Finding Nemo tells the story of a young clownfish, Nemo, captured by a diver, of his father Marlin’s quest to find and rescue him, and of the friends they both make along the way. Films such as Finding Nemo (2003) that deal in representations of nature and that reach out to young, impressionable audiences offer opportunities to counter the messages of traditional nature films.
Given this, it is of great importance that these representations, these substitutes for the real thing, be analyzed and examined for the lessons they provide. The stereotype of the nature film is thus revealed as the public media face of the biologist. And an entire generation of people has grown up believing that the fine art of comprehending nature is primarily a matter of astute observation and unwavering objectivity and (need I say it again) a realm best left to the experts. This stereotype also demonstrates why so few films ever get made that depict nature as anything besides a vast wildlife laboratory presided over by stewarding scientists. Year after year we watch a continuing parade of field biologists pointing and whispering and ultimately promoting the classic scientific schism between observer and observed favored by field biologists. However, Jim Nollman writes, in “What’s Wrong with Nature Films?”:
Traditional nature films provide one potentially useful way of introducing nature to these generations. The biggest fish at the aquarium is the great white shark, who tops out around 21 feet - about half the size of a whale shark.In an increasingly urban and suburban, as well as digitized and mediated, world, filmic representations of nature are of great importance in revealing the value and wonder of nature to generations who may not (and, in many cases, undoubtedly will not) see and experience this nature personally. Belugas live in Arctic waters, not in California, and whale sharks are simply two large. However, two animals you won't see at the aquarium are beluga whales and whale sharks. There's also the aforementioned kelp forest, as well as their Rocky Shore exhibit, which allows visitors to touch certain animals like in the film. The aquarium has a giant pacific octopus exhibit, and the creatures really do look a lot like Hank. If you were to go to the Monterey Bay Aquarium after watching Finding Dory, you would definitely see the influence.
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In fact, so similar is the Marine Research Institute to the actual Monterey Bay Aquarium, that several news outlets reported that the real life aquarium was the setting of the film after the first details of the movie began to emerge last spring. The movie features the dense vegetation outside the institute, and the real life Monterey Bay Aquarium is well-known for having its own kelp forest exhibit. Other than the basic look of the facility itself, another setting the film takes from the Monterey Bay Aquarium is the kelp forest.
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They took several photos, including from the animals' perspective, to give them a better idea of how to portray the setting. The production team took multiple research trips to the aquarium, according to Peter Sciretta of Slashfilm, and loosely based the look of the institute on the appearance of the aquarium. The creators of the film had to think about a logical place where Dory's parents would be to explain some things from the first movie (like her inability to find her family and her ability to read) and they settled on a treatment center based upon the Monterey Bay Aquarium.
However, the institute was based on a very similar real life facility located in Monterey Bay, California. After seeing the movie, you'll definitely want to pay the place a visit, but is the Marine Life Institute real?
Instead, Dory ends up at a "fish hospital" called the Marine Life Institute in California, where she meets several new friends like Hank the octopus, Destiny the whale shark, and Bailey the beluga whale. And unlike its predecessor, Finding Nemo, most of the action in the new film doesn't take place in the ocean. Pixar's newest adventure sees one of the most popular characters the studio has ever created, Dory, go off on an adventure all her own in Finding Dory.