In the big blue world that I've never seen before
So many creatures swimming 'round the sea
In the big blue world and all of them are waiting for me!"
Finding Nemo: The Musical is a 2006 stage musical that is a Screen-to-Stage Adaptation of the original film made for Disney's Animal Kingdom at Walt Disney World. At 40 minutes, it functions as a Compressed Adaptation, with actors operating puppets that represent the characters, from poles for the fish to bicycles for the sea turtles.
The film's plot is carried over here, with cautious parent Marlin, still recovering from his wife and her eggs' murder, taking his only son Nemo to his first day of school. When a scuba diver kidnaps Nemo, Marlin sets off on an ocean-spanning journey to find him, assisted by a literate but forgetful tang named Dory. Most of the creatures Marlin, Dory and Nemo encounter throughout remain, but this time accompanied by cheerful musical numbers.
The show remains notable for its two firsts for songwriter Robert Lopez, with this production being his first collaboration with his wife and now-default collaborator Kristen Anderson-Lopez and his first project with Disney, being the catalyst for the duo's later work on Winnie the Pooh (2011) and the Frozen films.
The last performance of the original show was on March 15, 2020, which was when the American Disney parks closed for the COVID-19 Pandemic. When the theater reopened June 2022, it debuted a modified version of the show titled Finding Nemo: The Big Blue... And Beyond. It functions as an even more compressed version of the musical, now reduced to a 25 minute runtime.
The musical adaptation contains examples of:
- Adapted Out: The subplot where the Tank Gang tries to use Nemo to help escape the dentist tank is absent, the most significant cut that reduces the show's length. This minimizes the gang's role to company for Nemo before he can be saved from Darla picking him.
- Cross-Cast Role: The show consistently casts women in the title role, a given since the Disney parks don't cast child actors.
- Demoted to Extra: The "Mine!" seagulls are absent in this version's story, only appearing in the screen bubbles on the side once the show concludes.
- In the Style of: "Go With the Flow" is a pastiche of the late-60's psychedelic era of The Beach Boys, with the "Focus, dude" intro specifically heavily resembling SMiLE.
- Reminder of Impossibility: A pair of penguins are flying while discussing the recent happenings in the plot. One of them cuts off their discussion by realizing, "Hey wait a minute. We're penguins. We can't fly!" They both promptly fall to the ground while screaming.
