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I Speak Whale

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This morning I was jamming to my Big Band music and Bobby Darin came on singing Beyond the Sea. I instantly knew what I needed to write about: Finding Nemo.
This is such a fantastic movie. I watched it in the theatre twice when it came out. Disney animation has been a big deal in my life, but it forever changed when Pixar was added to the equation. There really have only been a couple of their movies of which I haven't been an enormous fan. I feel strongly that they took a huge leap forward with Finding Nemo. The vibrancy of the movie is seen instantly and if you were to take out the fish, seahorses and turtles, the scene you'd be left with could almost convince you that you're underwater.  

This movie has the saddest beginning 5 minutes...that is until they created Up. After that, it's a hilarious lesson on life and family. I swear these movies are really for adults. We're all just big kids who never really grew up. You probably don't even realize what an impact Finding Nemo has had on you, but I guarantee that there's ONE address you know in Australia. And just how many times have you tried to encourage someone who is feeling down and your advice was to "just keep swimming"? You know I'm right.

Life lessons that Finding Nemo reenforced for me:
1. Life is terrifying, but it's worse to just survive and not LIVE.
2. We all have our own abilities. Never look down on someone for any reason, but especially because they have a disability or because they have different gifts or talents than you.
3. Families come in all shapes and sizes. Sometimes your closest family isn't blood, but people you've chosen to surround yourself with.
4. Don't let anyone else tell you what you can or cannot do. You know yourself better than anyone else. (But that doesn't mean you shouldn't push yourself.)
5. Your adventure may not be crossing the ocean, but it's still YOUR adventure. Make it a good one.


Sidenote: The scary yet gentle shark, Bruce, is voiced by Barry Humphries. While working at Playhouse Square, I had the privilege of spending some time with Mr. Humprhies. He was on tour as Dame Edna at the time. I found him to be one of the sweetest, most generous, and most soft spoken men I've ever met. He was so very different from both Dame Edna and Bruce. I feel so honored to have gotten to know the man behind these iconic characters.

~Songbird


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