We took the kids to see "Finding Nemo" last night.

As an aside, I never fail to be stunned with how crowded a summer movie theater is, even with ticket prices in the $8-$8.50 ballpark. The nearest theater to us is a 24 screen monstroplex which takes up enough space for a golf course. Even with "Nemo" showing on three or four screens, we still found the shows to be all sold out until the 8:55pm viewing.

I'm not a huge Disney fan by any stretch. Most of Disney's stuff, in my opinion, glorifies rebellion, encourages silly, sentimental naturalism, and teaches romance to five year olds (who don't need to be learning about romance). However, I've truly enjoyed all of the offerings from Disney's Pixar arm, and this one was no exception. Their films are just so funny and well-done that I find them irresistable. And Monsters Inc. was the last movie I can recall where I didn't see anything that I had to have a talk with my kids about either during or after the movie.

There were a couple of things I objected to in "Nemo" (such as Nemo telling his overprotective father "I hate you" near the beginning of the film), but I was pleasantly suprised to see rebellion tied together with actual negative consequences in the movie.

Our kids get to go to the movie theater maybe three times a year (if it's an unusually family-friendly year) at the absolute most, so it's a real treat for them. There were a couple of things we needed to "talk about" afterwords (some very mild potty humor and the aformentioned "I hate you" incident, though I was encouraged to see my kids' negative reaction when it happened on the screen), but overall it was a fun night out for all.