13 years after the release of Finding Nemo, Pixar has dived back into the sea with Finding Dory, a film that is not only just as good as the original and is a perfect companion piece to it, but is a phenomenal film on its own as well.
Finding Dory follows our favorite forgetful Blue Tang, Dory, who suddenly starts to get bursts of memories about her family. She decides to go find them and goes on an adventure fueled only by her memories. Her journey brings her to a marine life institute where she, along with Nemo, Marlin and a bunch of new characters including an Octopus with only seven tentacles (a septopus!) named Hank, a near-sighted Whale Shark named Destiny and a Beluga Whale named Bailey, all work together to try and take her back to her family.
What I find so creative about Finding Dory is how crafty the film is in its storytelling. We know just about as much as Dory does about her family and director Andrew Stanton was very careful in what details were revealed and when. The answers to where Dory's family is progressively comes to us in very quick pieces of memories. Dory is using her memories as clues which unravel all the answers and when she knows something new, so do we. I find that to be a very unique and gripping way to tell a story where our main character suffers from short-term memory loss and it makes for a very gripping, high stakes adventure.
The film is also just as intense as Finding Nemo and has some very high stakes, but it is executed very differently. Rather than the intensity coming from bigger fish trying to eat our main characters, it comes from Dory's short term memory loss and the obstacles Dory, Marlin and Nemo encounter on their journey when put in the marine life institute setting. The film would have played out much more simply if Dory didn't have this problem, but it is used as an obstacle and there are moments where she is given simple ways to further her adventure, but her bad memory hinders her ability to take the easy way. This is where a lot of the film's intensity comes from, and there are really high stakes involved because we care about Dory so much that we want her to be reunited with her family. But, to no fault of her own, it is much more difficult to do so. This is another way the storytelling feels so well crafted and clever.
One thing that really stood out for me, however, was its amazing message about coping with your disabilities. Dory's journey involves her learning to cope with her short-term memory loss, which is her disability that she often sees as an obstacle for her. As someone who also has had some trouble coping with his own little quirks, this message really resonated with me, and those who may have disabilities or things that they too have had trouble dealing with, or even parents of kids with disabilities will find this message to be very important and powerful. Dory will be a character that will resonate with you as well and become an inspiration.
What also struck me is how the characters that Dory meets on her journey also have their own disabilities that they need to learn to overcome. Hank the Octopus only has seven tentacles, Destiny the Whale Shark is nearsighted and can't see anything that is even only slightly far away and Bailey the Beluga has problems with using his echolocation. These are all problems that they must learn to deal with and it really fleshes out the message even more.
There are also a bunch of other characters we meet along the way. We've just been through the three that Dory meets on her journey, and they're fantastic, with Hank really standing out, but there are also characters that Nemo and Marlin meet in their journey to find Dory. They meet a couple of sea lions named Fluke and Rudder that had me burst out laughing every time they were on screen, and Becky, a rather dim-minded, and hilarious Loon.
Those are just some of the many characters we meet in this film. We also see our fair share of returning characters as well. such as Mr. Ray and Crush! And there's also an extremely funny cameo of a particular gang that you need to wait until after the credits to see. But the film is not at all reliant on nostalgia. In fact, the returning characters in the film are only given very brief roles that are there to further the story. The folks at Pixar know that trying to give audiences any nostalgia is a very cheap tactic and instead uses their superb storytelling skills to captivate the audience.
The film is also hilarious and very fast paced. It can get very absurdist in its sense of humor, just like Finding Nemo, which is a type of humor that Pixar always does a fantastic job pulling off. Few things are as absurd as, say, a rat becoming a chef or a robot wanting to find love or a bunch of balloons carrying a giant house, and Finding Dory is no different in that it takes your suspension of disbelief to a whole new level, and it works extremely well. It brings a bunch of memorable moments and jokes along with it. Pixar is not afraid to embrace the absurdity of the concepts in their films and Finding Dory is no exception.
Finding Dory is just as good as Finding Nemo, but it is actually also more emotional than its predecessor. That is not to undermine the original film, I would never do that. I think both are equally amazing and Finding Nemo did have its really sad moments, but Finding Dory has many more of those tear jerking and heart wrenching moments. Even the parts that are sad in a more subtle way are absolutely heartbreaking!
The score is absolutely beautiful. Thomas Newman returned to do this score and it keeps the same thematic and aquatic feel of Finding Nemo, while giving us something different and unique as well! It fits the tone of the film perfectly as it goes from playful and fun to tragic, intense, and dark to simply beautiful and emotional.
The voice acting is pitch perfect. Ellen DeGeneres returns as Dory, who does an incredible job balancing Dory's optimism and her anxiety, and her tone can change from one to the other in a matter of seconds. It's truly a perfect combination of voice actor and character. Albert Brooks also returns as Marlin, but Nemo is now played by Hayden Rolence, since the original voice actor, Alexander Gould is much older now and, of course, has a different voice now. But there is absolutely no difference in the voice. It sounds exactly the same! We also have Ed O'Neil as Hank the cranky Octopus, Kaitlin Olson as Destiny the Whale Shark, Ty Burrell as Bailey the Beluga, Idris Elba and Dominic West as Fluke and Rudder, the Sea Lions and Diane Keaton and Eugene Levy as Dory's parents, Jenny and Charlie, all of whom do a fantastic job as well.
Finding Dory is an absolute triumph. It doesn't feel like a forced sequel and instead fits so well as a continuation of the story that it actually feels as if it was planned back when Finding Nemo was still in production! It's a story that really needed to be told and it's both a perfect companion and and a phenomenal standalone film. Pixar has done it again. Finding Dory is truly unforgettable.
Film Grade: A+
Before Finding Dory we got the absolutely delightful short film, Piper. Directed by Alan Barillaro, Piper is about a young sandpiper who goes to search for food on his own without the help of his mother, but is scared of the water and needs to learn to deal with it. It's a really sweet and beautiful story with gorgeous, jaw dropping animation and incredible cinematography. To many it may even be mistaken for live-action! It's also a great fit to be put before Finding Dory since they both take place in the Northern California Coast. It's a fantastic entry in Pixar's library of short films and has quickly become one of my favorites.
Short Film Grade: A+
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