Nigel is a major character in Disney•Pixar's 2003 animated film Finding Nemo. He is an Australian brown pelican who loves to spend hours in the dentist's 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 tells 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, as he wants them to shut up as they're just "rats with wings".
Nigel eventually meets Marlin and his partner, Dory, when they end up nearly being eaten by his friend, Gerald, and after discovering who they are, 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 aren'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. Marlin says, "Oh, yes, you can!" and pulls him in by grabbing his tongue. He then flies 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 are worried about whether 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, looks at the credits, and wiggles his eyebrows at the audience before pulling his head back up, breaking the fourth wall.
Brown pelicans (Pelecanus occidentalis) geographical distribution doesn'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 lines, "I found his dad!" and "I can't go in there!", Nigel's voice actor Geoffrey Rush was holding his tongue, to give the illusion of a gullet full of water (and fish).
Like other birds, Nigel is unable to see through glass windows, as evident when he keeps bumping into the glass windows of Philip Sherman's dentist's office twice in the film.
