Finding Dory

"An unforgettable journey she probably won't remember."

- Tagline

Finding Dory is a 2016 3D computer-animated film and sequel to the 2003 Pixar computer-animated feature film Finding Nemo. The film was directed by Andrew Stanton, who also directed the original film, and was released on June 17, 2016.

The sequel brings back the characters from the original movie, including Dory, Nemo, Marlin and the Tank Gang. Plans for the sequel to Finding Nemo had been in development as far back as 2005 similar to other Pixar projects and sequels.

Plot
One year after the first movie, Dory begins to have dreams about her family. Her memory is further kicked in during a stingray migration. She remembers something about the "Jewel of Morro Bay, California" and her parents, and suddenly has the urge to find them. Marlin is concerned about Dory leaving the reef, but when he is reminded about what happened to Nemo, he agrees to help her.

After taking the California Current, with the help of an old friend, Crush, Dory remembers that her parents' names are Jenny and Charlie. Her excitement, however, awakens a giant squid. As they try to escape, Nemo is captured and nearly killed. Getting stuck in plastic six pack rings, Dory pulls Marlin and Nemo to safety. Angry, Marlin blames her for nearly killing Nemo, and claims that her short-term memory loss is all she's good for.

Heartbroken, Dory wanders to the surface, and is captured by some rescuers of the Marine Life Institute. Tagged ready for quarantine, Dory meets Hank, an ill-tempered, seven legged octopus. Noticing the tag, he makes a deal with Dory: he helps her find his family, and she gives him the tag.

Along the way, she obtains more memories, meets a whale shark named Destiny, who reminds her she's from the Open Ocean exhibit, which Destiny and a beluga whale named Bailey, who believes he can't use his echo location, help her find.

Meanwhile, Marlin feels guilty about how he spoke to Dory. In his sadness, he wakes up Fluke and Rudder, two seal lions napping. Nemo wants to ask for directions, but Marlin tells him that they eat fish. Marlin tells Nemo that he will ask them. After an interruption with Gerald, the sea lions introduce the clownfish to Becky, a black loon. She takes Marlin and Nemo into the institute via green bucket Fluke and Rubber trade Gerald access to their rock for.

Hank and Dory make their way through the Aquarium in a push pram, ending up in a touching tank, where Hank scares off the children poking them by releasing ink, and they find the Open Ocean Exhibit.

Dory gives her tag to Hank and heads into the exhibit, following a trail of shells left by her parents when she was a child to her old home, remembering various little snippets of their lives along the way. When she reaches the home, she remembers her mother crying, and, while finding a purple shell (her mom's favourite) to cheer her up, gets sucked into the undertow and out of a pipe, separated from her parents.

She meets two small crabs, who inform her that all blue tangs, like herself, are tagged and taken to quarantine to be shipped to their own exhibit in Cleveland. The two crabs tell her she can get to quarantine through the pipes, and Dory heads off in pursuit of her parents.

Dory gets lost inside the pipes, forgetting the directions the crab gave her, but Destiny hears her, and with the help of Bailey, who relearns to use his echo location with encouragement from Destiny, guides Dory to quarantine, bumping into Nemo and Marlin along the way.

Dory worries that her parents won't want to her see, but Marlin reassures her that her parents will be thrilled to see her, recounting on how Dory has helped him and Nemo in their lives, apologising for not appreciating her enough. As they continue their search, Nemo asks his dad if they'll have to say goodbye to Dory, to which Marlin replies that they will.

The gang make it to quarantine and hop through tanks to reach the blue tangs, who're waiting to be packed into the transport truck to Cleveland, until they bump into the side of a tank being lifted and get knocked into a mop bucket. Hank rescues them with a glass beaker and tells them they have three minutes to get everyone out before he leaves for Cleveland with the quarantined fish.

In the tank, the other blue tangs are shocked to see Dory. When she asks where her parents are the other fish tells them that a young Dory disappeared, and that her parents went to quarantine to look for her, only for them to never return.

