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Memory Loss in Finding Dory

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Published: Mar 20, 2024

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Portrayal of memory loss, accuracy and representation, implications and real-life context.

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A popular topic that has been bobbing about the internet these days: Will the summer of Hollywood’s sequel and prequel box-office discontent bounce back with the arrival of “Finding Dory,” Pixar and Disney’s double-dip back flip into the same animated pool of undersea beings that propelled 2003’s wondrously endearing “ Finding Nemo ”?

Therefore, it is a relief to note that the follow-up has plenty of emotional hooks, some great lines and is no stinker, despite simply following what amounts to the same plot current as before except to the Pacific Coast of California instead of the Great Barrier Reef of Australia. If “Finding Nemo” felt like a blissful day at the beach, then “Finding Dory” is an eventful afternoon at an aquatic park—or, in this case, the Marine Life Institute that, as the omniscient recorded voice of Sigourney Weaver re-assures any PC-oriented visitors to the facility, is dedicated not to human amusement but to “Rescue, Rehabilitation and Release.” The result might be less fulfilling this time, but “Finding Dory” is ultimately worth the voyage. 

Wisely, the film takes full advantage of what was “Finding Nemo’s” greatest asset besides its lushly multi-hued underwater inhabitants and plant life: Ellen DeGeneres’ buoyant spirit and child-like glee as she vocally gave life to Dory, the forgetful yet fearless blue tang whose struggles with short-term memory loss proved to be a crucial plus whenever the going got tough as stressed-out daddy clownfish Marlin searched for headstrong young son Nemo. After all, nothing is more freeing than barely being able to summon your past, which is why the impulsive Dory is so good at acting in the moment. 

It can be a dicey proposition to upgrade a comic-relief supporting player into a headliner. But much like Robin Williams , who so memorably riffed up a blue streak as the Genie in “ Aladdin ,” DeGeneres and her sometimes goofy, sometimes giddy persona continues to be a perfect fit for the role that provided the uplifting salt-water soul of “Finding Nemo” and pretty much does the same here as Marlin (a returning Albert Brooks ) and Nemo (replacement Hayden Rolence ) swim alongside her on a new journey a year after the first. 

The story is not as fresh of a catch as the original, even if the script is again by Andrew Stanton (along with co-writer Victoria Strouse ), who once more directs with an assist from Angus MacLane . Ultimately, there is too much reliance on logic-defying  Saturday -morning TV cartoon action as the main characters swim about by scooting through pipes and flopping from one liquid vessel to another at the institute. It was somewhat believable when the gang of fish led by Willem Dafoe ’s world-weary Gill staged a great escape from the tank at the dentist’s office in “Finding Nemo.” But the sequel stretches beyond credibility when newcomer octopus Hank (a testy tangle of tentacles with chameleonic powers voiced by “Modern Family’s” Ed O’Neill) is somehow able to maneuver a runaway truck on a crowded highway when he can’t reach the pedals or see over the dashboard.

What your brain might not accept, however, your heart just might. “Finding Nemo” was propelled by its perceptive depiction of a single parent’s overwhelming need to protect a child, especially one with an undersized fin, instead of letting him fend for himself and gain a sense of independence. Here, Stanton calls upon the same sort of primal instinct when we initially meet Dory as an innocent, big-eyed, kiddy-voiced guppy whose concerned parents Charlie and Jenny (portrayed by Eugene Levy and Diane Keaton ) explain how she must always tell whoever she meets, “I have short-term memory loss.” Or, as she sweetly calls it, “short-term remember-y loss.” Instead of her daffy-go-lucky grown-up self, Dory is a helpless tyke whose recall vaporizes almost instantly because of her learning disability and she inevitably wanders off into the undertow, leaving her despairing mom and dad behind to devastating effect. 

The movie fully kicks in when the older Dory experiences an electric jolt of a flashback and, with that brief flicker, realizes she actually has parents. And off she goes, with ever-grumpy Marlin and supportive Nemo following soon after, to locate her family. She might be looking for her parents, but Dory is really unearthing her own identity and manages to stir up other defining memories along the way, no matter how fleetingly. That includes the sources of her inspirational motto, “Just keep swimming,” and how she came to speak “whale.”

Some old favorites from “Finding Nemo” float by including that cool turtle dude Crush and son Squirt, fish-school instructor Mr. Ray and those “Mine! Mine! Mine!”-chanting seagulls. But few of the new characters, which include a brain-addled beluga whale ( Ty Burrell of “Modern Family”) and  a near-sighted whale shark ( Kaitlin Olson ), make a lasting  impression besides a pair of lazy Cockney sea lions ( Idris Elba and Dominic West , together again after being on opposite sides of the law on “The Wire”) rehabbing at the institute who only stir whenever their silent crazy-eyed cohort Gerald (who appears related to Ed the hyena from “ The Lion King ”) dares lay a flipper on their rock.

