A fish who found fame

They were half asleep and 400 miles from the Beverly Hills hoopla, but even in hype-averse Northern California -- even with a blockbuster like Pixar Animation Studios’ “Finding Nemo” -- a fistful of Oscar nominations is something to celebrate.

Director Andrew Stanton sneaked out of bed while his kids slept to watch the 5:30 a.m. announcements in his pajamas. Co-director Lee Unkrich jumped off his elliptical trainer when he heard the news. Bob Peterson, one of the screenwriters, was “pretty excited” when Stanton called him.

“He said Sigourney Weaver had uttered my name on TV,” the big, bearded techie turned screenwriter reported. “I’ll never wash that name again!”

A certain nonchalance might have been understandable Tuesday as the Academy Awards nominations were released, with “Nemo” receiving four. Since 1995, when “Toy Story” debuted and changed everything in the world of big-screen animation, Pixar has been a commercial and critical hit factory.

“Finding Nemo,” the undersea fable of a fearful parent, a rebellious son and their harrowing journey delighted critics and charted a worldwide box office approaching $900 million, the highest-grossing animated film of all time. Within weeks of its Memorial Day release, it was being mentioned as a best picture candidate, with Ellen DeGeneres -- the voice of the cheery blue tang, Dory -- as a best actress possibility.

On Tuesday, those nominations did not materialize. But for the second time in three years, a Pixar film made it to the finals in the animated feature film category; “Nemo” was also nominated for best original screenplay, best original score and best sound editing.

Pixar received a fifth nomination in the animated short film category, for “Boundin’,” the 4-minute, 39-second tale of a proud little lamb who gets sheared and learns from a wise jackalope that it’s what’s on the inside that matters. The nod was particularly sweet for the short’s writer-director, veteran animator Bud Luckey, who at 69 has experienced the seismic industry shifts from traditional animation to 3-D computer generated imagery. “My first job was on the original Alvin [the chipmunk] show,” said Luckey.

But the largest share of the Pixar limelight on Tuesday went to the people behind “Finding Nemo” -- Stanton, Unkrich, Peterson, freelance screenwriter David Reynolds, sound designer Gary Rydstrom and about 200 others who nurtured the movie into being over the course of four years.

For Stanton, particularly, “Finding Nemo” was a milestone. The 38-year-old father of two not only directed and conceived the story but was also the voice of Crush, the movie’s surfer-dude turtle. Stanton said the script for “Finding Nemo” was inspired by a walk he took in the park with his then 5-year-old son. “I spent the entire walk saying, ‘Don’t touch this,’ ‘Don’t do that,’ ‘You’re gonna poke your eye out.’ I realized I was so afraid of something bad happening to him that I was missing out on the entire moment.”

The film’s success has strengthened Pixar’s leverage in contract negotiations that have been underway with Disney, which has shared ownership of the last several Pixar films. Stanton acknowledged that the film’s success “certainly solidifies our position.”

Not that he and Unkrich expect it to raise their stature here in the land of anti-celebrity. “Unless one of us marries J.Lo,” Unkrich said, laughing, “our faces still aren’t going to sell People magazine.”