3. Finding Nemo (2003) VS Shark Tale (2004)
Pixar needed a victory or else surprisingly Dreamworks would actually be just a little in the lead, beating out one of it's greatest films and drawing with another. Luckily, in these two similar themed films again released pretty much back to back Finding Nemo is unarguably the champion. No animated film could really compete with this Pixar classic, least of all one of Dreamworks least well received animated features. In fact, any film what so ever would struggle to go toe to toe with this giant. Finding Nemo unsurprisingly won the Academy Award for best Animated Feature and has a 100% score amongst top critics on Rotten Tomatoes compared to Shark Tales measly 30%. Now, I am going to be completely honest with you or else I'd loose all credibility as a writer. When I first saw Finding Nemo in the cinema at age 13 I wasn't all that impressed. It didn't connect with me on the same level as Toy Story did, and didn't leave as much of an impact at least initially as Shrek had either. The reason I was disappointed was probably because I imagined something far more "fun" and less emotionally mature and deep. That said, since 2003 I have probably watched Finding Nemo every single year and love it more and more with every viewing. I can say now quite honestly that I would consider Finding Nemo to be in the top 5 greatest animated films ever made. When I went to see Shark Tale in the cinema I actually really enjoyed it. I was much more familiar with the very famous voice cast (Will Smith, Renee Zellweger, Angelina Jolie, Robert De Niro) and it was exactly the kind of happy popcorn film I was looking for (plus I had the song "Car Wash" stuck in my head and on my ipod for months after the song was used in the film). That said, I have since only seen the film perhaps two more times and each time I have realized what a fool I was for not understanding Finding Nemo's genius the first time around. Shark Tale is a completely fine and passable children's movie, but it has zero emotional depth and doesn't even come almost close to capturing the magnificently breath taking beauty of life beneath the waves. Finding Nemo is even to this day Pixar's most beautiful film and probably even it's best film that doesn't begin with a "T". If Pixar had anything to prove after loosing out to Dreamworks at the Academy Awards with Shrek, this film must have made Dreamworks wet its pants with fear. Luckily for Dreamworks, Pixar couldn't really set the bar higher than they did with Finding Nemo, and Dreamworks had no where to go but up after their worst critical failure to date.