Finding Nemo is an American animated film series media franchise that began with the 2003 film of the same name, produced by Pixar and released by Walt Disney Pictures. The original film was followed by a standalone sequel, Finding Dory, released in 2016. Both films were directed by Andrew Stanton. The film series received widespread critical acclaim from critics and audiences with two films released to-date, the series has grossed $1.9 billion worldwide.
Film series
Film Release date Director Screenplay by Story by Produced by Finding Nemo Andrew Stanton Andrew Stanton, Bob Peterson & David Reynolds Andrew Stanton Graham Walters Finding Dory Andrew Stanton & Victoria Strouse Lindsey Collins
Finding Nemo (2003)
Finding Nemo is the fifth Pixar film. The film tells the story of a clownfish named Nemo (voiced by Alexander Gould), who gets abducted from his home in the Great Barrier Reef and winds up in a dentist's office aquarium. His overprotective father Marlin (voiced by Albert Brooks), along with an amnesiac regal tang named Dory (voiced by Ellen DeGeneres), searches for him all the way to Sydney Harbour. Along the way, Marlin learns to take risks and let little Nemo take care of himself.
Finding Dory (2016)
Finding Dory is the seventeenth Pixar film. The film focuses on the amnesiac character Dory (voiced by Ellen DeGeneres), who travels to California to find her long-lost parents, Jenny and Charlie, as well as exploring the idea of her being reunited with her family. It takes place one year after Finding Nemo and is set off the coast of Morro Bay, California.
Future Director Andrew Stanton commented in June 2016 about the possibility of a third Finding film, stating:
In May 2024, Pixar CCO Pete Docter suggested that the studio was considering making a third installment in the Finding Nemo franchise. He stated "Where else have we not gone in the ocean? The ocean's a big place. I think there's a lot of opportunity there. We're kind of fishing around." In July 2024, while in the middle of her final tour entitled "Ellen's Last Stand...Up", DeGeneres answered in a Q&A session that her Netflix special later that year would be her last act in show business. When asked if she would reprise the role of Dory again, DeGeneres responded "No, I'm going bye-bye, remember."
On April 25, 2026, Pixar announced that a new Finding Nemo short film is in development with Ellen DeGeneres coming out of retirement to reprise her role as Dory.
Short films Exploring the Reef with Jean-Michel Cousteau (2003): A short documentary film. It features Jean-Michel Cousteau, exploring the Great Barrier Reef, but Marlin, Dory, and Nemo keep interrupting him. The short film is included on the Finding Nemo DVD. Marine Life Interviews (2016): A short film focusing on some of the supporting characters within Dory as they give brief interviews and thoughts on Dory herself. This is similar to the character interviews for Finding Nemo. Dory Finding (2021): Dory Finding shows Dory finding items from the surface in the coral reef. This short is part of the Pixar Popcorn series on Disney+. Field Trip (2024): This short is part of the Lego Pixar BrickToons series on Disney+. Loving Dory (2027): A theatrical short film where Dory enjoys an unexpected alliance with a plastic bag floating through the sea.
Reception Box office performance Finding Nemo is the second highest-grossing film of 2003, behind The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. It was the highest-grossing Pixar film, up until 2010 when Toy Story 3 surpassed it. Finding Dory is the third-highest-grossing film of 2016, behind Civil War and Rogue One.
Finding Nemo is the 13th highest-grossing animated franchise.
Film Release date Revenue Rank Budget United States Other territories Worldwide All-time domestic All-time worldwide Finding Nemo $380,843,261 $559,492,275 $940,335,536 #26#55 (A) #36 $99,000,000 Original release May 30, 2003 $339,714,978 $531,304,279 $871,019,257 $94,000,000 3-D re-release $41,128,283 $28,187,996 $69,316,279 $5,000,000 Finding Dory $486,295,561 $541,068,765 $1,027,364,326 #7#71 (A) #22$200,000,000 Total $ $ $ $ List indicator(A) indicates the adjusted totals based on current ticket prices (calculated by Box Office Mojo).
