Finding Dory

***Finding Dory*** is a 2016 American 3D computer-animated adventure film produced by Pixar Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures. Directed by Andrew Stanton with co-direction by Angus MacLane, the screenplay was written by Stanton and Victoria Strouse as Pixar's 17th feature film. The film is a sequel to 2003's *Finding Nemo* (although some sources mistake it as a spin-off) and features the returning voices of Ellen DeGeneres and Albert Brooks, with Hayden Rolence (replacing Alexander Gould), Ed O'Neill, Kaitlin Olson, Ty Burrell, Diane Keaton and Eugene Levy joining the cast. It premiered at the El Capitan Theatre in Los Angeles on June 8, 2016, and was released in theaters in the United States on June 17.

## Plot

Dory is a wide-eyed, blue tang fish who suffers from memory loss every ten seconds or so. The one thing she can remember is that she somehow became separated from her parents as a child. With help from her friends Nemo and Marlin, Dory embarks on an epic adventure to find them. Her journey brings her to the Marine Life Institute, a conservatory that houses diverse ocean species. Dory now knows that her family reunion will only happen if she can save mom and dad from captivity.

## Why It Still Keeps Swimming

1. Still remains the charm of the first film as well as any Pixar films, depend what people says.
2. The movie explores the origins of Dory, and how she got separated from her family. It also explains where her "Just Keep Swimming" song came from and where she learned how to speak whale.
3. Just like the first film, it feels like a grand adventure as the movie plays out, even through its sometimes not adventurous as the original film.
4. Thanks to Thomas Newman who returned, the score is wonderful.
5. The animation is a major upgrade from the first film, with even more expression on the sea creatures, beautiful visuals, and Hank's expressive and creative animation.
6. The voice acting is superb, especially from Ellen DeGeneres and Albert Brooks. The new voice cast also introduced in this movie, like Hayden Rolence (explained below), Ed O'Neill, Kaitlin Olson, Ty Burrell, Diane Keaton, Eugene Levy, Idris Elba and Dominic West.
7. Many of the film's new characters are likable and memorable, especially for Hank the Octopus, Destiny and Bailey.
8. It teaches that disabilities don't define you, which is a very positive message for people who have disabilities.
9. Nemo's new voice actor (Hayden Rolence) is a suitable successor to the character's original voice actor Alexander Gould, who is now an adult with a deeper voice. Not only that, but we also got Alexander Gould, who played the character of the truck driver.
10. The movie has pretty hilarious humor, like its predecessor.
11. Just like its predecessor, the movie has no real villains. At first, the main villain would've been giant squid, but he only appears for one scene, who barely factors into the story, and isn't even evil - it's just a hungry predator doing what comes naturally and is defeated by the crate. The conflict comes primarily from Dory's inability to remember things and not obstructed by a big bad.
12. Once again, Andrew Stanton has returned, given its great direction.
13. We get to see our favorite characters back on the big screen, and they are as likable as they were before. Dory is also a more developed character as the movie focuses on her, rather than a comic relief who tags along with Marlin.
14. Some really heartwarming and emotional moments, such as Dory reuniting with her long lost parents.
15. Baby Dory is very cute, especially at the beginning.
16. There is an interesting post-credits scene with the Tank Gang from the previous film, still stuck in their (now covered in algae) plastic bags, before getting captured again.

## Bad Qualities

1. The movie is sometimes not as adventurous as the first film.
2. Hank can be a bit of a jerk *sometimes*.
3. The plot sometimes feels like a rehash of the first film, despite the interesting premise.
4. Despite their importance in the first film, Gill and the Tank Gang don't have anything to do here and just appear in a post-credits scene. We can wonder why Willem Dafoe even bothered to reprise his role as Gill here. In addition, they are still on their plastic bags and get captured once again into captivity, making their whole goal to make it back to the sea pointless and while great, doesn't necessarily top *Finding Nemo* through it may be done because the gang, having been put in bags, roll out of the window and into the harbor and then ponder what happens next during the post-credits scenes from the previous film.
5. **Slightly Misleading Title:** The film is focused on finding Dory's parents rather than finding Dory herself.

