History NightmareFuel / FindingNemo

** The nightmarishness of this scene is mentioned in ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' (in season 22 episode "Homer Scissorhands", to be exact). Milhouse's mother always skips it for him, and he ends up absolutely terrified when he accidentally discovers it on his own.

*** In the DVD commentary, they mentioned that after a preview, they considered lowering the volume of the anglerfish (or just getting rid of its screech altogether), but a young kid turned to them and said that "tuning down the anglerfish is like tuning down nature itself". Still, it's frightening in surround-sound.

* Considering how realistically visual Pixar can get, some of the darker underwater scenes can really be this, especially to aquaphobics. Take Bruce's den with the "balloons", for example.

* Imagine this: You're walking down the street in a bad neighborhood, and you see a young woman alone by the side of the road, pacing in circles around a lamppost. She's visibly distressed, so you go and ask her if she's okay, and she blurts "''I don't know where I am.''" Then she tells you she has no idea what's going on, and the only thing she thinks she maybe knows is that she "lost somebody", but she can't remember. So it's not just that she's lost - she actually has no memory of getting there at all or what she was doing beforehand. How concerned would you be?

** Try watching that scene again in 3-D. There's a shot during Marlin's [[CurbStompBattle brief tussle]] with the natural abomination where it gnaws at him...[[TheFourthWallWillNotProtectYou FROM FIRST-PERSON POV!!]]

*** Torpedoes, indeed. How do they first notice it? When ''their entire neighborhood [[TheDreaded fled]]'' without them even noticing until long after, greeted with a dead silence the next time they look at it.

* The jellyfish. Good god, the jellyfish. Unlike the other sea dwellers who behave slightly human due to the nature of the film, these things have no defining features and behave realistically. This is exceptionally disturbing as while other characters have readable expressions and movements the Jellyfish have neither, making it impossible to know what they're thinking. They display none of the intelligence of other fish or motivations other than instinctively eating. They're slow and don't actively try to stop Marlin and Dory's escape but had no qualms of eating them both.
** While Marlin is tending to a sting Dory received from a tiny jellyfish, [[EnemyRisingBehind blue slowly turns pink]] as [[AlwaysABiggerFish bigger jellyfish]] start swarming them from every direction like ghosts. And they don't even make a sound, so Marlin and Dory don't even notice it until Marlin [[TemptingFate mentions that it was thankfully just a small jellyfish]].

* Bruce the great white shark. The first we see of him is [[SlasherSmile a load of massive sharp teeth]] and a rather dark look in his eyes. Somebody even pointed out that the animators made sure Bruce went out of his way to make Dory and Marlin as unsettled as possible before showing his [[DarkIsNotEvil true colors,]] especially when he turned around for a second and then [[JumpScare RUSHED BACK TO CHOMP HIS TEETH RIGHT IN THEIR FACES]]!!! Not to mention the laugh he gave of afterwards.

** ...And you can hear the terrified Krill rushing past them yelling: SWIM AWAY!

** While Marlin is tending to a sting Dory received from a tiny jellyfish, [[EnemyRisingBehind blue slowly turns pink]] as [[AlwaysABiggerFish bigger jellyfish]] start swarming them from every direction like ghosts. And they don't even make a sound, so Marlin and Dory [[DelayedOhCrap don't even notice it]] until Marlin [[TemptingFate mentions that it was just a small jellyfish]].

* Bruce the great white shark. The first we see of him is [[SlasherSmile a load of massive sharp teeth]] and a rather dark look in his eyes. Somebody even pointed out that the animators made sure Bruce went out of his way to make Dory and Marlin as unsettled as possible before showing his [[DarkIsNotEvil true colors,]] especially when he turned around for a second and then [[JumpScare RUSHED BACK TO CHOMP HIS TEETH RIGHT IN THEIR FACES]] (not to mention the laugh he gave of afterwards)!!!
** [[BerserkButton Rage-mode Bruce]] illustrates how ''utterly terrifying'' animal instinct overriding good judgement can be. Look at the OhCrap moment when he relapses at the scent of Dory's blood and his [[BlackEyesofCrazy pupils dilate to those lifeless doll's eyes]], complete with his SlasherSmile and the fact that he is a mile high and has lost complete control of himself...

** The anglerfish's realm: [[EldritchOceanAbyss The deep-sea trench]]. [[TruthInTelevision Just like in real life abyssal zones]], this place is [[NothingIsScarier pitch black]] and the only light around will most likely come from a predator. It's a "good" thing the only voyagers we see going here are marine life, because the water pressure would crush any land-dwellers.

* That scene with the [[AlluringAnglerfish anglerfish]]. [[NothingIsScarier We don't even know what's lurking in the pitch black]] for several seconds other than a [[LightIsNotGood small, unidentified, hypnotic light]] (though literally anyone who knows what an anglerfish is will recognize the situation as soon as they see the disembodied light and be practically begging the two to get the fuck out of there). But when Dory tries to touch it, it jerks away and slowly starts ascending. As Dory and Marlin play around with it, what descends to meet them are some long, razor-sharp teeth, and two big, blank-white, bug-like eyes. And she doesn't make a sound until the camera angle changes.

