1:45Twenty years ago, a small clownfish named Nemo swam into the hearts of moviegoers and hasn't left since.
The film, directed by Andrew Stanton, and which starred Albert Brooks as Nemo's overprotective dad Marlin and Ellen DeGeneres as a regal blue tang with a memory problem, also made history. It holds the distinction of being the first Pixar film to win the coveted best animated feature Oscar, doing so at the 2004 Academy Awards.If you ask Gould why the film has stood the test of time, he has a theory.
It was a very exciting time. It was kind of a whirlwind. I started working on the film when I was 6 years old, and so it was three years of recording in the studio, going back and forth to Pixar in San Francisco and going to Disney in Los Angeles. And finally, after many, many months and years of collaborating and working on the film, it kind of all came to fruition and then there was a lot of big media attention, and there was premiere and it was very fun.
It was a lot to process. I was very lucky that I had a very grounded family life. But it was a very, I think, overwhelming time. I don't think I really did process it, to be honest with you, until several years later. I even remember at the time realizing that it was way bigger than we ever thought it was going to be and a much bigger deal as a film than I thought it was going to be, than my parents thought it was going to be.
I remember Ellen was hilarious and very fun and treated me very well. Albert was really sweet and kind. I actually ended up working with Albert a lot more on "Weeds." He played my grandfather for like a whole season, so I got to actually develop a bit of a relationship with him. He's a really, really sweet guy.