Critical and public response
Film Critical Public Rotten Tomatoes Metacritic CinemaScore Finding Nemo 90 (38 reviews) Finding Dory 77 (48 reviews)
Accolades
Both films received universal acclaim, with the first film winning the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. It was a financial blockbuster as it grossed over $921 million worldwide. It is the best-selling DVD of all time, with over 40 million copies sold as of 2006Boone, Louis E. Contemporary Business 2006, Thomson South-Western, page 4 - and is the second highest grossing G-rated movie of all time. In 2008, the American Film Institute named it the 10th greatest American Animated film ever made during their 10 Top 10. It also won the award for best Animated Film at the Kansas City Film Critics Circle Awards, the Las Vegas Film Critics Society Awards, the National Board of Review Awards, the Online Film Critics Society Awards, and the Toronto Film Critics Association Awards.
Cast and characters
Characters Feature films Short films Finding Nemo Finding Dory Exploring the Reef with Jean-Michel Cousteau Marine Life Interviews Pixar Popcorn Lego Pixar: Bricktoons Nemo Alexander Gould Hayden Rolence Alexander Gould colspan="2" Pressly James Crosby Marlin Albert Brooks colspan="2" Jess Harnell Dory Ellen DeGeneres Ellen DeGeneres Ellen DeGeneres Jennifer Hale Gill Willem Dafoe colspan="4" Bloat Brad Garrett colspan="4" Peach Allison Janney colspan="4" Gurgle Austin Pendleton colspan="4" Bubbles Stephen Root colspan="4" Deb Vicki Lewis colspan="4" Jacques Joe Ranft Jerome Ranft colspan="4" Crush Andrew Stanton colspan="4" Squirt Nicholas Bird Bennett Dammann colspan="3" Lincoln Peters Mr. Ray Bob Peterson colspan="3" Bob Peterson Bruce Barry Humphries colspan="4" Darla Sherman LuLu Ebeling colspan="4" Tad Jordy Ranft rowspan="3" colspan="4" Sheldon Erik Per Sullivan colspan="3" Henry Witcher Pearl Erica Beck colspan="4" Anchor Eric Bana colspan="5" Chum Bruce Spence colspan="5" Philip Sherman Bill Hunter colspan="4" Nigel Geoffrey Rush colspan="5" Coral Elizabeth Perkins colspan="5" Blenny Bob Bergen colspan="3" School of Moonfish John Ratzenberger colspan="5" Chicken Fish Katherine Ringgold colspan="4" Hank Ed O'Neill Ed O'Neill colspan="2" Destiny Kaitlin Olson Kaitlin Olson colspan="2" Bailey Ty Burrell Ty Burrell colspan="2" Jenny Diane Keaton colspan="4" Charlie Eugene Levy colspan="4" Fluke Idris Elba Idris Elba colspan="2" Rudder Dominic West Dominic West colspan="2" Stan Bill Hader colspan="4" Inez Kate McKinnon colspan="4" Gerald Torbin Xan Bullock colspan="4" Becky colspan="4" Bill John Ratzenberger colspan="4" Jean-Michel Cousteau colspan="2" Himself colspan="3"
Note: A grey cell indicates that the character didn't appear in the film.
Theme park attractions Crush's Coaster at Walt Disney Studios Park at Disneyland Paris. Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage at Disneyland at Disneyland Resort. Finding Nemo – The Musical at Disney's Animal Kingdom at Walt Disney World. The Seas with Nemo & Friends at Epcot at Walt Disney World. Turtle Talk with Crush at Epcot at Walt Disney World, Disney California Adventure at Disneyland Resort and Tokyo DisneySea at Tokyo Disney Resort. Nemo & Friends SeaRider at Tokyo DisneySea at Tokyo Disney Resort.
Other media
Video games Finding Nemo
Finding Nemo was released in 2003 by THQ. The goal in the game is to complete different levels under the roles of film protagonists Nemo, Marlin or Dory. It includes cutscenes from the movie and each clip is based on a level. For example, Marlin and Dory hopping through a batch of jellyfish.
