's 50% of this movie's locations. They might as well have called this your dark hallway the movie.
This minefield specifically used to give me a ton of anxiety as a kid. First off, just look at how it's introduced. A slow push-in on a dark abyss full of these weird spiked metal balls hanging from chains.
As a kid, you don't know what these things are. All you know is that this thing lives here, and that until now, you've never really had a clear mental image of what hell looks like. Then you find out that these are actually undersea mines and will explode at the lightest touch.
Okay, I'd like to get the fuck out of here now if you don't mind. What a great, terrifying set piece to house a bunch of horrifying looking sharks. This location looks straight out of Diablo, and manages to make you feel claustrophobic despite still being an open area.
But if you want to talk claustrophobic... Part 3, The Slow Burn! Oh my god, fuck these jellyfish. A surprisingly terrifying aspect of the ocean is the fact that there's rarely ever any ground. If this movie's taught me anything, it's that when you're floating, it is very easy for things to sneak up on you.
From behind, from above, from below, you can never be fully aware of your surroundings, and it can be very easy to become, well, surrounded. There are so many instances where Marlin and Dory find themselves in wide open spaces, while some looming threat slowly closes in on them from behind. Seeing this massive whale slowly approaching from the murky veil of the depths always makes my stomach drop. It's the perfect antithesis to the lanternfish.
Instead of a small, vicious creature gnashing out in the darkness, it's a massive, lumbering whale using the silence and fluidity of the ocean to its advantage. This whale also acts as a perfect example of how intertwined beauty and fear are in the ocean. Its movement is slow and graceful, but its size is daunting, the inevitability of its approach terrifying. It's a creature that's awe-inspiring from a distance, yet petrifying when you're in its way. It's a quiet sort of horror, the kind that makes you feel like something's stalking you.
The seagulls always used to give me a similar sense of anxiety. Seeing the pelican try to keep Marlin calm while these vi- Predators slowly close in on them only to have them launch into a frenzy the second one of them makes a move Oh, so by the way, what's up with this shot of Dory having her fucking limbs ripped off? But I'm the crazy one for saying this is a horror movie Fine, okay. Let's get this over with Marlin and Dory come across this trench which surprise surprise is massive ominous and spooky Dory says they should swim through the trench but Marlin convinces her to swim over it and look I know the minnows told Dory that it was safer to go through the trench But there are bones in there.
So what nightmare did they avoid by swimming over it? Huh? Where's the deleted scene of Marlin getting ripped in half by a moray eel? Yeah, I do, but I don't know what they are.
What are they? Uh, not minnows. Ugh. Sardines, maybe?
They're not sardines. Damn it. So they swim over the trench and Dory gets stung by Squishy, the Harbinger of Doom. Marlin's treating Dory's wound when suddenly thousands of jellyfish descend upon them.
So now Marlin and Dory have to play a game where they bounce on the heads of the jellyfish to try and escape. This scene really highlights the movie's fantastic score, which somehow always manages to keep the film's tone balanced right between lighthearted and foreboding. So, we're treating death now.
That's what we're doing. We're having fun at the same time. The collection of high-pitched string instruments convey Dory's excitement and wonder, while the bassier ones make sure we never forget the danger the characters are in.
I don't usually talk about film score in my reviews that much, because I don't know that much about music theory, but I do think this movie's score goes a long way towards keeping this film's tension consistent. Even when Dory's cracking jokes and saying things that should break the film's tension, the ominous undertones present in the score keeps the situation grounded, allowing the audience to laugh, albeit sometimes uncomfortably. Well, I'm not recording that.
So Merlin breaks through the cloud of jellyfish, and you're like, oh that wasn't so bad, kind of a fun little scene. Hey, where's Dory? Oh shit. Marlin's gotta go back in, and it's awful. The jellyfish are denser, there are way less gaps between them, this horrible zapping noise keeps happening, Oh!
what was once a fun, colorful, yet slightly hazardous environment has now transformed into a hostile, chaotic mess that's only getting more dangerous by the second. Before I rewatched this movie, I'd always remembered this scene as having similar editing to that one bit from The Incredibles. I thought I had really fast, anxiety-inducing cuts, stitching back and forth between Marlin and his escape. But really, the editing isn't all that crazy here.
I think the reason that I thought that was because of how much anxiety these sound effects give me. The constant zapping mixed with the visual of the jellyfish getting closer and closer together just makes me feel like the scene is shot more frantically than it is, despite having decently long shots and fluid camera motion. But even with my newfound pretentious knowledge of how filmmaking works, I still can't watch the scene without feeling like a plastic bag is tied around my head. Even if you don't find Finding Nemo scary, this is a horror movie. The structure, the tone, the set pieces, the tension, the monsters.
This movie just follows a lot of the same conventions other horror movies do. But I think that's why Finding Nemo has remained so memorable. The ocean is scary.
Like, all the time. It's scary when it's vicious, it's scary when it's mysterious, it's scary when it's beautiful. Finding Nemo is about a character exploring a mysterious, unknown world for the first time. It's impossibly big, its inhabitants frightening and hostile, but in the end he finds beauty in its journey. And honestly, I can't think of a better location for such a premise than the ocean.
Thank you guys so much for watching this video, um, sorry there hasn't been a lot of reaction content in a while, I'm currently sick, uh, so recording for any longer than like five minutes at a time has been difficult on my voice. So maybe expect some more one-off videos like this in the near future. But if you liked this video, please consider liking, sharing, and subscribing.
And if you want to see me break down some other Pixar movies, I've got plenty of videos like that here on this channel. Let me know what other games, movies, and shows you want to see me cover in the future, and I will see you guys next time. The muffins on the counter always get gobbled up still.