Exploring the Reef
Encyclopedia
Exploring the Reef is a humorous short documentary film
included on the second disc of the Finding Nemo
DVD. It features Jean-Michel Cousteau
in a documentary film he is trying to make about coral reefs, but Marlin, Dory, and Nemo keep interrupting him.
s, Dory starts bothering him by entering the frame. The scene then cuts to an anemone
that Nemo and Marlin come out of and Jean-Michel sighs for not being able to do his documentary. The scene cuts to real Cuttlefish
es, which Dory tries to speak to. When Jean-Michel tells Dory to stop it, the scene cuts to a live Spanish dancer
. This makes Marlin think of dancing, and soon all three animated fish are dancing to some music. This infuriates Jean-Michel so much that he yells "Stop!" and proceeds to make a quick rant about the water cycle
, concluding that "Everyone, everywhere, affects the ocean!". Dory expresses amazement, and at first Jean-Michel is satisfied, but when it is revealed that she was listening to the Echo
inside a Conch
shell, Jean-Michel loses his temper and starts ranting in French
. For a few seconds, a cartoon
still image of Cousteau appears while Musak
-style music plays, on a title card which reads "Please Stand By."
When Jean-Michel comes back, he has calmed down. He talks with the three fish about coral that have suffered from coral bleaching
, while the whitened coral appears on screen. The next topic is coral reproduction. Dory frantically swims to each new egg to say "Happy Birthday", Marlin paternally covers Nemo's eyes, and Jean-Michel talks about how there are so many eggs that even the hungriest fish cannot possibly eat all of them. He concludes by talking about how we must all work to preserve the beauty of the coral reef. Suddenly, Nemo and the other two fish interrupt him, inadvertently summarizing the message of the entire film during their arguing. Jean-Michel gets mad again, and the camera cuts to him aboard his boat at night. Jean-Michel mutters that "this would have never happened to Papa." He then bids the viewer farewell. Before the credits, Nemo tells the viewer about Jean-Michel Cousteau's website: oceanfutures.org.
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
included on the second disc of the Finding Nemo
Finding Nemo
Finding Nemo is a 2003 American comi-drama animated film written by Andrew Stanton, directed by Andrew Stanton and Lee Unkrich and produced by Pixar. It tells the story of the overly protective clownfish Marlin who, along with a regal tang called Dory , searches for his abducted son Nemo...
DVD. It features Jean-Michel Cousteau
Jean-Michel Cousteau
Jean-Michel Cousteau is a French explorer, environmentalist, educator, and film producer. The first son of ocean explorer Jacques Cousteau, he is the father of Fabien Cousteau and Celine Cousteau.-Biography:...
in a documentary film he is trying to make about coral reefs, but Marlin, Dory, and Nemo keep interrupting him.
Plot
Jean-Michel is narrating about the ocean. As he starts talking about coral reefCoral reef
Coral reefs are underwater structures made from calcium carbonate secreted by corals. Coral reefs are colonies of tiny living animals found in marine waters that contain few nutrients. Most coral reefs are built from stony corals, which in turn consist of polyps that cluster in groups. The polyps...
s, Dory starts bothering him by entering the frame. The scene then cuts to an anemone
Anemone
Anemone , is a genus of about 120 species of flowering plants in the buttercup family Ranunculaceae in the north and south temperate zones...
that Nemo and Marlin come out of and Jean-Michel sighs for not being able to do his documentary. The scene cuts to real Cuttlefish
Cuttlefish
Cuttlefish are marine animals of the order Sepiida. They belong to the class Cephalopoda . Despite their name, cuttlefish are not fish but molluscs....
es, which Dory tries to speak to. When Jean-Michel tells Dory to stop it, the scene cuts to a live Spanish dancer
Spanish dancer
The Spanish dancer, scientific name Hexabranchus sanguineus , is a dorid nudibranch, a very large and colorful sea slug, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Hexabranchidae.http://www.seaslugforum.net/hexasang.htm Seaslug forum-Description:This species of very large, strong-swimming nudibranch...
. This makes Marlin think of dancing, and soon all three animated fish are dancing to some music. This infuriates Jean-Michel so much that he yells "Stop!" and proceeds to make a quick rant about the water cycle
Water cycle
The water cycle, also known as the hydrologic cycle or H2O cycle, describes the continuous movement of water on, above and below the surface of the Earth. Water can change states among liquid, vapor, and solid at various places in the water cycle...
, concluding that "Everyone, everywhere, affects the ocean!". Dory expresses amazement, and at first Jean-Michel is satisfied, but when it is revealed that she was listening to the Echo
Echo (phenomenon)
In audio signal processing and acoustics, an echo is a reflection of sound, arriving at the listener some time after the direct sound. Typical examples are the echo produced by the bottom of a well, by a building, or by the walls of an enclosed room and an empty room. A true echo is a single...
inside a Conch
Conch
A conch is a common name which is applied to a number of different species of medium-sized to large sea snails or their shells, generally those which are large and have a high spire and a siphonal canal....
shell, Jean-Michel loses his temper and starts ranting in French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
. For a few seconds, a cartoon
Cartoon
A cartoon is a form of two-dimensional illustrated visual art. While the specific definition has changed over time, modern usage refers to a typically non-realistic or semi-realistic drawing or painting intended for satire, caricature, or humor, or to the artistic style of such works...
still image of Cousteau appears while Musak
Elevator music
Elevator music refers to instrumental arrangements of popular music designed for playing in shopping malls, grocery stores, department stores, telephone systems , cruise ships, airports, doctors' and dentists' offices, and elevators...
-style music plays, on a title card which reads "Please Stand By."
When Jean-Michel comes back, he has calmed down. He talks with the three fish about coral that have suffered from coral bleaching
Coral bleaching
Coral bleaching is the loss of intracellular endosymbionts through either expulsion or loss of algal pigmentation.The corals that form the structure of the great reef ecosystems of tropical seas depend upon a symbiotic relationship with unicellular flagellate protozoa, called zooxanthellae, that...
, while the whitened coral appears on screen. The next topic is coral reproduction. Dory frantically swims to each new egg to say "Happy Birthday", Marlin paternally covers Nemo's eyes, and Jean-Michel talks about how there are so many eggs that even the hungriest fish cannot possibly eat all of them. He concludes by talking about how we must all work to preserve the beauty of the coral reef. Suddenly, Nemo and the other two fish interrupt him, inadvertently summarizing the message of the entire film during their arguing. Jean-Michel gets mad again, and the camera cuts to him aboard his boat at night. Jean-Michel mutters that "this would have never happened to Papa." He then bids the viewer farewell. Before the credits, Nemo tells the viewer about Jean-Michel Cousteau's website: oceanfutures.org.