Dory is shocked at the news and believing her parents to be dead zones out as the tank is taken, Hank rescues her from the tank, leaving Marlin and Nemo behind by accident. Distracted by being spotted by a human, Hank drops the beaker that contains Dory, smashing it and causing Dory to be dropped down into a drain, and flushed out back into to ocean. Dory panics, asking other fish for help in finding "them", her memory problem making her forget who she was looking for. Asking herself what Dory would do, she begins to look around, heading to a kelp field. She despairs, remarking that there's nothing but kelp, until she spots some shells in the sand. Remembering that following shells would bring her home when she younger, she follows the trail to see more trails of shells, all leading to the same point. At this point Dory looks around, finally finding her parents. They have an emotional reunion, with Dory apologising for her problem (her memory loss) and remarking that she's tried to fix it. Her parents reassure her that she has nothing to apologise for and that she's finally found them and they'd been waiting for all all this time, making shell trails to guide her home.

When they ask her if she'd been by herself for all that time, she remembers Marlin and Nemo, and that they've been taken to the truck.

Inside the truck, Marlin and Nemo ask if anyone saw where Dory went, spotting a fish they think is Dory, until it turns out to be Hank in disguise. He apologises for losing her as the truck doors close. Dory, in the ocean, heads back towards the Institute with her parents to rescue her friends, recounting their tales from Finding Nemo along the way. Jenny and Charlie don't think that they'll be able to help, but Dory says that she misses them and that they're family, convincing them to help.

Dory says that meeting Marlin and Nemo was destiny, reminding her of the whale, Destiny, who she calls to. Inside their enclosure, Destiny and Bailey hear Dory and escape their tanks, leaping over a wall, to help her. Fluke and Rubber leave their rock to follow them, joining in on the chase to stop the quarantine truck as it heads towards the freeway.

At a bridge, Dory asks a group of otters for help in stopping traffic, and tells Destiny to flip her up onto the truck when she asks. Dory's parents worry that she's leaving them again, but she tells them even if she forgets, she can find them again.

Destiny flips Dory up onto the bridge where the group of otters are waiting, one of them catching her in its paws. She instructs the otters to have a cuddle party, stopping the traffic on the bridge, which includes the quarantine truck.

The otters break into the quarantine truck, reuniting Dory with Marlin and Nemo, as well as Hank, who scoops her up and drops her back into the tank of blue tang. Nemo tells Dory he thought they'd never see her again, but she remarks that she couldn't live without the rest of her family. Marlin calls Becky for help, but she leaves Dory behind, dropping Marlin and Nemo into the Ocean with the rest of the gang. He manages to send Becky back for Dory, inside the truck, where Hank tried to say his goodbyes. Dory tells him that he isn't going to "the Cleveland" and is instead coming to the ocean to live with her. He argues, but Dory convinces him to come with her instead. As they try to leave the trucks doors close, and it drives off with them still inside.

Hank and Dory escape through the roof of the truck and get into the cabin, where Hank attempts to drive the truck. They escape, driving the wrong way back down the freeway, hitting a roadblock before veering off and driving the whole truck into the ocean, freeing all the other fish, and Becky, as well.

Dory, along with Marlin, Nemo, and her parents, head back to reef, where they play a game of hide and seek, although Dory forgets what it is they were doing, she remembers and finds both pairs, along with Nemo's class. Destiny and Bailey pop out, remarking that Dory hadn't found them, as Hank gathers the class back up. A student enquires after Mr Ray, who we find out has gone to join in the stingray migration. Hank remarks that if Mr Ray is smart, he'll stay away for a long time, and until he's back, Hank is the teacher. Bailey asks who wants to learn about echo location, to which the students groan.

Dory's parents leave for a swim, and when Marlin asks Dory if they're going home, she remarks that she's going to the drop-off. Marlin panics, thinking she's going to swim off again, and follows her, stopping her to ask if it's a good idea. She tells him that she's going to enjoy the view, and he lets her go, although he follows her.

At the drop-off, Dory and Marlin enjoy the view, and Marlin says that Dory has done it. We flash back briefly to Dory and her parents, who tell her she can do anything. Dory agrees, and Marlin says that it really is quite a view, to which Dory remarks "unforgettable."

Back in California, the Tank Gang is revealed still stuck in their bags, and they are spotted by the MLI rescuers.

