A forgetful fish searches for her family

Rating: 9/10 (5 May 2017)

Those who have seen 'Finding Nemo' will remember Dory the Blue Tang with short term memory problems but just in case you haven't watched it or have forgotten, the opening of 'Finding Dory' shows us Dory as a child with her parents; she gets separated from them and starts asking other fish for help but as she can't remember where they were or what they are called she doesn't find them. Eventually she forgets all about them and her search. She then bumps into Marlin, a scene that features near the start of 'Finding Nemo' as well.
A year passes and suddenly Dory realises that she must have a family and determines to find then. Various things lead to her remember that she was from 'The Jewel of Morro Bay across the ocean in California'. With the help of the sea turtles she, along with Marlin and Nemo head to California. Dory gets tangled in some plastic and pulled from the water by a worker from the local Marine Life Institute. Here she meets Hank the octopus who offers to help her find her parents; she also gets help from a short-sighted whale shark who knew Dory when she was little and a beluga whale who thinks his sonar is broken. While Dory is looking for her parents Marlin and Nemo are trying to find Dory with the help of a pair of sea lions, a slightly batty loon and some cute sea otters.
In many ways this film is a rerun of the first with fish looking for each other across the width of the Pacific thankfully they are plenty of differences too. Dory makes a charming lead; it is certainly interesting to have a lead character with a mental health issue as protagonist in something that isn't an 'issue film', especially one aimed at younger viewers. Dory's memory issues are dealt with in a way that manages to show that she copes in her own ways and isn't overly played for laughs. The new characters are pretty good; I particularly liked Hank the grumpy octopus and Destiny the myopic whale shark. There are plenty of child-friendly perilous moments and some good laughs as well as one or two melancholy moments; these don't last long enough to make things depressing though. As one would expect from a Pixar film the animation is of a very high quality and the voice cast do a great job; especially Ellen DeGeneres who brings a real emotional depth to the role of Dory. Overall I'd certainly recommend this to fans of Pixar, especially those who enjoyed 'Finding Nemo'.