Except for Marlin, who learns a valuable lesson in empathy after hurling a hurtful observation at Dory when she inadvertently puts Nemo in harm’s way, almost every creature encountered from a bird-brained loon to an immense chatty clam that recalls Audrey II in “ Little Shop of Horrors ” gladly helps out our heroine with her mission. You can guess whether it’s accomplished or not, but let’s just say there is a have-a-hanky-on-hand happy ending. Actually, there are two or three happy endings since the filmmakers don’t know when enough is enough. That includes a coda that requires wading through a waterfall of end credits that nonetheless is worth the wait.

Susan Wloszczyna

Susan Wloszczyna spent much of her nearly thirty years at USA TODAY as a senior entertainment reporter. Now unchained from the grind of daily journalism, she is ready to view the world of movies with fresh eyes.

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Film Credits

Finding Dory (2016)

Rated PG for mild thematic elements

103 minutes

Ellen Degeneres as Dory (voice)

Albert Brooks as Marlin (voice)

Diane Keaton as Jenny (voice)

Eugene Levy as Charlie (voice)

Ty Burrell as Bailey (voice)

Idris Elba as Fluke (voice)

Kaitlin Olson as Destiny (voice)

Ed O'Neill as Hank (voice)

Dominic West as Rudder (voice)

Hayden Rolence as Nemo (voice)

Kate McKinnon as Wife Fish (voice)

Bill Hader as Husband Fish (Stan) (voice)

Andrew Stanton as Crush (voice)

Willem Dafoe as Gill (voice)

Brad Garrett as Bloat (voice)

Allison Janney as Peach (voice)

Stephen Root as Bubbles (voice)

Vicki Lewis as Deb (&Flo) (voice)

Jerome Ranft as Jacques (voice)

• Andrew Stanton
• Angus MacLane

Writer (based on the characters by)

Writer (story).

• Bob Peterson
• Victoria Strouse

Cinematographer

• Jeremy Lasky
• Axel Geddes
• Thomas Newman

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Review: In ‘Finding Dory,’ a Forgetful Fish and a Warm Celebration of Differences

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By A.O. Scott

• June 15, 2016

In “Finding Nemo,” Pixar’s 2003 masterpiece, the ocean was a vast realm of menace and wonder, newly charted by rapidly advancing digital-animation technology. The movie, a visual revelation, was also a welcome defense of risk-taking in an era of anxiety, and something of a cautionary tale about the downsides of helicopter parenting. As often happens in adventure stories, the hero was occasionally upstaged by his sidekick. We rooted for Nemo and choked up when he was found, but the best lines and sweetest grace notes belonged to Dory, the absent-minded blue tang voiced by Ellen DeGeneres.

Now Dory has her own movie, imaginatively called “Finding Dory,” a merchandising opportunity for Disney and a welcome end-of-the-school-year diversion for parents and children. While it may not join the top tier of Pixar features, “Dory,” directed by Andrew Stanton and Angus MacLane, is certainly the best non-“Toy Story” sequel the studio has produced. That may sound like faint praise given the startling mediocrity of “Monsters University” and “Cars 2,” but what “Dory” lacks in dazzling originality it more than makes up for in warmth, charm and good humor.

Movie Review: ‘Finding Dory’

The times critic a. o. scott reviews “finding dory.”.

(Meanwhile, Pixar’s place on the vanguard of animation is affirmed by “Piper,” the short, directed by Alan Barillaro, that accompanies “Finding Dory” in theaters. A variation on the themes of “Nemo,” it tells the simple, touching story of a fledgling shore bird overcoming fear and facing danger. It also makes astonishing strides in the vivid and detailed rendering of feathers, foam and sand.)

Taking place, for the most part, a year after Nemo’s return to the reef, “Finding Dory” flashes back to its heroine’s childhood, when she was an adorable, popeyed, short-term-memory-challenged hatchling living with her mom (Diane Keaton) and dad (Eugene Levy). She wandered off one day, and grew to adulthood looking for her family. The revival of this quest sends her across the seas, and this time Marlin (Albert Brooks) and Nemo (Hayden Rolence) are the sidekicks.

Not the only ones. Like other films of its species, “Finding Dory” is full of celebrity voice work, including from a number of television performers. Kaitlin Olson of “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” is a nearsighted shark. Idris Elba and Dominic West have a “Wire” reunion — Stringer Bell and McNulty, together again! — as a pair of Cockney sea lions. Ty Burrell plays a nervous beluga whale, while his “Modern Family” father-in-law, Ed O’Neill, steals many scenes as a wily, grouchy, seven-armed octopus named Hank.

Instead of the open seas, Dory conducts her search mostly in the confines of the Marine Life Institute, an institution clearly inspired by the Monterey Bay Aquarium in California that the filmmakers turn into a theme park full of mechanical ingenuity and aquatic cuteness. There are toys and tots, aquarium tanks and drain pipes, strange birds and the disembodied voice of Sigourney Weaver. The plot, like a theme-park ride, is both predictable and exciting, a fast-moving cascade of triumphs and setbacks, punctuated with humor and pathos.