Cast

 * Ellen DeGeneres as Dory, a Pacific regal blue tang.
 * Sloane Murray and Lucia Geddes voice Dory at younger ages.
 * Albert Brooks as Marlin, a clownfish and Nemo's father
 * Hayden Rolence as Nemo, a clownfish and Marlin's son
 * Ed O'Neill as Hank, an ill-tempered seven-armed octopus
 * Kaitlin Olson as Destiny, a whale shark
 * Ty Burrell as Bailey, a beluga whale
 * Diane Keaton as Jenny, Dory's mother
 * Eugene Levy as Charlie, Dory's father
 * Idris Elba as Fluke, a sea lion
 * Dominic West as Rudder, a sea lion
 * Bob Peterson as Mr. Ray, a spotted eagle ray, the school bus of the class, and the teacher of the class
 * Andrew Stanton as Crush, a Green sea turtle
 * Bennett Dammann as Squirt, Crush's son He was voiced by Nicholas Bird in the first film.
 * Bill Hader as Husband Fish (Stan), a kelp bass
 * Kate McKinnon as Wife Fish, a kelp bass.
 * Torbin Xan Bullock as Becky
 * Sigourney Weaver as herself
 * Willem Dafoe as Gill
 * Vicki Lewis as Deb
 * Brad Garrett as Bloat
 * Allison Janney as Peach
 * Austin Pendleton as Gurgle
 * Stephen Root as Bubbles
 * Jerome Ranft as Jacques, a cleaner shrimp from the first movie In that film, he was voiced by his brother, the late Joe Ranft.
 * John Ratzenberger as Bill, a crab
 * Angus MacLane as "Charlie Back and Forth", a sunfish
 * Alexander Gould as Carl
 * Katherine Ringgold as a chickenfish

Synopsis
From the official Disney press release: Finding Dory will be focused on the amnesiac character Dory, and will explore the idea of her being reunited with her family.

It will take place one year after Finding Nemo and be set off the coast of California.

During the Cannes Festival, Lasseter revealed details. The adventure would include a dip through the Pacific Ocean where shipping containers have fallen off boats, a frightening encounter with a giant squid, wading past a kelp forest on California's northern coastline; and new friends in the form of an octopus and a whale-shark named Destiny. "She thinks she's a whale, but she's actually a shark," Lasseter said.

"BURBANK, Calif. (April 2, 2013) – When Dory said "just keep swimming" in 2003's Oscar®-winning film Finding Nemo, she could not have imagined what was in store for her (not that she could remember). Ellen DeGeneres, voice of the friendly-but-forgetful blue tang fish, revealed details today about Disney•Pixar's Finding Dory —an all-new big-screen adventure diving into theaters on Nov. 25, 2015.

"I have waited for this day for a long, long, long, long, long, long time," said DeGeneres. "I'm not mad it took this long. I know the people at Pixar were busy creating Toy Story 16. But the time they took was worth it. The script is fantastic. And it has everything I loved about the first one: It’s got a lot of heart, it's really funny, and the best part is—it's got a lot more Dory."

Director and Pixar veteran Andrew Stanton takes audiences back to the extraordinary underwater world created in the original film. "There is no Dory without Ellen," said Stanton. "She won the hearts of moviegoers all over the world—not to mention our team here at Pixar. One thing we couldn't stop thinking about was why she was all alone in the ocean on the day she met Marlin. In Finding Dory, she will be reunited with her loved ones, learning a few things about the meaning of family along the way."

According to Stanton, Finding Dory takes place about a year after the first film, and features returning favorites Marlin, Nemo and the Tank Gang, among others. Set in part along the California coastline, the story also welcomes a host of new characters, including a few who will prove to be a very important part of Dory's life.

Finding Nemo won the 2003 Academy Award® for Best Animated Feature; the film was nominated for three additional Oscars® (Best Writing, Original Screenplay; Best Music, Original Score; Best Sound Editing). It was also nominated for a Golden Globe® Award for Best Motion Picture–Comedy or Musical. In 2008, the American Film Institute named Finding Nemo among the top ten greatest animated films ever made. At the time of its release, Finding Nemo was the highest grossing G-rated movie of all time. It is currently the fourth highest grossing animated film worldwide. The film has more than 16 million Likes on Facebook, and Dory—with more than 24 million—is the most Liked individual character from a Disney or Disney•Pixar film.

