PIXAR'S BIG FISH STORY ANIMATED 'FINDING NEMO' SETS NEW INDUSTRY RECORDS ON FIRST DAY OF VIDEO RELEASE.

Byline: Greg Hernandez Staff Writer

BURBANK - Box office sensation ``Finding Nemo'' quickly sold a staggering 8 million copies on home video Tuesday, setting an industry record for first-day sales, according to figures released Wednesday by Buena Vista Home Entertainment, a division of The Walt Disney Co.

The Pixar Animation Studios film about a spunky clown fish and his dad was released by Walt Disney Pictures last May and became the most popular movie of 2003 with $339.1 million in ticket sales. It is also the highest-grossing animated film in history.

``Nemo'' is now on track to become one of the biggest-selling video titles ever after retailers reported phenomenal first-day sales.

``We had pretty high expectations for it but it is performing even above those,'' said Brian Lucas, spokesman for the 583-store Best Buy chain. ``It's appealing to all of our customers whether or not they have kids.''

Further fueling first-day sales were robust online pre-sales from such retailers as Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble.com and Wal-Mart.com.

While Wal-Mart.com would not release its sales figures, spokeswoman Cynthia Lin said the preorders for ``Nemo'' were more than double for those of any previous release, besting such titles as ``Spider-Man'' and the ``Lord of the Rings,'' ``Harry Potter'' and ``Matrix'' franchises.

``We anticipate it will be our biggest-selling movie to date, based on the preorders that came in and the current orders that are coming in now as well as projections going into the holiday season,'' Lin said.

Preorders through Wal-Mart.com were 90 percent DVD and only 10 percent VHS, reflecting the rapidly growing dominance of the DVD format in the home video market. More than 50 percent of the homes in the U.S. now have at least one DVD player and consumers have been eager to build up their movie collections.

The first-day sales for ``Nemo'' bested the 7.5 million copies of ``Spider-Man'' on its opening day a year ago. Buena Vista Home Video President Bob Chapek said the company's duplication facilities are ``working furiously around the clock'' to keep up with consumer demand for ``Nemo.''

``We expect we will probably have some out-of-stock retailers by the weekend,'' Chapek said. ``We shipped 25 million units into the marketplace and that won't be enough. Beyond it being a great movie, people have come to expect much more from DVDs and we try to be at the forefront of that.''

``Nemo,'' which features the voices of Albert Brooks and Ellen DeGeneres, is the latest in a series of highly successful Pixar Animation Films released by Disney. Others include ``Monsters, Inc.,'' ``Toy Story'' and ``A Bug's Life.''

``I'm floating,'' said an ecstatic Bill Kinder, producer of the ``Nemo'' DVD. ``I knew people were going to run and get it, but I had no idea it would go through the roof the way it has. We are all pinching ourselves. It's awesome.''

Kinder, who is Pixar's senior manager of editorial and post-production, said such bonus features as behind-the-scenes footage, interactive games and the original short film ``Exploring the Reef'' contribute mightily to the appeal of the DVD.

``There is the stuff for DVD geeks plus the sort of things that appeal to the whole family,'' Kinder said. ``But you can't have a great DVD without a great film. The picture and sound is so awesome. I think the presentation is stunning.''

Disney Chairman and CEO Michael D. Eisner attributed the successful transition of ``Nemo'' from theaters to home screens to ``the power of blending superior storytelling with cutting-edge technology.''

```Finding Nemo's'' position as the No. 1 movie in the U.S. so far this year makes it no surprise that there's such a high demand for this film from consumers and retailers alike,'' Eisner said in a statement.

The next Pixar film from Disney is ``The Incredibles'' in Nov. 2004, to be followed by ``Cars'' during the 2005 holiday season.

Greg Hernandez, [phone]

greg.hernandez(at)dailynews.com

CAPTION(S):

3 photos, box

Photo:

(1 -- color) ``Finding Nemo''

(2 -- color) ``Monsters, Inc.''

(3 -- color) ``Spider-Man''

Box:

FIRST-DAY WONDERS

SOURCE: Daily News research