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But in time-honored tradition, the movie also has lessons to impart. “Nemo” made the case for indomitability in the face of fear. “Dory” is more about the acceptance of chaos. Dory’s inability to make or stick to plans is shown, in the long run, to be an advantage. And her memory issues, played mostly for laughs in the first movie, take on a deeper meaning here. She and Nemo, who was born with a deformed flipper, are both people — well, actually, anthropomorphized fish, but you know what I mean — with disabilities, an identity shared by most of the new secondary characters.

In a way that is both emphatic and subtle, “Finding Dory” is a celebration of cognitive and physical differences. It argues, with lovely ingenuity and understatement, that what appear to be impairments might better be understood as strengths. The inclusiveness of the film’s vision is remarkable partly because it feels so natural, something that no adult will really need to explain. Children will get it, perhaps more intuitively and easily than the rest of us.

Everyone will laugh at the sight of an octopus driving a truck, a wild-eyed loon flying with a bucket of angelfish in her beak and the other slapstick set pieces. And very few throats will remain unlumped as long-separated characters are reunited. Maybe there are a few too many reunions. How many times does Dory need to be found? But the repetitiveness of the story is related to its moral, a Disney legacy reanimated by Pixar again and again. Solidarity and kinship are two sides of the same coin. “Friends and family” is a distinction without a difference.

“Finding Dory” is rated PG (Parental guidance suggested). A little scary, a little sad. Running time: 1 hour 43 minutes.

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How ‘Finding Dory’ and ‘Finding Nemo’ deal beautifully with disabilities

GROWING UP, I would see the look. My mother taught special-ed for many years, and when I accompanied her students on field trips, I was sensitive to how adults in the world would react facially, and then vocally, when encountering her pupils and realizing they had special challenges. It was so common, I began to interpret it as a natural response: The strangers were putting these kids in a different mental box.

Other members of my family have taught children who have special needs, and I again have seen the look. I have a nephew who has a disability and another relative who has special needs, and I observed carefully when they were children and was sensitive to the degree to which they were treated differently, with a certain “otherness.”

Which all contributes to how heartily I applaud the Pixar filmmakers behind 2003’s “Finding Nemo” and now the sequel, “Finding Dory” (out today).

[ Essay: How Pixar enchants us, and moves us, with close-up emotional magic ]

Nemo, of course, has an undersized fin, which he is taught to think of as a “lucky fin.” Dory has short-term memory loss, which becomes a more pivotal theme in the new film. And throughout both movies, the filmmakers depict and incorporate these challenges in two ways that I particularly appreciate.

The first is the degree to which Nemo and Dory aren’t depicted as isolated cases — as “others” in a “normal” world. It’s standard storytelling fare to have the lone fighter overcoming special needs or a disability in an environment of the otherwise non-challenged. But in these Pixar films, many characters are facing physical and mental challenges — whether it’s the physically disabled Gill, or Bailey, the beluga whale with echolocation issues, or Destiny, the near-sighted whale shark. In these two films, it is having your own challenges that is completely normalized.

A second aspect I appreciate in these films is how often the characters who treat the identified “challenged” characters differently often have a dawning awareness and deepening acceptance, as epiphanies free them from their own mental boxes.

[ How his own parenting inspired Pete Doctor’s ‘Inside Out’ ]

For instance, Angus MacLane, the co-director of “Finding Dory,” cites the shifts in how Marlin, Nemo’s father, reacts to Dory’s mental issues.

“I think it’s so interesting the way that sometimes her disability has such clear disadvantages, but also has advantages that aren’t necessarily clear at first blush,” MacLane says of Dory. “And that what’s interesting about Marlin’s arc in the [new] film. He is feeling like someone has to be the parent and caregiver to her. I see that as the box that he’s put her in.

“The recognition for Marlin,” MacLane continues, “is about what capability she has.” When Marlin realizes what advantages Dory does have — including the necessity to respond to the world in the immediate moment, often creatively improvising her way outside of becoming mentally boxed-in — he is then able to give her an added boost of affirming confidence.

“Ultimately, she learns to trust in herself,” MacLane says. “So much of the journey is the ability to trust in yourself.”

(It’s worth noting, by the way, that Nemo’s arc now shows him fully at ease with his “lucky fin.” “Nemo has found a way to compensate for his shortcoming,” says MacLane, pointing out how there are only brief and subtle references to his shorter fin in “Finding Dory,” including a quick, special handshake with Dad, and the “hummingbird-heartbeat-fluttery” audio cue when the lucky fin is active.)

Why Dory is one of Pixar’s most popular characters

Part of what elevates Pixar’s storytelling is this ability to depict these arcs of coping, acceptance and trust in textured fashion across multiple characters.

In the new film, for instance, we again see worried, protective parents who are trying to teach Baby Dory to say to strangers upfront that she has “short-term re-membery loss.” Dory learns to apologize for her difficulty in advance to compensate, but she also learns that being an upbeat people-pleaser is an effective coping strategy.

