Blu-ray

Pixar's fifth film earned a place in the hearts of kids and adults everywhere with its tale of a clownfish searching for his missing son. Smart, funny and gorgeous to look at, it may not be the studio's best production, but it remains a masterpiece of storytelling, characterisation and design that more than deserves every award it ever won.

Picture: As the final back-catalogue Pixar title to make the jump to Blu-ray, Finding Nemo has been at the top of quite a few people's 'Most Wanted' lists for some time now. This region-free US release (oddly, there's still no word on a UK outing at the time of writing) shows that it was definitely worth the wait. With its brilliant colours, super-sharp edges and intricate detailing, the AVC 1.78:1 1080p encode is stunning recreation of the original digital animation.

This release also includes a 3D MVC 1.78:1 1080p presentation of the film. This is every bit as visually impressive as the original 'flat' version, with the added advantage of some very effective use of stereoscopic space – the ocean stretches away to infinity in front of you, while schools of fish swim out of the screen, all without the slightest trace of any off-putting digital flaws. Nicely done.
Picture rating: 5/5

Audio: Confusingly, Finding Nemo's menu screens reckon that both the 2D and 3D discs are graced by 5.1 and 7.1 Dolby TrueHD mixes. However, we couldn't get the 5.1 version to activate and cycling through the audio channels manually showed no trace of this particular track.

This isn't a problem, as choosing the 7.1 track will still work for those with only a 5.1 setup. And it's a first-rate mix that never puts a foot (flipper?) wrong, whether its dialogue, sound effects or Thomas Newman's score. The LFE channel is in frequent use and the soundfield works relentlessly to place you in the heart of the underwater action.

A perfect partner to the BD's visuals, and equally deserving of the tag 'reference quality'.
Audio rating: 5/5

Extras: Even discounting the two discs devoted to the bonus DVD and Digital Copy of the film, this five-disc Ultimate Collector's Edition is still packed to the gills with supplementary features.

The 2D version of the movie is accompanied by a variety of new Blu-ray extras, including a Cine Explore mode (audio commentary with picture-in-picture art and video), 18-minute retrospective roundtable with the filmmakers, a surprisingly interesting 15-minute look at the making of the new Submarine ride at Disneyland, an alternate opening in animatic form and an 8-minute featurette where director Andrew Stanton discusses his original plan to use flashbacks in the film's structure, complete with animatics of the missing material.

Extras carried over from the old two-disc DVD take the form the Pixar short Knick Knack (in HD), six virtual aquarium screensavers (in HD – and also presented in 3D on the stereoscopic platter), concept art (in HD), a 26-min Making of…, studio tour, Exploring the Reef educational featurette, outtakes, deleted scenes, trailers, an interactive encyclopedia and a collection of oddities (international seagull dubs!) under the title Old School.
Extras rating: 4/5

We say: Another Pixar ‘toon receives yet another exceptional HD makeover

Walt Disney, All-region BD (US Import), £30 Approx, On sale now
HCC VERDICT: 4.5/5