LOS ANGELES -- The biggest kids movie of the summer is shaping up to be the computer-animated Finding Nemo said AFP.

Its theme of fatherhood and responsibility is likely to win it high marks from both family counselors and movie critics. The movie is the second of the season to stress the importance of being a good father -- Daddy Day Care showed Eddie Murphy discovering the joys of nurturing when he takes charge of a child care facility after losing his high-flying advertising job.

Back in 1994 The Lion King was the most successful animated film in history with its morbid but eventually uplifting tale about a lion cub who mistakenly blames himself for his father's death. This time around, the tale is similarly rooted in darkness. Nemo revolves around Marlin, a neurotic clown fish who loses his mate and most of their spawn after an intense shark attack in the opening moments of the film. One egg survives; he names it Nemo, honoring its mother's last wish, and vows to protect the little one with his life.

The picture is full of that dazzling images and quirky quips that have made every Pixar film from Toy Story to Monsters Inc so popular. The vivid undersea scenery enhances Pixar's reputation as the leading practitioner of the art of digital animation. But it is the film's human heart that carries the day -- born out of a successful man's guilt that his devotion to his career was coming at the expense of his failure as a dad.