“What’s so amazing about her is that she has a clear set of challenges, and she doesn’t allow those challenges to dissuade her from living her life,” MacLane says. “She is aspirational, and she has the energy to be positive.”

In this way, audience members can become invested in her, almost — like Nemo — as surrogate parents themselves. “The audience [wants] the feeling that she is self-sufficient,” the co-director says, “and that she has the tools to be out in the community and be safe.”

Part of the storytelling goal then becomes understanding Dory’s challenges from both within and without. The engagement “has to be deeper than just [the fact] she has short-term memory loss. It’s about finding a way to show the audience what she was grappling with.

“Once we figured that out — when we see Baby Dory listening through [in effect] a second-floor bannister — there is something so relatable to that as a parent. … Their life goes on without us as a parent. Are they going to be okay? Am I being the right parent of this kid?”

“Everyone has their set of challenges,” the filmmaker says, “so these questions are meant to be universal.”

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Finding Dory

Review by brian eggert june 16, 2016.

Pixar’s best films reach beyond the balance of the peerless animation, the ageless wit in their humor, and their tear-jerking narratives. These elements (for which Pixar has demonstrated mastery time and again) would make any film a triumph, but Pixar’s ability to add another layer of subtext or social commentary to their work continues to impress. Consider Finding Dory , the follow-up to 2003’s landmark Finding Nemo . In the sequel, a Californian rehabilitation aquarium called the Marine Life Institute (MLI) serves as a major location. The MLI’s motto promises “rescue, rehabilitation, and release” for injured sea animals, and its presence is an indirect slight to theme parks like SeaWorld—places more jealously concerned with selling tickets to their latest performance by captive mammals than any thought of reintegrating their stock into Nature.

Finding Dory uses the MLI not as a soapbox to deliver a moralizing or preachy lesson; rather, it’s a central setpiece that also performs a subtextual function. Ideally, viewers will walk away from this sequel with the unconscious (or even better, conscious) feeling that healthy marine life belongs in the sea, not in captivity. In addition to Pixar’s usual flawless animation, deft humor, and tender emotions, this undercurrent in Finding Dory demonstrates the animation studio’s love of the material. Indeed, to learn about marine life in preparation for Finding Nemo , Pixar artists and animators spent hours in the presence of real-life aquariums like Finding Dory ’s MLI. In addition to the Pixar staff’s scuba diving research trips, spending so much time around marine life undoubtedly left them with an appreciation for seeing these creatures in the wild. Being together with one’s family in the freedom of the sea is the central theme driving the sequel’s heartening story, but it also contains a clever message. For that, we must be thankful.

Of course, there’s more to savor in this or any Pixar film than their occasionally lofty undertones, even though the screenplay by Andrew Stanton and Victoria Crowse deserves high praise for its narrative breadth. Co-directors Stanton and Angus MacLane have made an inspired sequel filled with genuine moments of drama, playful physical comedy, gorgeous visuals, and only a few moments displaying symptoms of “sequelitis”. After all, by title alone, similarities between the original and this sequel are bound to be made. And since Finding Nemo is ranked among the very best of Pixar’s output, such comparisons may be unfair. How could the studio catch lightning in a bottle twice, especially given that Finding Dory is yet another story about a fish searching for its family, only to discover it has a new family—the friends that were helping throughout the journey?

Point of fact, Pixar’s undersea spectacle spends an unlikely amount of its runtime above the water’s surface at the MLI. But before we get there, the film opens on Dory, the forgetful blue tang, as a young swimmer, and her parents Charlie (Eugene Levy) and Jenny (Diane Keaton) trying to teach her memory tricks. Should she ever get lost, Dory’s parents instruct her to say, “I suffer from short-term memory loss”—a saddening line delivered with appropriate aww-dorable-ness by young voice actor Sloane Murray. Whereas Dory’s inability to remember things beyond a few seconds largely served a device for humor and the plot’s forward-motion in Finding Nemo , the sequel deepens her malady into a disability she must overcome.

Cut to a year after the events in Finding Nemo , where Dory (Ellen DeGeneres) now lives in the same reef as nervy clownfish Marlin (Albert Brooks) and his son Nemo (Hayden Rolence). After experiencing a memory flash, Dory remembers her parents and vague details about how she was separated from them as a child, shown in brief, ridiculously cute, and sometimes aching flashbacks. Marlin begrudgingly accompanies Nemo on Dory’s quest, which leads her to the MLI, a place Dory has been before. She’s reconnected with old friends, such as the near-sighted whale shark Destiny (Kaitlin Olson), but she also befriends a new ally, a cranky octopus named Hank (Ed O’Neil, just great), who’s desperate to escape. Octopuses are famous escape artists; no aquarium can contain them. Watching Hank in action remains ever fascinating and entertaining, as he leaps like Tarzan on pipes and walls, or scurries along the floor like a ninja. At the same time, Marlin and Nemo are separated from Dory and must take another route, specifically one involving two seals (voiced by Idris Elba and Dominic West) and a deranged loon named Becky, to reconnect with their friend.

