Laughtivism in Disney's Finding Nemo

Travis Howell

            When one thinks about the concept of humor or “laughtivism” a number of things come to mind. We think of things that make us smile. We think of things that bring us together with the ones we love. However, we often overlook another more serious side of humor or laughtivism. In Dr. Tarvin’s lecture on laughtivism there was a quote that he included that says, “Almost all humor is based on contradictions an incongruity…Generally, what causes amusement is when things are turned upside down or when things are no longer as we usually perceive them” (Sorensen, 171).

           

            Now this can be interpreted in many ways but I think one of the fundamental ideas to take away from this is that humor arises most in situations where conflict is present. I find that idea to be most interesting and it has led to the question of whether or not humor and laughtivism are a positive force in the presence of conflict or if it can have detrimental affects. In order to explore this idea more, I turned my focus to the animated Disney film Finding Nemo. The plot of the film centers on a fish that has seemingly lost his son Nemo and enlists a number of unlikely friends in a quest to recover his son. Now, the idea of losing a family presents an obviously overwhelming conflict for anyone. However, along the group’s journey there are a number of instances of comic relief, which help to distract the group from the conflict at hand. For example, Nemo’s father often gets annoyed when Dory, a scatterbrained regal blue tang fish that sings made up songs along their journey. In another instance, Nemo makes some unlikely friends when he finds himself in a fish tank with a group of fish that perform a hilarious initiation ceremony for their new friend.

           

            Instances such as these highlight that humor and laughtivism can sometimes help ease tension in otherwise serious situations. Therefore, after considering the positive and negative aspects of humor and laughtivism under a lens of Disney’s classic animated film Finding Nemo, I have come to this conclusion. Conflict and intense situations can often be tough to overcome when tensions are high and solutions are abstract. However, when appropriate amounts of humor and laughtivism are introduced to these situations, those involved are distracted and given the chance to re-direct their focus and find solutions to the problems they face.