SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE, BUILDING AND DESIGN

THE DESIGN SCHOOL

FOUNDATION IN NATURAL BUILD ENVIRONMENT

NAME: Muhammad Nazmi bin Kamarulzaman

STUDENT ID NO: 0322251
FILMS SELECTED: Finding Nemo & Cars by PIXAR
WORD COUNT: 812
ENGLISH 2 (ELG 30605)
WRITTEN ASSIGNMENT 1: COMPARE CONTRAST ESSAY
LECTURER: CASSANDRA WIJESURIA
SUBMISSION DATE: 28TH SEPTEMBER 2015

SIMILARITIES OF FINDING NEMO AND CARS BY PIXAR

Pixar Animation Studios, a Disney owned animation studios are known for their
award-winning animated movies and films which exhibits and maximize the use of
computer arts and capabilities. One of Pixars finest production, Finding Nemo who
is directed by Andrew Stanton is originally released on 30 th of May 2003 and has
achieve a superb rating of 99 percent on Rotten Tomatoes! On the other hand, Cars,
directed by John Lasseter was released 3 years later on November 7 and has a fair
rating of 74 percent on the same website. Both Cars and Finding Nemo belongs to a
same genre which are animated films. This broad and extremely popular genre
refers to every films that uses hand drawn animations or computer animations as the
main component that makes the whole film. In case of Cars and Finding Nemo, both
are animated using highly powerful 3D animation and rendering program. Although
on the surface level Cars and Finding Nemo is different in terms of animation style,
character and theme. But actually, it has some elements that is relatable and almost
identical between the two animated films such as the essential plot and the
importance of friendship and the concept of self-discovery.
Both Cars and Finding Nemo has a main character who got lost in an unknown
location or place. In Cars, Lightning McQueen, a rookie race car got separated by his
transport truck partner Mack while on a way to California and got lost in Radiator
Springs on Route 66. Because he damaged part of the town street and got crashed
and tangled in wires, Sheriff caught him and McQueen is taken to the traffic court
and forced to repave the road. However, Nemo in Finding Nemo deliberately disobey
his father and swim into open water which led to him being caught by a diver who
then leave immediately on a speedboat. He is then placed into a fish tank in a
dentists office in Sydney. Although both tells a different story, Nemo and McQueen
got accidentally or forcefully separated from their family into an unfamiliar
whereabouts.
Like all other Pixar films, Cars and Finding Nemo highlights the importance of
friendship and family throughout. As both Nemo and McQueen got separated, they
became more desperate and tried to escape with hopes to rejoice with their former
family and friends. Moreover, Cars demonstrates that during McQueen sentences at
Radiator Springs, everyone despised him for causing destruction with the exception
of Mater, who instead befriended him. This eventually allows McQueen to cope with
the small town and its inhabitants who in turn, helps McQueen in his final race by

becoming his crew. Finding Nemo exhibits similar plot in which Nemo was forcefully
put into a fish tank along with fishes he never know before. They quickly became
tank. He initially fails but then succeed later with the help of his new friends. With the
help of friendship, both Nemo and McQueen eventually reunites with their former
family. A movie critic, Glen Oliver (2003) from IGN.com wrote that Finding Nemo is
truly about a firm focus towards the conservation of family and friendship and of
course, the similar thing can be said about Cars.
Lastly, another major theme that is present in both Finding Nemo and Cars is selfdiscovery in which the main character personality changes for the better. For
instance, in Finding Nemo, Nemo became more independent and mature as he learn
not to repeat the same mistake of disobeying his father and endangering himself by
swimming in open water. He changed himself during his time with his new friends in
the fish tank who taught him to become brave and confident. Likewise, in Cars,
Lightning McQueen who once is an arrogant rookie race car became deeply
sympathised when learned about Doc Hudson tragic crash in 1954 which ultimately
ended his racing career. He eventually overcome his arrogant personality as
highlighted by events in the final race. As McQueen approaches the finish line, Chick
Hicks played a dirty trick that landed another race car, The King into an awful rollover
crash. McQueen, having learned what happen to Doc Hudson, decided to
deliberately stop as he reached near the finish line and then backtracks to push the
crashed race car across the finish line ahead of him. Rather than being glory-hunting
to win the race, McQueen overcomes his ego and shows a great gesture of
sportsmanship and were cheered by many.
In conclusion, both animated films who are produced by Pixar, shows some striking
resemblance in one way or another as mentioned above even though they exhibit
entirely different settings and characters. Additionally, even with the similarity at
hand, both movies can still be treated as unique in their own ways. In my opinion,
they are both truly exceptional animated films and I truly love the similarities in term
of character developments of both main characters.

REFERENCE

Unknown Author, Modern Mythology: Finding Nemo. Retrieved September 30, from
http://modernmythologyfindingnemo.weebly.com/themes.html
Multiple Authors. Finding Nemo. Retrieved September 29, from
http://pixar.wikia.com/wiki/Finding_Nemo
Multiple Authors. Cars. Retrieved September 29, from
http://pixar.wikia.com/wiki/Cars
Cars. Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved September 30, from
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/cars
Finding Nemo. Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved September 30, from
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/finding_nemo
Otto, J. (2006) Review: Pixar Maintains the Lush Visual and Sweet Story, But the
Crossover is Limited this Time Around. Retrieved September 30, from
http://www.ign.com/articles/2006/06/09/cars-2
Oliver, G. (2003) Just Go See It. Retrieved September 30, from
http://www.ign.com/articles/2003/05/29/review-of-finding-nemo
Millett, A. (2004) Other Fish in the Sea: "Finding Nemo" as an Epic Representation
of Disability. Retrieved October 1, from
http://dsq-sds.org/article/view/873/1048