Hank affords Finding Dory a chance to escape the water and explore the MLI, as he transports her around in a glass of water from tank to tank. His cephalopod camouflage blends with all manner of textures in chameleon-like fashion, allowing the character to disappear onscreen in a wonderful effect (he first appears over a “Hang in there” kitten poster). Later, Pixar once again demonstrates the monstrous insensitivity of children when Dory and Hank find themselves in the park’s “Kids Zone”—where youngers can reach in the water and touch, nay, squeeze small marine animals—and from the animal’s perspective, it’s a nightmare not unlike Pixar’s other horrific human children: Sid in Toy Story or Darla in Finding Nemo . Elsewhere, our heroes narrowly escape the chomping beak of a bioluminescent squid, brave the open-air dangers of a theme-park, and later must escape a truck headed to the worst fate of all… Cleveland. It all looks almost distractingly beautiful, with certain scenes taking on a photo-real quality to the water or lighting.

One of the best gags in Finding Dory revolves around Sigourney Weaver, who voices herself in prerecorded loudspeaker announcements at the MLI. Granted, most children in the audience won’t understand the hilarity in Dory proclaiming, “We have to listen to Sigourney!” But the humor isn’t lost on adults. Meanwhile, the majority of the film’s emotion resides in Dory’s ever more informative memory flashes back to her childhood, when her parents struggled to imprint ideas onto their child’s brain. Present-day scenes move at a faster pace, breathlessly leaping from one perilous survival situation to the next. And though plenty of touching moments occur throughout, the story never leaves us in a sloppy, teary mess the way some Pixar films tend to do. The tone here feels lighter, maybe even sweeter, but a touch less substantial dramatically.

This does not suggest Finding Dory is somehow lacking; originality is the only unabundant component—but it’s a sequel, and a certain absence of originality goes with the territory. Nevertheless, the film leaves us laughing and forms a lump in our throat more than once. The overarching theme in both Pixar’s masterful original and the sequel suggests friends and family are two sides of the same coin, that our weaknesses can bring people together, and eventually our shortcomings can be turned into strengths. Amid these universalities, Finding Dory shows a greater respect and awareness for marine life than its predecessor in its willingness to show undersea garbage, or a fish’s displeasure with captivity. If even a few children walk away from this sequel and resolve to devote their lives to helping stop, or even improve conditions for, marine life in captivity and in the wild, then the film means something profound. Even if that’s not the case, Finding Dory will stand as a solid, charming, and ceaselessly pleasant Pixar sequel.

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Dory is a female Regal Blue Tang fish and the deuteragonist of the 2003 film Finding Nemo , as well as the titular main protagonist of the 2016 film Finding Dory . She got short-term memory loss and can be a bit ditzy.

• 1 Official Bio
• 2 Appearance
• 3 Personality

Official Bio

"Dory (voice of Ellen DeGeneres ) is a bright blue tang with a sunny personality. She suffers from short-term memory loss, which normally has not meant to upset her upbeat attitude - until she realizes she's forgotten something big: her family. She's haunted by the belief that someone is out there looking for her. Dory hates to give up until she discovers her past and discovers something else along the way: self-acceptance."

Dory is a slim fish with a thin, royal blue body with black trim and markings. She has bright yellow fins that are lined with black and a large, fan-like yellow tail. Her eyes are large and bright pink. She has one large tooth that stretches throughout her whole mouth.

Personality

Dory is an optimistic, friendly and adventure-loving fish. and she can be quite ditzy and forgetful as well. After hearing about how Marlin just lost his son Nemo in the 2003 film Disney's Finding Nemo , she offered to help the clownfish look for him. Despite the fact that Marlin was too upset about her accompanying him, he grew to realize that Dory could actually be a very good friend and he began to respect her, especially since she was helping him out of genuine kindness.

Dory is very sensitive, as seen in Finding Nemo when she starts to cry after Marlin accidentally declares that he hates her very much, a fact which is not true. She is fully aware of her short-term memory loss and is apologetic about it. After Marlin says that since he won't even think she can help him, she realizes that her memory loss is a visible disability and becomes more self-conscious of herself. Near the end of Finding Nemo , when Marlin, thinking that Nemo is dead, starts for home, Dory excuses him to stay with her, stating that she is "home" when she is with Marlin. After Marlin leaves anyway and Nemo appears, Dory, who has regained much of her neglectfulness because of Marlin's departure, offers to help Nemo, not knowing that he is Marlin's son yet once again showing her kindness.

• 1 Finding Dory/Transcript

Culture doesn't fit in a box. Neither do we.

Community and Developmental Differences in Finding Dory

Full Disclosure: There was literally no way I would render a bad review of Finding Dory . Here is a picture of me about to lose control of myself at the Seattle Aquarium.

If you are looking for an unbiased opinion about sea creatures or animated movies that depict them, you are in the wrong place.

That being said…

Finding Dory

Directors: andrew stanton and angus mclane writers: andew stanton, angust mclane, victoria strouse, bob peterson starring: ellen degeneres, albert brooks, ed o’neill disney pixar june 17, 2016.

