Finding Nemo is, above all, about family and change.
“Marlin, a clown fish, is overly cautious with his son, Nemo, who has a foreshortened fin.
When Nemo swims too close to the surface to prove himself, he is caught by a diver, and, horrified,
Marlin must set out to find him.” (JWelch5742, IMDB)
Despite Nemo being the title character, Marlin is the one who has the most character development being the title character, Marlin is the one who has the most character development.
He has to learn not to assume Nemo’s capabilities just because he has a disability.
Finding Nemo provides a very subtle disability representation. Nemo’s undeveloped fin is nicknamed his “lucky fin,” which is a simple way to acknowledge he is different without drawing attention.
On the superficial level, it creates a positive association with being different. Marlin’s journey takes him from overprotective parent to have a better family dynamic.
At the film’s start, we learn that Nemo’s disability was caused by trauma when a barracuda attacked his family.
Because Nemo is the only child of Marlin that survived, it is assumed that Marlin is overprotective parent because of his trauma. In real life, a trauma like this is not necessary why a parent is overprotective.
It naturally comes with the territory when a child has a disability.
It is believable that Marlin becomes an overprotective parent.
This is the part of the film I related to as a child. Fighting my dad for independence was a struggle.
As a child, I didn’t perceive my life as challenging or think that I needed any extra help.
The film does an excellent job of subtly incorporating realistic disabled family relationships.
The film does not directly address disability stereotypes.
The stereotype it constantly mentions as a joke is that every clownfish must be funny.
This was a hilarious joke as a child and very surface-level. Having the joke repeated so many times as Marlin’s first interaction with every new character,
it mimics how people often think it is appropriate to reference a visible disability as a conversation starter; and how they are usually let down by the response.
When Nemo goes to school for the first time and meets other classmates, one immediately points out and laughs that “he looks funny!”.
The fish’s dad proceeds to nudge him and say, “be nice; it’s his first time at school.”
This accurately represents how parents react to kids referencing a person’s disability.
In this instance, an intervention may have been warranted because of the laugh.
It reminds me of situations in places like the grocery store when kids ask their parents, “what’s wrong with his legs?” or “why does he use those?” (in reference to crutches).
These innocently curious questions are actually non-judgmental ways of asking why I am “different.”
Nemo’s response to the student noticing his fin is to explain he was born with it and it’s “lucky.” This is another example of framing Nemo’s differences as a positive.
Source
IMDB. (2003, May 30 ). Finding Nemo. IMDb. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0266543/