DeGeneres' distinctive comic voice has resonated with audiences from her first stand-up comedy appearances through her work today on television, in film and in the literary world. Her syndicated talk show, "The Ellen DeGeneres Show," is in its 10th season and has earned 38 Daytime Emmy® Awards. DeGeneres has won 12 People's Choice Awards and the Teen Choice Award for Choice Comedian for three consecutive years. Additionally, her show won two Genesis Awards and a GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Talk Show Episode. For her unforgettable turn as Dory, DeGeneres was nominated for an MTV Movie Award for Best Comedic Performance."

- Press release

Production
In 2005, after disagreements between Disney's Michael Eisner and Pixar's Steve Jobs over the distribution of Pixar's films, Disney announced that they would be creating a new animation studio, Circle 7 Animation, to make sequels to the seven Disney-owned Pixar films (which consisted of the films released between 1995 and 2006). The studio had put Toy Story 3 and Monsters, Inc. 2 in development, and had also hired screenwriter Laurie Craig to write a draft for Finding Nemo 2. Circle 7 was subsequently shut down after Robert Iger replaced Eisner as CEO of Disney and arranged the acquisition of Pixar.

In July 2012, it was reported that Andrew Stanton was developing a sequel to Finding Nemo, with Victoria Strouse writing the script and a schedule to be released in 2016. However, the same day the news of a potential sequel broke, director Andrew Stanton posted a message on his personal Twitter calling into question the accuracy of these reports. The message said, "Didn't you all learn from Chicken Little? Everyone calm down. Don't believe everything you read. Nothing to see here now. #skyisnotfalling"

According to the report by The Hollywood Reporter published in August 2012, Ellen DeGeneres was in negotiations to reprise her role of Dory. In September 2012, it was confirmed by Stanton saying: "What was immediately on the list was writing a second Carter movie. When that went away, everything slid up. I know I'll be accused by more sarcastic people that it's a reaction to Carter not doing well, but only in its timing, but not in its conceit." In February 2013, it was confirmed by the press that Albert Brooks would reprise the role of Marlin in the sequel.

In April 2013, Disney announced the sequel Finding Dory for November 25, 2015, confirming that Ellen DeGeneres and Albert Brooks would be reprising their roles as Dory and Marlin, respectively. Ellen has made a long campaign for a sequel on The Ellen DeGeneres Show.

In a Los Angeles Times interview, Stanton talked about the sequel's origin: "There was polite inquiry from Disney (about a Finding Nemo sequel). I was always 'No sequels, no sequels.' But I had to get on board from a VP standpoint. (Sequels) are part of the necessity of our staying afloat, but we don't want to have to go there for those reasons. We want to go there creatively, so we said (to Disney), 'Can you give us the timeline about when we release them? Because we'd like to release something we actually want to make, and we might not come up with it the year you want it.'"

The film's ending was revised after Pixar executives viewed Blackfish, a documentary film which focuses on dangers of keeping orca whales in captivity. Initially, some of the characters would end in a SeaWorld-like marine park, but the revision gave them an option to leave. On September 18, 2013, it was announced that the film would be pushed back to a June 17, 2016 release. Pixar's The Good Dinosaur was moved to the November 25, 2015 slot in order to allow more time for production of the film.

On March 17, 2016, Michael Sheen revealed that his character had been deleted from the film.

On April 13, 2016, the first 27 minutes of the film were shown at Cinemacon.

Release
Finding Dory was released on June 17, 2016, marking the 30th anniversary of Pixar.

Soundtrack
The soundtrack is to be released on the same date as the film, and will include Sia's cover version of "Unforgettable".

International Release Dates

 * Argentina - June 16, 2016
 * Chile - June 16, 2016
 * Peru - June 16, 2016
 * Mexico - July 15, 2016
 * United States - June 17, 2016
 * France - June 22, 2016
 * The Netherlands - June 29, 2016
 * Brazil - June 30, 2016
 * Hong Kong - July 14, 2016
 * Japan - July 16, 2016
 * United Kingdom - July 22, 2016
 * Indonesia - June 16, 2016
 * Greece - September 1, 2016
 * Italy - September 14, 2016
 * Germany - September 29, 2016
 * China - June 16, 2016

Box office
Finding Dory has grossed $311.2 million in North America and $111.9 million in other territories for a worldwide total of $423.1 million, against a budget of $200 million. It had a worldwide opening of $185.7 million, which is the second biggest of all time for an animated film behind only, Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs ($218.4 million), and an IMAX global opening of $6.4 million.