Finding Dory continues a lengthy Pixar tradition of making me cry in public. It may be impossible to examine it without the context of the original, Finding Nemo (2003). But by shifting focus to Dory, the Pixar creative team has released a wonderful, action-packed, and deeply sympathetic story that helps frame developmental disabilities in a way that children can understand. Spoilers ahead!

We open on the last memories of Dory as a baby fish, struggling to remind herself of basic survival skills (with helpful guidance and mnemonics from her parents, Jenny and Charlie.) But she also has a craving to swim with other fish, and the urge to explore the wider ocean becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy: Dory finds herself alone and unable to remember the basic details about her home. Some of the fish she meets are sympathetic, and some are impassive, but none of them have the skills or energy to help Dory find her parents.

One year later, after the events of Finding Nemo, a series of flashbacks inspires Dory to return to the aquarium/conservation center where she grew up (a delightful homage to the Monterey Bay Aquarium). Anyone who’s seen a Pixar movie knows the drill: there’s a series of amazing chases and obstacle courses, which only brave and determined heroes can overcome. There’s not a few red herrings (haha) that guide our hero back to her starting point, only to find that her parents aren’t in the aquarium at all.

The middle act is the weakest of the movie. Finding Dory ’s cast focuses on a loveable band of misfits: Becky, a bug-eyed loon who gets her head trapped in a bucket; Hank, the octopus who wants the comfort of aquarium life, Destiny, a myopic whale shark; and Bailey, a beluga who can’t echolocate. Dory’s interactions with these characters (and their shared supportive natures) are characterized by a mode of sweetness that voice actress Ellen DeGeneres captures perfectly. But Dory’s joy is punctuated with scornful commentary from Marlin, the clownfish main character of Finding Nemo .

In fact, the cast’s efforts to find Dory’s friends are constantly stymied by Marlin’s unwillingness trust in Dory and her new associates. The final message—that your family encompasses your entire supportive community—is tinged with bitterness, since Marlin is so often ignorant of Dory’s specific needs, or too busy to accommodate them.  

Dory herself has been promoted from comic relief sidekick to heroine. Gags from the earlier film have been expanded, and Dory’s developmental differences feel very real. “Just keep swimming,” for instance, was a goofy song in Nemo ; Finding Dory turns it into a mantra that eases Dory away from panic attacks. Dory’s inability to read the word “escape” translates between movies; while she is able to read, her interpretation of the words depends on other fishes’ contextual clues.

The best parts of the movie are interactions between Dory and her surly octopus guide through the aquarium complex. With her literacy and Hank’s camouflage and mobility (also, the soothing narrative voice of Sigourney Weaver, the pre-recorded aquarium guide), they move between ocean zones and develop empathy for each other. Hank, for instance, freezes in terror as he’s poked aggressively in the children’s touching pool. Despite the fact that Dory got them into the pool, Hank still credits her with rescuing him—a far cry from Marlin’s exasperated accusations in the first movie.

The precise point where I started crying sees Dory alone again, with Hank, Marlin, and Nemo trapped aboard a transport truck en route to Cleveland. These first-person shots are dizzying, as Dory frantically searches for anything to anchor her to her limited memories, fixating on a symbol that’s by all means very common in the ocean: a seashell. But even as Dory follows the trail of shells back to her parents, she spends the remainder of the movie believing in herself and rescuing the other wayward members of her family—her support network. Her insistence on recollecting her family shows the stark difference between her experience and Nemo’s, who asks earlier, “Will we never see Dory again?”

Nemo’s was a story about independence, and allowing people to try and fail. I much prefer the message of Finding Dory : a strong, supportive community helps fill in our individual weaknesses, and perceived weaknesses shouldn’t exclude individuals from a community.

Don’t let this complaint dissuade you from seeing a very sweet movie, with a ton of other stuff that I didn’t mention but loved: otter cuddle time, sea lions voiced by the guys from The Wire , adorable crabs, and I can’t overstate the importance of Sigourney Weaver. On top of a sweet story, I’d also be remiss if I failed to mention that Finding Dory is a technical marvel. So let’s close on this video published by CNET, on the complexity of animating Hank the octopus, true hero of Finding Dory :

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Commentary: Finding Dory, an Inclusive and Accessible Movie All Around

July 5, 2016

Without a doubt, Finding Dory is one of this summer’s biggest movies. It is the sequel to Pixar’s Finding Nemo released in 2003, which was wildly popular with people of all ages. A lot of reviews rave about how beautifully both films deal with and discuss disability. Even more exciting is the fact that thanks to the Disney Movies Anywhere app, users who are blind or visually impaired can enjoy the film with audio description. By simply downloading the app on my iPhone (and using my ear buds so I wouldn’t distract other moviegoers), I was able to fully enjoy the film this holiday weekend.

