As ridiculous as it sounds, "Finding Nemo" is based on the real life of its creator, Andrew Stanton, in much the same way as his previous film, "A Bug's Life."

Still, certain changes have been made. Stanton is not a fish. Nor is he an insect.

"I like to think of the characters I create as being very human," said the director and co-screenwriter of "Finding Nemo, "which probably explains why they talk so much like I do. I mean, in the real world we don't have talking fish and talking bugs. Though wouldn't it be great if there were?"

Other liberties also had to be taken with characters and situations for the sake of dramatic license. For example, unlike Marlin, the lead character in "Finding Nemo," Stanton is not a widower. (In the film's opening scene, Marlin's wife is killed by a barracuda, though it actually happens off-screen.)

"I'm happy to say that my wife is alive and well," Stanton said during a telephone interview from Pixar Animation Studios in Emeryville, Calif. "Although sometimes I think she'd like to kill me," he added with a laugh.

Still, Stanton is mindful of criticisms that Disney-released animated films often feature dysfunctional and "non-traditional" families featured as main characters. "I think it all goes back to 'Bambi,' to be honest. But I certainly don't think there's a conspiracy to undermine the family unit. It's nothing so sinister. We're just trying to show some of real life, of drama, in our movies.

"To be honest, I think we don't give our kids enough credit for what they're able to deal with, to process. Which is not to say that I think kids need to see everything as it really is. This is not a dark movie. It's a comedy that just happens to have some heavily dramatic elements."

"Finding Nemo" is also Stanton's longtime dream project. He came up with the idea of an animated adventure — one set underwater and shown from the perspective of fish — more than 10 years ago. "I've always been fascinated with the sea. There are such rich colors and such incredible creatures — things you couldn't possibly dream up, even if you had the most vivid imagination in the world."

Even back then, Stanton was convinced that the film could be done with digital animation. But as technology has continued to develop, that form of animation has become more refined, and the nearly photo-realistic, almost three-dimensional underwater scenes in this film are the most vivid in any Disney movie since the studio's live-action adaptation of "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea," in 1954.

"That may have been nearly 50 years ago, but it's still the film to beat, as far as ocean-based movies are concerned," Stanton said. "It may be a completely different story from ours. But it had a huge influence on this movie."

So did two separate trips to the ocean and an aquarium. Stanton said that after he wrapped up work on "A Bug's Life," he found himself trying to readjust to family life. "I took my son to the ocean. And I found that I was being such a completely overbearing parent. I'd keep telling him not to touch that. And to stay away from that. It was ridiculous."

But the experience did help him develop the character of Marlin (voiced by Albert Brooks), a clownfish who sets off on a desperate search to find his son, who has been captured by a Sydney dentist intent on giving the young clownfish to his niece. "It's every parent's worst fear, especially when you're a chronic worrier to begin with. Fortunately, we've tried to make it a little lighter than that sounds." He added with a laugh, "OK, a lot lighter."

Brooks is just one of several stars lending their considerable voice talents to the characters. Joining him are Ellen DeGeneres, Geoffrey Rush, Willem Dafoe and Brad Garrett, among others. "That's one of the things that comes with having such a great track record as a studio," Stanton said. "Suddenly everyone wants to work with you."

However, he noted that there was no "stunt casting." "We're always looking for voices that are distinct, but also ones that fit the characters."

Perhaps that explains how Stanton himself wound up voicing one of the characters, a sea turtle named Crush. "When we work on films, our animators do voices for the rough versions of the characters. So I did Crush. And then I kept doing him. It's not the first time I've done a voice in a film. But it just might be the silliest voice I've ever done."

Stanton did write one role with a specific actor in mind, while playing with the idea of an absent-minded blue tang that befriends Marlin and helps him in his search. "I just couldn't think of anyone who would be perfect for the part. As it happens, my wife was watching ('Ellen,' DeGeneres' old sitcom, now in reruns). She was amazing. She changed directions five times in the same sentence. I figured if she could do that, she could certainly do this."

So he created the character of Dory with DeGeneres in mind. Fortunately, she agreed to play the part. "She told me, 'Well, since you've gone to such trouble, I guess I have to do it.' Only, she sounded a great deal more enthusiastic than that."

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Stanton has been a longtime Pixar mainstay. He started with the fledgling animation studio in 1990, when there were just nine employees. Today, there are considerably more. "I can say what a great place this is to work at, but you can't really get an idea of how great it is unless you actually work here. People are always excited to go to work, always excited about working on other people's films. It's a creative atmosphere that helps us push ourselves and keep the quality at an industry high."

He attributes much of that to Pixar chief John Lassiter, who is preparing his own full-length animated feature, "Cars," for release in 2005. "John's taking his time with this one," Stanton said. "He knows he's got a lot to live up to. Not just to meet our unbelievably high standards, but to live up to his. So he's being very secretive. It's driving us all a little crazy, to be honest."

Before "Cars," Pixar will also release the superhero comedy "The Incredibles" in fall 2004.


E-MAIL: jeff@desnews.com

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