* The scuba divers that capture Nemo. To the viewers, they are just humans that mean no harm against the characters (it’s revealed the dentist was the one who caught Nemo), but to the characters themselves, they are giant faceless monsters viewed as a threat. What helps

* The scuba divers that capture Nemo. To the viewers, they are just humans that mean no harm against the characters, but to the characters themselves, they are giant faceless monsters viewed as a threat. What helps
** What doesn’t help is how they first appear. Right as Nemo swims back to his angry father, one of them rises onto the screen straight behind the former. Then right as Marlin attempts to swim to him, another diver appears in front of the reef, not only blocking him, but also takes a snapshot of him, with the flash blinding him. Even though the divers most likely aren’t aware of what they’re doing, the entire scene is framed as if they’re purposely separating Marlin from his son.

''Finding Nemo'' is easily one of scariest movie Creator/{{Pixar}} has ever come up with. With [[EldritchOceanAbyss ominous places]] to the left and [[NatureIsNotNice terrifying monsters]] to the right, it's quite clear that Pixar was trying to go for something DarkerAndEdgier with this one and is probably the closest Pixar has ever gotten to making an actual [[HorrorFilms Horror Movie]].

''Finding Nemo'' is easily one of, if not, '''THE''' scariest movie Creator/{{Pixar}} has ever come up with. With [[EldritchOceanAbyss ominous places]] to the left and [[NatureIsNotNice terrifying monsters]] to the right, it's quite clear that Pixar was trying to go for something DarkerAndEdgier with this one and is probably the closest Pixar has ever gotten to making an actual [[HorrorFilms Horror Movie]].

[[caption-width-right:350:''"[[OhCrap Good feeling's gone."]]'']]

[[caption-width-right:350:''[["OhCrap Good feeling's gone."]]'']]

[[caption-width-right:350:"[[OhCrap Good feeling's gone.]]"]]

'''Bruce''': Ohhh... (pupils dilate, huge slasher smile) Oh, that's good!\\

-->'''Darla:''' ''Fishy? (Roughly shakes the bag with Nemo in it) FISHY!? Why are you sleeping!?''

** Special mention should go to the way it goes from silently surveying the landscape to attacking Coral and Marlin ''[[SuperReflexes in less than a second.]]'' The way it switches modes instantaneously is [[UncannyValley just unnerving.]]

'''Bruce''': Ohhh... (huge slasher smile) Oh, that's good...\\

'''Bruce''': Ohhh... (huge slasher smile) Oh, that's good...

'''Bruce''': '''"I'M HAVIN' FISH TONIGHT!"'''

** She even has her own ScareChord for when she finally arrives.
*** And not just any scare chord, they brought out genuine PsychoStrings for her.

---->(Huge slasher smile)...Hello.\\

'''"I'M HAVIN' FISH TONIGHT!"'''

* Nemo's first attempt at blocking the tank's filter. The filter is sucking him back down the tube while his tank friends are desperately trying to reach him with a plant, the only thing stopping Nemo from becoming shredded to bits.

'''Gill''': You won't go belly-up, I promise! You're gonna be ok!\\

* Bruce the great white shark. The first we see of him is [[SlasherSmile a load of massive sharp teeth]] and a rather dark look in his eyes. Somebody even pointed out that the animators made sure Bruce went out of his way to make Dory and Marlin as unsettled as possible before showing his [[DarkIsNotEvil true colors,]] especially when he turned around for a second and then [[JumpScare RUSHED BACK TO CHOMP HIS TEETH RIGHT IN THEIR FACES]] (not to mention the laugh he gave of afterwards)!!

---->(Huge slasher smile)...Beat...Hel-lo...\\
'''Anchor and Chum''': (at the same time) '''''[[OhCrap INTERVENTION!!!]]'''''\\

* The ultimate, but less obvious, scary scene is a scene that is [[AdultFear unwatchable as an adult]]. It's the scene where Nemo has been taken by the diver, and Marlin is desperately rushing around to find him, only to see empty ocean - all while screaming his son's name. That droning piano chord in the score doesn't help.

*** She is scary enough to look at [[MoreTeethThanTheOsmondFamily with all those teeth]], but she's also a particularly aggressive hunter, especially after Marlin. Later PlayedForLaughs considering [[spoiler: how distracted and bubbleheaded Dory is acting, fully oblivious to how close to danger Marlin is as she tries to read the address on the diver's goggles in the trench]].

** The anglerfish's realm: [[PrimalFear The deep-sea trench]]. [[TruthInTelevision Just like in real life abyssal zones]], this place is [[NothingIsScarier pitch black]] and the only light around will most likely come from a predator. It's a "good" thing the only voyagers we see going here are marine life, because the water pressure would crush any land-dwellers.