One of the hardest things for parents of children with disabilities is letting their kids venture into unfamiliar territory and experience new things. As someone who grew up with a disability, I now understand that parents are naturally afraid their children will get hurt, or that others will make fun of them. These ideas – although well intentioned – can lead to isolation and overprotection. Both Nemo, who has an undersized fin, and Dory, who has short-term memory loss, show their parents they are perfectly capable of going out into the world and being independent. Along the way, Nemo and dory encounter many challenges that seem insurmountable and even dangerous, but this is the only way they learn to adapt to their respective disabilities.

Learning how to cope with a disability from a young age is extremely important. In Finding Dory, Dory’s parents tell her early on about her short-term memory loss, and that she should tell this to people if she ever needs help or gets lost. They also teach her coping strategies – like following a trail of seashells – to find her way back home. Being assertive and explaining to others about my disability has helped me tremendously throughout my life. As people with disabilities, we are the ones who know best what we need, and it is important for us to learn early on how to seek assistance if and when we need it.

In Finding Nemo and Finding Dory, both characters and those around them learn about acceptance and to have a positive attitude about disability. Nemo thinks of his undersized fin as a lucky fin, and this helps the other characters feel at ease about his disability. Nemo and Dory learn to compensate for their disabilities, and this leads everyone else to focus on their abilities. All too often, people associate disability with negative connotations, and as a result focus on what we cannot do. I strongly believe that acceptance of disability and diversity in general must be taught to children from an early age. This can lead to more inclusion and respect towards people with disabilities.

Kudos to Disney and Pixar for having positive portrayals about disability in their films. Children should be taught about disabilities and diversity in general from a young age in order to learn about tolerance and acceptance, and I applaud Pixar and Disney for doing just that. These were just a few of the references to disability in Finding Dory and Finding Nemo – I won’t spoil the films for those of you who haven’t watched them! I sincerely hope that other companies will follow in Disney’s footsteps and begin portraying disability in a more positive and realistic manner.

My hat goes off to Disney for including audio description of Finding Nemo and Finding Dory in their Disney Movies Anywhere app. This certainly made a huge difference and allowed me to enjoy Finding Dory as much as my family and friends with sight. I will review this app in a later post – stay tuned!

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How 'Finding Dory' Is About Dory Coming To Embrace Her Disability

When a Finding Nemo sequel was announced, many people, including myself, were skeptical of the motivations behind the announcement. Yesterday you learned how director Andrew Stanton  came to find that a Finding Nemo sequel was necessary . And now we reveal why he felt Dory's story was not over.

On a trip to the Monterey Bay Aquarium, I got to preview 30 minutes of Finding Dory . And I must admit, the 13-minute opening of the film (which I will not spoil) floored me. It was unexpected, dark, emotional and so very compelling. And what interests me is the idea that Finding Dory is actually a movie about disabled character on a journey to embrace what she may feel is her big flaw.

Note: the following report is compiled from roundtable interviews, presentations with Pixar creative leads and a one-on-one interview with director  Andrew Stanton  and producer  Lindsey Collins .

How Dory's Disability Drives Her Character

When I talked to  Finding Dory co-director Angus MacLane , he described the story as partially being about Dory coming to own her disability. While Stanton never thought of Dory's short-term memory loss as a disability, he agrees that it is the core foundation of her character that is the reason for this story.

I never think of it as a disability, so even though that's the perfect word for it. I just saw it as... It's just her uniqueness, right? And she sees it as a flaw, as something she has to compensate for. It's something that she doesn't trust, that she thinks is gonna cause problems for herself. It's probably why she became super fish at being friendly and helpful and humorous and insightful. It's all these things that will make somebody not ditch her because she doesn't trust that her short term memory loss will betray her. Either she'll drop, she'll lose somebody or they'll be sick of her. And I knew that was how she was made up from the day I came up with her. And that's why I always saw her as tragic. But her skill set, her armor is so arresting. And so caretaking and so like everybody loves her. And of course she's gonna be great at that. So that you won't ditch her. And she won't be alone again. And I didn't want her to feel like that on the inside. I wanted her to, like, recognize and love what everybody else loves about her. Everybody has still thinks about her, even after the movie 10 years. But I knew deep down she didn't believe that deep, deep, deep, deep, deep, deep down. And I feel like most people have something about themselves that they see as a big flaw and that they've never been able to change about themselves. And I think the key is not often that you can conquer it, that you can get rid of it, but it was more as a how do you conquer it? How do you own it? How do you turn that into an asset? And I think that's a very universal thing. And it works for disabilities. It works for handicaps, but it also works for just how you see yourself as imperfect. And that I liked. And that naturally came from just trying to deal with Dory. For trying to make her a main character. I mean, she wasn't built to be a main character. She was built to just support somebody else. And a main character's a very different role. And so they worked hand in hand for each other.

 You May Have Missed Dory's Touch of Sadness in Finding Nemo

The character has a touch of sadness to her that perhaps we didn't see in the original Finding Nemo , but will become more apparent in this sequel. But to Stanton, it was never hidden or added for this film. Its not like Marty McFly all of a sudden being irked by the word "chicken."

