Finding Dory: A forgetful fish with a loving heart.

Dory and her friends  are reunited on this journey to find her parents and discover her past.  It is an unforgettable journey that she may just forget.

As a lover of Pixar and animated movies I had high expectations for Finding Dory. I dragged my mom and grandma with me today at the theater. We were not anticipating a big crowd because it was a hot father’s day, but we when we arrived the 1:05 show was already sold out, so we bought tickets to the next available show at 1:40.

Pixar hatched Piper

Prior to the film we were introduced to the Pixar short 6 minute film: Piper. An amazing depiction of a baby sandpiper learning to not fear the waves or water. There were no words during this 6 minute film, however I immediately felt connected to the baby bird and its fight to overcome its fears. There were sounds of laugher and joy from the audience as we stood with the bird fighting the waves and learning how to find the shells for food. As the 6 minutes came to an end, I wanted to continue watching Piper, and forgot that the movie we were here to see did not start yet.

An Unforgettable Journey that She May Just Forget

Finding Dory is taking place nearly a year after Nemo’s return to the reef and Dory’s short term memory issues move from a amusing characteristic to taking on a deeper meaning during this film. She has a loving personality with the flaw of high anxiety from her inability to remember things. Dory is trying to find her family, which she lost at some point before Finding Nemo. The story is told with flashbacks to the past as Dory starts to recall events. There is the return of familiar characters, as well as new characters introduced as the story moves from the ocean to a marine life institute. Her friends, Marlin and Nemo, return as sidekicks in this sequel.

The colorful aquatic setting can get very sad and scary as things get melancholy and dark, but there is a good balance of emotions and images throughout.

Hank, a seven-legged octopus, is a grumpy character that helps Dory move throughout the institute along with her friends Destiny, the whale shark, and Bailey, the beluga whale. Hank was my favorite, because he played such an important role in moving Dory from place to place, and the animators did a great job with his ability to camouflage on the move.

The sea lions and crazy loon were set up to be jokes ready for our laughter, instead of full blown characters. I appreciate the comedic relief during a more emotional movie, although can see how these characters stray from the storyline of inclusion and acceptance of everyone.

The movie felt like it dragged on a little longer than it needed, but in the end, this movie will definitely be added to our collection. It is emotional and entertaining. It is tough not to be entertained when there are fishes jumping out of the water to journey across land via acrobatic feats and a seven legged octopus driving a truck while being chased by the police.

There are some important lessons that we can
all take away from Finding Dory. Family can be inclusive of anyone who is important to you. We can learn to accept the unknown and ask ourselves WWDD? (What would Dory Do?). Navigating Life can be difficult, but even if we get lost, we can always find home.
Finally, my favorite lesson is to never give up, don’t lose hope and keep on swimming.