First, fight me. Second, fight me. I understand that your parents dragged you to this movie because Disney slapped their name on it and they wanted to nap while you veg out. But allow those who have come a decade before you have the honor of watching the sequel to the childhood cult classic first. Especially if "Finding Nemo" was their favorite movie growing up.
Let's take a walk down memory lane to a place long ago, 2003 -- when "Finding Nemo" came into theaters. I was 6 years old, and my sisters were about 3 and 1. Our entire family, Grammie and Grandaddy included, drove in the rain to see the Pixar film. Let it be known that we had no umbrellas in the car and had to run for our lives to get into the theater. Thankfully no one got sick later, even though my sisters and I shivered from the icy A/C the duration of the movie. But it was worth it.
I can still remember the distinct sound of the Pixar lamp crushing the ball and the short, "Knick Knack" that played right before the movie. For those under 4 feet tall who don't remember what the short "Knick Knack" is about, it was about an adorable snowman who was desperately trying to free himself from his globe prison. It was so well thought out and executed that it still remains as crystal clear memory.
In the next hour and a half, I was filled with wonder by the images I saw on the big screen. I engraved in my memory the highlights of the movie, so I could play it over and over again in my brain when I would go to sleep at night. I laughed, I cried, I felt it all in that somewhat short but magical time I spent watching "Finding Nemo." If you can recall during the ending credits, Randy Newman did a cover of Bobby Darin's "Beyond the Sea"; a current contender for the first dance at my wedding. At the time, IPods were not a thing, so I had my mom buy the CD so I could play that one song over and over again.
For Christmas the same year, I received "Finding Nemo" on VHS; I must have watched it a thousand times. I knew what the characters would say by heart and what kind of marine life they all were. "Finding Nemo" became the movie of my childhood that I will never be too tired to watch.
I'm not sure what "Finding Dory" would mean to kids today. Have they ever loved a movie so much that they can recite it perfectly like spelling words for their next test? Not like I can, I'm sure.
So to the parents of young children, I would like to ask this, would you let me relive the magical experience I had as a child just one more time? If you child begins to cry would you please remove them so I can remember the emotions of joy I felt just one more time? If you can do that for me and all the other "'90s Kids" we will keep swimming on nicely.
