The lights dimmed and trailers danced across the screen. Three-year-old me was quivering with anticipation. Sweet and salty odors wafted through the theaters. I was finally going to watch “Finding Nemo”, the most popular kids movie of 2003. Ever since this first experience of watching “Finding Nemo”, I was captivated. I would consider it my absolute beloved movie.  It is pretty hard to find any more reasons to love this Australian animation, but the three main reasons this movie stuck with me over the years are how it shaped my childhood, personality, and day to day conversations.

Most people grew up with Barney as their role models or the Wiggles. My childhood orbited around Nemo. I loved to trail my sister and quote Dory in the finest impersonation as possible. Car rides were cherished the most because they would have to listen to my endless babble about ‘P. Sherman 42 Wallaby Way, Sydney’. Almost every kid, boy or girl, is obsessed with Disney movies. I was no exception. Schools of fish and the coral reefs mesmerized mini me for years. The screenplay transported me into, what I thought was a real place, with the animations and all. Where I grew up, there was fish everywhere which isn’t really a surprise since I lived by the ocean. Salmon was a regular occurring supper and halibut casserole was just another thing to complain about. I would constantly beg my parents to let my sister and I race down to the shore and “see the fishies”. This movie was especially fascinating to me that fish could have that much range of colors. “Finding Nemo” shaped my childhood into an ocean of opportunities that has snow balled into my former and current personality.

Every kid is like a sponge. They soak up everything they hear and eventually repeat it. It eventually frames their personality. I was no different. My love for Dory and her hilarity, formed the way I tend to glimpse the world. Dory is my inspiration for my humorous side. Her jokes are my jokes. Memory is something that Dory and I have in common. I have an extraordinarily hard time memorizing things and obtaining information. You could say it runs in the family. At least, I think it does. There is also a dark side to Nemo if you care to look close enough. His need for independence was a prominent thing in the beginning. Over the years, I have developed that need, though much stronger. Personalities affect how you interact with people. I learned that hastily.

Quoting Dory has really come back to bite me in everyday life. In almost every nonchalant conversation I have, there is at least one thing that reminds me of some scene or another in the show. Usually I keep my mouth shut about my train of thought though sometimes I let the motor catch. When that happens I either get strange looks, laughed at, or it starts an entirely new conversation.   It is one of those things where I’m not embarrassed for enjoying it. In fact I am quite proud of it.    

“Finding Nemo” is a film that everyone loves, whether they are old or young, boy or girl. Throughout this essay, I explained how Nemo played a role in my childhood, personality, and everyday life. Most kids around my age grew up with “Finding Nemo” being today’s “Frozen”. It swept the nation with this new idea what is below the surface of the sea. The credits started rolling and people started to gather their things, not sure whether to leave now or stay and wait in case there is a short, humorous clip at the end. I begged my grandma to let us stay until I was certain it was over. When we got out into the sunny luminous day, I noticed something I had never payed attention to, being as young as I was. The world outside may not be as colorful as I had imagined it to be, but, with a little time and magic, I can change that.