To me it was hidden. It was never added. And not to like pounce on the word, but to me it was under the hood the whole time. And I realized that the audience must have sensed it or else they wouldn't have been accepting of this character two-thirds of the way into Nemo suddenly crying and saying don't leave me when we did nothing to set that up. Yet everybody accepts it. It's because unconsciously you go, there's no way somebody with short term memory loss could be wandering the ocean and be happy. And I don't care if nobody ever had that thought, you felt it. Just like you sensed it when you meet a stranger and you don't know anything about them. But yet you sense something. And so I knew that like, oh, that's there and I knew everybody else senses it's there, but what I made the mistake of is I assumed that everybody really consciously thought of that. And so it took me about a year or two in and things weren't working and getting angry and suddenly realizing, oh my gosh.

On the next page we'll learn how a key element to the Finding Dory story wasn't discovered until a year and a half into development, and how thats typical of the Pixar development process.

Finding Dory's Backstory

They were a year and a half into development on Finding Dory before Stanton gave the story team the background which ultimately became the foundation of the movie. Collins remembers being in the story room when Stanton revealed Dory's backstory, which helped them find the film's footing.

You were like, it's because she's been wandering for years by herself before she meets Marlin. And the whole story team and I were like, what? And so he says, for years she was by herself. Marlin was the first time anybody's ever and we were like... really? And he was like, did I not say that out loud? We were like, no, you've never said that before. And he's like, I probably should take some time to write out what the backstory is. And you had it in your mind your whole time, you just hadn't ever voiced it 'cause it was never required really as we were going on.

And thats when Stanton realized that the backstory needs to be explored in the movie, setting a more dramatic tone that calls back to the beginning of the original film.

So I realized we gotta put that in the beginning of the movie so that everybody was up to speed. But it also had a nice by-product, which was, it reminded you that the first movie is also dark. And the first movie's very dramatic and emotional. It doesn't indulge in comedy. And it set the tone correctly for everybody 'cause nobody remembers that when they leave the film. When you enter the first film, that's what it is.  And so it kind of set it on the rails correctly too.

The Pixar Development Process: "You Pretty Much Spend The First Three Years With Very Little Working"

The typical Pixar movie usually takes five years from development to release, and Stanton admits that like Finding Dory , most of the stories take a few years of development to find their real footing.

I'll be honest with you, you pretty much spend the first three years with very little working. So what wasn't working just basically is, you put on the play and it didn't feel like you, it didn't feel like she had progressed. It didn't feel like, it felt like you were saying stuff, but not feeling growth. And that's not that uncommon with any picture, at least for me. And so that was, it's like you could put it together and tell it as a story, but it didn't do anything for you. You know what I mean? Like it all made logical sense, 'cause you kind of have to start somewhere. I always say there's plot and there's character. And the truth is you kind of need both to figure a movie out. To figure just character out. Like you kind of have to just, like, guess and plot together a movie with a character in it. And just to, like, tell a story from A to Z. And then it won't work. And then you go, oh, okay, now that makes me think about why about the character. Then you change the character and then you readjust the plot. And then you tell it again. And it doesn't work. And then and you just keep using plot as a means to find the character. And what tends to happen and this happened about two and a half years in is you finally get the character. And then you're willing to change 100 percent of the plot again, but with confidence because you finally found the character. So it's like plot's used for a whole different reason for like the first two years. It's just a means to find the character. And then once you find it, then you just have, it's not even like you did anything wrong, but like that's just what you gotta do. And now that you know who this person is, let's retell the story.

On the next page we'll tell you about the problems with making a movie about character that was designed to be a supporting character and more.

Finding Dory Is Not a Traditional Sequel

Finding Dory isn't a traditional sequel, and it's probably more of a spin-off, although Stanton "didn't think of it that way."

I just thought of, what's the last thing unresolved emotionally that's open ended from the first movie? So to me it's like a ripple that goes out from the center. And I just followed that lead. And I just let it be true to that. And I let however that gets reflected for what the end product of that be what it is. And that's the only way I knew it could be honest and authentic. So however it's being kind of perceived, it wasn't planned that way. It was found that way. If that makes sense.

Marlin and Nemo are still very much in the film, but Dory is on her own for this adventure and Stanton says thats the whole point of the film: "She's no longer a passenger, she's the driver. And she has to learn how to do that."

The Problem With Developing a Movie About a Supporting Character

And one of the problems of putting Dory into the central role of a movie is that she was built to be a supporting character . Stanton admits that she's "so good at supporting that she basically complements" any character in the scene with her.

It came out of us instinctually. Like oh, and then she can say this. And it'll make Hank really funny. And then she can do this and it'll make Destiny and Bailey really funny. She's so wired up to tee up everybody else and put the spotlight on them. And we kept falling into that trap. It was really hard.

So there was a constant struggle to keep Dory as the leader of this adventure. Sometimes it would just involve switching the lines around so that Dory was now back in charge of the momentum or other times it meant completely rewriting a sequence.