## Reception

As with its predecessor, *Finding Dory* garnered critical acclaim from critics and moviegoers alike, garnering praise for its animation, emotional weight, voice acting, and humor. On review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, *Finding Dory* has an approval rating of 94% based on 329 reviews and an average rating of 7.7/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Funny, poignant, and thought-provoking, Finding Dory delivers a beautifully animated adventure that adds another entertaining chapter to its predecessor's classic story." On Metacritic, the film has a score of 77 out of 100, based on 48 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale, and those at PostTrak gave it a 91% overall positive score and an 81% "definite recommend".

## Trivia

* Andrew Stanton has indicated that the film makes two references to Die Hard, in a nod to a video by Mashable which jokingly posits that all Pixar films exist within the same universe as the Die Hard films.
* This film was in development for 13 years, after the first film.
* In the original movie, Marlin's backstory and the death of his wife was going to be told through multiple flashbacks in the course of the movie, but the idea of telling his backstory in flashbacks was scrapped as it was felt that Marlin would be too unlikable if the audience didn't know right away why he was too overprotective of Nemo. According to Andrew Stanton, as with the original film, they planned to tell Dory's backstory at the start of the movie, but ironically, telling her backstory in the beginning didn't work, thus they brought back the idea of telling the main's character backstory in the form of flashbacks over the course of the film.
* The film's ending was revised after Pixar executives viewed *Blackfish*, a 2013 controversial documentary film which focuses on the dangers of keeping orca whales in captivity. Initially, some of the characters were to end up in a SeaWorld-like marine park, but the revision gave them an option to leave.
* Pixar kept the cast in the dark about the story, only providing actors with the lines they'd be saying on the day of recording. Because of this, Ed O'Neill had no idea how pivotal his role would be and played Hank as a minor comic relief character. He thought he kept getting called back because the writers were constantly rewriting the part and never realized that his lines would be strung together to become a major supporting character.
* The film was originally a sequel called *Finding Nemo 2*, and it was to be made by Circle 7 Animation as one of the planned sequels for some of Pixar's previous works, along with *Monsters Inc 2: Lost In Scaradise* (which would become *Monsters University*, but rather prequel) and *Toy Story 3* (which was actually made by Pixar and released in 2010 with a completely different plot than Circle 7's treatment). Although it never went into production, a script for the Circle 7 version was uploaded to the official Raindance Film Festival website. It would have involved Nemo's long lost twin brother named Remy, then Marlin gets captured so it is up to Nemo, Remy, and Dory to save him. However, due to the 2006 acquisition of Pixar by Disney, Circle 7 was shut down by Disney without ever having produced a film.
* After the previous movie caused this effect for Clownfish, precautions were taken against a repeat of the phenomenon with this movie. Signs were put in pet stores advising against adopting saltwater fish like Dory for beginner aquarium owners, by pointing out how expensive and difficult taking care of them is.
* The sea lion whom Fluke and Rudder harass constantly is named Gerald. Gerald is also the name of the pelican that tried to eat Marlin and Dory when they arrived at Sydney in Finding Nemo. Unlike here, however, Gerald the pelican's appearance is fleetingly brief and he isn't remembered nearly as well as this Gerald.
* This film is huge in Japan and spent many weeks in the top ten at the box office, which lead to it becoming the second highest-grossing animated movie in Japan of 2016, after Your Name. Its popularity led to the release of exclusive merchandise based on the film, including everything from stuffed animals and figurines of characters that haven't had toys released in the USA to an educational kids' smartphone toy.
* This is the first Pixar film to use the full 2011 Disney logo as a closing logo. Also appears on Pixar films after that, except for *Onward*.
* It was released on the studio's 30th anniversary in 2016.

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## External Links

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