Finding Dory

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Pixar had this point in time where they got a little sequel-happy, despite the odd original title. Sometimes it seemed like a cash-in, but most of the time these sequels had something a little new to say. 'Finding Dory' ultimately ended up being the Pixar sequel no one really seemed to know they wanted until it actually became a thing - a whole thirteen years after its predecessor, making it the biggest gap between Pixar sequels at the time (prior to the fourteen-year gap of the 'Incredibles' films).

It's interesting to note how beloved a film 'Finding Nemo' was. It earned Pixar its first Best Animated Feature Oscar, it was experimental with its variety of animation, and it was a fun adventure story one could easily recommend as a family flick. The thing was, speaking for myself, I always considered it a sort of one-off, and the idea of 'Finding Dory' actually frustrated me. Why? Because there was still no hint of an 'Incredibles II' quite yet, and I strongly considered 'The Incredibles' to be the Pixar title most worthy of a sequel (save for perhaps the 'Toy Story' series). Nevertheless, I decided to check it out, and was actually pleasantly surprised. While this takes the concept of 'Cars 2' of all things (in as much as the comedy relief from first film being the sequel's lead), this actually did something with it, and takes a good, broad look at what it's like to live with a mental health issue. Of course, in Dory's case, we all know it as her short-term memory loss.

The same short-term memory loss that made us laugh in 'Finding Nemo', however, is actually played on a somewhat more serious level here. The film begins with a young Dory (Sloane Murray) and her parents, Charlie (Eugene Levy) and Jenny (Diane Keaton) dealing with her short-term memory loss in a very loving, caring way. One day, however, Dory finds herself separated from her parents. With that comes a pretty sad opening sequence where Dory (Ellen DeGeneres) literally grows up looking for her parents. Eventually, she bumps into Marlin (Albert Brooks), and they begin the events of the first film. In 'Finding Nemo', Dory mentions her family, says "hm, where are they?...", and the audience laughs because it's played as a gag. Here, we're even reminded of that gag, and things suddenly take a whole new spin; in my opinion, one of the most clever Pixar call-backs I've seen yet.

Anyway, 'Finding Dory' takes place a year after 'Finding Nemo'. At this point, Dory has pretty much forgotten all about her parents, and has a whole new life with Marlin and Nemo (Hayden Rolence). One day, during a school field trip, Dory is helping out when something suddenly jogs her memory about looking for her parents. She implores Marlin and Nemo to help her out with it, especially since she has her memory loss, and with that, they almost too easily head to California by way of riding the current with Crush (Andrew Stanton) from the previous film. Here, they are lead to a public Aquarium where Sigourney Weaver's voice (playing herself) is the guide for visitors. It turns out, this is where Dory is from, but in her excitement she gets separated from Marlin and Nemo

Eventually, Dory does get help from an octopus named Hank (Ed O'Neill) who makes a deal with her, a whale shark named Destiny (Kaitlin Olson) who remembers her, and Destiny's neighbouring beluga whale, Bailey (Ty Burrell). With Dory's adventure, it shows that even at our worst when it comes to whatever mental health problem we're dealing with, we can persevere. There's actually a few moments here when we see her cope with things rather than have it be an element of humour. That said, I wouldn't suggest that 'Finding Nemo' was ever really making fun of things so much as suggesting there's a bit of a hidden side to Dory. Speaking for myself, she actually turns out to be that Pixar character I've always wanted to hear the story on, but, as mentioned before, didn't realize it. One could even say I forgot about it, which is pretty interesting to think about.

Personally, I tend to appreciate 'Nemo' a bit more, mostly due to the variety of animation techniques of the time, along with a solid story and likable characters. However, I would definitely consider this a very worthy sequel, and might recommend a back-to-back viewing to newcomers. This one wasn't up for any Oscars, ultimately losing out to 'Zootopia', but when I look at the films in that category that year, it was a challenge - 2016 was a very good year for animation! I would still recommend this pretty strongly to 'Finding Nemo' fans who haven't checked it out yet. This is Pixar taking the humour from the first film and turning it on its head while maintaining its own somewhat different sense of humour. I don't know that I'd say it's Pixar being brilliant, but it's certainly Pixar being clever with things they had to work with.

4/5

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