“Okay, don't make any sudden moves. Hop inside my mouth if you want to live.”
―Nigel to Marlin and Dory
Nigel is a supporting character in Disney/Pixar's 2003 animated film, Finding Nemo. He is a brown pelican who loves to spend hours in the dentist office window, diagnosing dental problems with his fish friends in the tank.
Nigel was friends with the Tank Gang, and also met Nemo after he ended up joining them (due to being taken from his habitat by the dentist). However, he is usually driven out by the dentist shortly thereafter. Nigel later told Nemo about his dad Marlin's attempt to find Nemo after hearing it from his pelican friends, which gave Nemo a new drive at sabotaging the filter. He is also annoyed by the Seagulls.
Nigel eventually meets Marlin and his partner, Dory, when they end up nearly being eaten by his friend, Gerald, and after discovering who they were, he quickly makes Gerald spit out Marlin and Dory. He tries to explain to them that he knows Nemo, but they attempt to flee as they weren't willing to be eaten by him. However, Nigel helps Marlin and Dory escape certain death by the Seagulls and brings them to the dentist's office. When Gill sees the dentist trying to put Nemo in the trash, he orders Nigel to go in, but he refuses, which Marlin says "Oh yes you can!" and pulls him in by grabbing his tongue. He then flys around the office, causing chaos by making the dentist drop the bag onto the tray Nemo is in. On seeing Nemo in the bag, Marlin and Dory were worried as if he's dead or not. They try to have a look but the dentist quickly grabs Nigel and pushes the pelican out of the window. When he, Marlin, and Dory think that Nemo is dead, Nigel takes them to a nearby buoy, puts Dory and Marlin back into the water, and regretfully says, "I'm so sorry. Truly, I am." before flying away.
Nigel is last seen in the ending credits (apparently after learning Nemo is alive after all). He dives his head into the water, looked at the credits, and wiggled his eyebrows at the audience before pulling his head back up.
Brown pelicans (Pelecanus occidentalis) geographical distribution don't extend to Australia; they are only found in the Americas. The Australian Pelican (Pelecanus conspicillatus) on the other hand is much larger and is white with black wing tips and a large pinkish beak.
During recording sessions, while speaking the line "I found his dad!", Nigel's voice actor Geoffrey Rush was holding his tongue, to give the illusion of a gullet full of water (and fish).
