The sequel to Finding Nemo released in 2003, Finding Dory is the latest in a long line of great Pixar animated movies that delights children and adults alike. It very effectively uses non-vulgar comedy and adventure to convey important messages about life. The film follows everyone’s favorite blue fish with short-term memory loss, Dory voiced by Ellen DeGeneres, as she looks for her long lost parents voiced by Eugene Levy and Diane Keaton. With the help of Nemo and his father Marlin voiced by Albert Brooks, Dory goes on a fun-filled journey across the ocean and eventually ends up at the Marine Life Institute. A subtle indictment of SeaWorld, the Marine Life Institute is an aquatic-themed amusement park that houses sea life for so-called rehabilitation before they are supposed to be released back into the ocean. There, Dory inadvertently parts ways with Nemo and Marlin but encounters new friends, including the grumpy octopus Hank voiced by Ed O’Neill and clumsy beluga whale voiced by Ty Burrell. Through a series of cleverly funny episodes, Dory must figure out how to deal with her memory issues in order to navigate her way back to her parents. Although her forgetfulness is entertaining to watch, the audience feels sympathetic for Dory who suffers from the disability of having short-term memory loss. Therefore, the film, showing Dory’s struggles and its effects on others around her, addresses an important issue: finding ways to cope with and accept disabilities. Like most Pixar movies, it uses incisive humor with a heavy dose of puns and wit to create a very amusing moviegoing experience. It is able to do all this while teaching a lesson that the audience is not even aware of at the time. Overall, I would highly recommend the movie to all ages and say that it is even a worthy competitor to the original Finding Nemo.
KEITH on Reels 