The game received mixed reviews. It received 2/5 stars on GameSpy, 6.2/10 points on GameSpot and IGN gave it 7.0/10 and 6.0/10 on its PS2 and Xbox, and GameCube platforms, respectively.
Disney Friends
In 2007, Disney Interactive Studios released Disney Friends. It is a video game based on various Disney films. The game features characters Stitch from Lilo & Stitch, Dory from Finding Nemo, Pooh from Winnie the Pooh, and Simba from The Lion King.
Kinect: Disneyland Adventures
Kinect: Disneyland Adventures is a video game released in 2011 by Frontier Developments. The game is based in various Disneyland attractions. It was released on Kinect for Xbox 360. Characters from Finding Nemo appear as part of a minigame based on Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage.
Nemo's Reef
Nemo's Reef was a mobile game available from December 20, 2012 to June 30, 2017 by Disney Mobile. The game is a casual reef building which features characters from Finding Nemo. It was released on Android and iOS devices.
Disney Infinity
Disney Infinity was a video game series developed by Avalanche Software that ran from 2013 to 2016. Elements from Finding Nemo appeared throughout all three games in the series, with power discs based on the film released for the first game, and a playset based on Finding Dory along with Dory and Nemo figures released for the console versions of Disney Infinity 3.0 in June 2016. The aforementioned playset and figures were the last new content released for the series, which was cancelled by Disney in May 2016.
Rush: A Disney•Pixar Adventure
Kinect Rush: A Disney•Pixar Adventure is a video game developed by Asobo Studio originally released in 2012 for Xbox 360. On October 31, 2017, a remastered release without the Kinect branding titled Rush: A Disney•Pixar Adventure was released for Xbox One and Microsoft Windows 10. The remastered version adds a world based on Finding Dory alongside the original release's worlds.
Disney Magic Kingdoms
During a limited time Event focused on the franchise, under the name "Finding Marlin", the world builder game Disney Magic Kingdoms included Nemo, Marlin, Dory, Crush, Squirt, Bruce and Hank as playable characters, along with the attractions Crush's Coaster, Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage, and The Seas with Nemo and Friends. Bailey and Destiny were also included as playable characters in a later update of the game. In the game the characters are involved in new storylines that serve as a continuation of the events in the films.
Stage musical
Finding Nemo – The Musical is a 40-minute show (performed five times daily), which opened on January 24, 2007 at the Theater in the Wild at Disney's Animal Kingdom in Orlando, Florida. It is a musical adaption of the film with new songs written by Tony Award-winning Avenue Q composer Robert Lopez and his wife, Kristen Anderson-Lopez. It would "combine puppets, dancers, acrobats and animated backdrops".Hernandez, Ernio. "Avenue Q Composer Lopez Co-Pens Musical Finding Nemo for Disney ,"Playbill.com (April 10, 2006).
Appearance on Fetch! With Ruff Ruffman
In the PBS KIDS Show Fetch! With Ruff Ruffman, Crush the sea turtle appeared as a guest star in the Season 5 episode, "The Ol' Shell Game", voiced again by Andrew Stanton.
Magazine In August 2016, Egmont Publishing launched a magazine, titled Finding Dory.
Music
Finding Nemo is the soundtrack album of the film of the same name. Finding Dory is the soundtrack album of the film of the same name. The soundtracks were scored by Thomas Newman.
The score was nominated for the 76th Academy Awards for Best Original Score but lost against The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. It received 5/5 stars from the Film Score Reviews and 3.5/5 stars from Soundtrack.net.
Crew
Film Director(s) Writer(s) Producer(s) Executive Producer Composer Editor(s) Finding Nemo Andrew Stanton Lee Unkrich Andrew Stanton Andrew Stanton, Bob Peterson and David Reynolds Graham Walters John Lasseter Thomas Newman David Ian Salter Finding Dory Andrew Stanton Angus MacLane Andrew Stanton Andrew Stanton and Victoria Strouse Lindsey Collins Axel Geddes