• positive elements: The bulk of the moral of this story is directed at parents, not kids. Marlin’s encounter with the barracuda that decimated his young family drove a permanent stake of fear through his heart. And he transfers his misgivings to his son. Instead of encouraging him to spread his wings—or flip his fins as the case may be—he shelters him to an unhealthy degree. This breeds anger and rebellion in Nemo and creates further unhappiness for Marlin. The film stresses the need to maintain balance in your family life and in the way you introduce your kids to the world. (An extended family of sea turtles provides insight into how relationships can flow more smoothly.) "When my son was five," director Andrew Stanton says, "I remember taking him to the park. I had been working long hours and felt guilty about not spending enough time with him. As we were walking, I was experiencing all this pent up emotion and thinking, ‘I-miss-you, I-miss-you,’ but I spent the whole walk going, ‘Don’t touch that. Don’t do that. You’re gonna fall in there.’ And there was this third-party voice in my head saying, ‘You’re completely wasting the entire moment that you’ve got with your son right now.’ I became obsessed with this premise that fear can deny a good father from being one. With that revelation, all the pieces fell into place and we ended up with our story." The flip side of this story thread proffers spiritual allusions, hinting at elements found in the parable of the prodigal son. Nemo doesn’t run away, but his rebellion certainly leads to him losing his relationship with his father, his security and his freedom, just as the son did in Jesus’ Luke 15 tale. Marlin repeatedly warns Nemo of the danger he’s putting himself in, but Nemo doesn’t listen. When things go sour and Nemo is captured, Marlin immediately begins searching for him, risking life and limb to bring him back. He refuses to give up on him. And he doesn’t sulk and get mad at Nemo for being foolish. The lesson here for parents is that you shouldn’t stifle and needlessly frustrate your kids. The lesson for children is that when you think your parents are being overprotective you should remember that they’re genuinely concerned for your safety and happiness and sometimes know better than you. Children will also be inspired by Nemo’s bravery and courage while he’s away from his dad, the selfless acts of all manner of creatures when they learn that Nemo needs help, and the joy that reconciliation brings to both parents and children. Early in the movie, Nemo tells his dad that he hates him. The story concludes with Nemo recanting and making sure his dad knows he loves him. Elsewhere, a fish apologizes to Nemo for selfishly putting him in danger.

• sexual content: None.

• violent content: Beginning with the attack on Marlin’s family, and ending with a scuffle with unsavory crabs, Finding Nemo contains quite a few intense underwater conflicts sure to go unnoticed by your average 14-year-old, but guaranteed to traumatize their four-year-old siblings. Foremost among the violent sequences is one that features a famished shark hungry for blood. Throughout the film, fish slam into rocks, walls, other fish, etc. Jellyfish sting and almost kill Marlin and his traveling companion, Dory. The pair is swallowed by a whale and a pelican. They’re attacked by a deep-sea beast. Seagulls chase them. When a pelican flies into the dentist’s office, his flailing wings tear the place to shreds. Dory bleeds a little bit when a diving mask hits her. (The blood is what sends the shark on his rampage.) Underwater mines detonate, lighting up the ocean floor with their explosions. The dentist knocks himself out when he hits his head on one of his instruments. Nemo finds himself in danger of being chopped up by the whirling gears in the fish tank’s water purification system. A human girl (roughly the evil equivalent of Toy Story’s Sid) violently shakes Nemo while he’s in a bag of water.

• crude or profane language: "Crikey" is the closest thing to profane in the movie (there are also two outbursts that include "oh my gosh"). Several crass phrases are started ("What the ...") and left hanging. When the fish in the dentist’s tank purposefully foul their environment to make him clean it, one asks, "Does anybody realize we’re swimming in our own ..." (He’s interrupted by a fish saying "Shhhh" before he can finish.) "Shut up" and "nuts" are also used.

• drug and alcohol content: Nobody smokes or drinks anything, but a group of pelicans joke about one of their pals having had "too much" too early in the morning.

• other negative elements: Dory credits evolution for making her a fast swimmer. Seagulls poop on Marlin and Dory. Close-ups of the dentist working on people’s mouths provide a couple of unsavory moments. One man screams as the drill sinks into this tooth. Another has his tooth yanked out when the dentist is startled. A young squid expels a cloud of ink every time she’s frightened. The first time it happens, she says, "You guys made me ink." Flatulence is used as the punch line for a joke. Several fish belch loudly.

• conclusion: Finding Nemo is an engaging adventure boasting what may well be the most lavish animation seen to date on the big screen. The trickle, ebb and swoosh of the ever-present water is marvelously rendered. The vivid hues of the Great Barrier Reef are breathtaking. And I could almost smell the stench gurgling out of the whale’s belly when Marlin and Dory got sucked inside. Sometimes the scenery is so awe-inspiring it squashes the story running through it. You won’t mind, though. The plot is pretty straight-forward. Nemo is kidnapped. Dad’s got to get him back.

What the scenery never obscures are the colorful characters. They’re so endearing they’ll put your family off fish for weeks. One can hardly expect a 6-year-old to fall in love with Nemo and then scarf down a plateful of tuna the next day. "Fish are friends, not food" is a slogan repeated several times during the film by—are you ready for this?—12-stepping vegetarian sharks. Not that there’s anything wrong with personifying the food chain for fun, just be prepared for some kids to feel differently about it than you do! One other thing precocious youngsters might feel compelled to do after seeing Nemo is flush their favorite goldfish. They won’t be trying to kill the creatures, they’ll be trying to free them. Onscreen, Nemo’s tankmates insist that "all drains lead to the sea," and Nemo eventually escapes confinement by sliding into the sewer.

On a more serious note, if children personalize and internalize the peril constantly confronting Nemo and his family, it’ll be hard for them to keep their little lower lips from quivering. The screening I attended was wall-to-wall children. And as I was afraid would happen, when the sharks attacked and the tension mounted, some of the younger ones started crying.

Naturally, those words of caution are intended for parents of very young children. There’s very little wrong with Finding Nemo and there’s lots to learn from and enjoy. Pixar, the animation studio responsible for such family favorites as Toy Story and Monsters Inc., has been astoundingly consistent over the years, giving audiences superior animated experiences coupled with compelling stories and quality moral lessons. Nemo doesn’t feel out of place for a second.

Disney didn’t just target the post-tween crowd, though. Also included are a separate “making of” program geared to children who can only process so much technobabble, and a “Behind the Scenes” featurette that is playful, educational and intentionally corny. Youngsters will also enjoy “Mr. Ray’s Encyclopedia,” a sometimes humorous guide to the sea life on which the characters are based. There’s even a read-along story called “Nemo Goes to School” that lets kids read by themselves or follow along with a narrator (an option which introduces still other interactive extras). A funny seven-minute documentary, “Exploring the Reef,” pits ecology-minded Jean-Michel Cousteau against the film’s CGI characters who keep interrupting him as he talks about sea life and our need to protect the reef. (A few of these features include careless exclamations of God’s name.)

If you saw Finding Nemo in theaters you’ll recall the preceding CGI short, Knick Knack, about a frustrated snowman eager to escape the confines of his snow globe and mingle with other vacation mementos. Here, an optional audio commentary by creators John Lasseter and Eben Ostby will help fans appreciate that 1989 “experiment” at a whole new level (and make you wish you’d bought Pixar stock back in those early days).