North America
In the United States and Canada, Finding Dory opened on June 17, 2016, alongside Central Intelligence, with projections having the film grossing $110–120 million  in its opening weekend, with some estimates going as high as $130 million. It received the widest release for a Pixar film (4,305 theaters, breaking Brave 's record), of which 3,200 venues were in 3D, along with 425 premium large format locales, approximately 100 IMAX theaters and a handful of Dolby Cinema sites. It was Fandango's top pre-selling animated film of all time, outselling the previous record-holder, Minions. The film grossed $9.2 million from Thursday night previews, a record for both Pixar and any animated film, and $54.9 million on its opening day, marking both the biggest opening day and single-day for an animated film. This also marks the first time that an animated film has grossed over $50 million in a single day. It went on to gross $135.1 million in its opening weekend, finishing first at the box office and setting the record for the highest opening weekend for an animated film (breaking Shrek the Third 's record) and the third biggest adjusted for inflation. It is also the second highest opening for Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures behind Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest 's $135.6 million that isn't a Marvel film or Star Wars: The Force Awakens and is the studio's seventh-biggest debut overall. It also became the the fifth animated film and the fourth film of 2016 to open above $100 million. Morever, its opening also marked the second biggest for the month of June, behind only Jurassic World. Its opening was 93.8% above Finding Nemo 's $70.2 million debut. It further broke the record for the biggest PLF and Cinemark XD opening for an animated film with $10.4 million and $2.6 million respectively. In IMAX, it made $5 million from 211 IMAX theaters, the third best animated IMAX opening, behind Zootopia ($5.2 million) and Toy Story 3 ($8.4 million).

Following its record breaking openings, it scored the biggest Pixar Monday by grossing $19.5 million, breaking Toy Story 3 's $15.6 million, and the best Monday in June for an animated film. However, among all animated films, it is second, behind only Shrek 2 which made $23.4 million on its first Monday. And also, the biggest Tuesday for an animated film with $23.1 million, besting Minions 's $16.8 million. It jumped 18.5% over its Monday gross, a rare achievement for a film. It crossed the $200 million mark in its first seven days, becoming the first (and fastest) animated film to pass the said milestone in just a week.

Outside North America
Outside North America, Finding Dory was released across 29 countries – which is 32% of its entire international release territories – the same weekend as its U.S. premiere. It made an estimated $50.7 million to take the No. 1 spot at the international box office. It had the biggest opening of all time for a Disney/Pixar film in Australia ($7.7 million), the Philippines ($2.1 million), Singapore ($1.3 million), India ($1 million), Indonesia, Peru and Central America and in Russia it opened with $3.19 million, and the second biggest in Argentina ($3.5 million), and that’s despite amidst the country's Copa America soccer match and Colombia ($2.1 million), behind Monsters University.

In China, where Pixar films have been struggling to find broad audiences and accrue lucrative revenues, the film was projected to make around $30 million in its opening weekend. The film ended up grossing $17.7 million – the highest Pixar opening in the country's history – debuting in second place, behind Warcraft.

Critical Response
Finding Dory has received positive reviews from critics. The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes gave the film an approval rating of 94%, based on 194 reviews, with an average rating of 7.7/10. On Metacritic the film has a score of 77 out of 100, based on 48 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews."

Trivia

 * This is the second Pixar sequel/prequel to not have the same name as the original with a number after it, with the first one being Monsters University.
 * Finding Nemo is the fourth Pixar film to become a franchise, after Toy Story, Cars and Monsters, Inc.
 * This is the third Pixar movie to have a female protagonist, after Brave and Inside Out.
 * This is the third Pixar sequel/prequel to have the co-star from the first film become the protagonist, after Cars 2 (Mater) and Monsters University (Mike).
 * The movie is rated PG.
 * It is the sixth Pixar film with the PG rating. This is unlike the original Finding Nemo, which was rated G by the MPAA.
 * It is also the first PG-rated Pixar sequel.
 * It received the basis of "'Mild thematic elements".
 * It's because the rating system is more strict.
 * The song that plays during the first trailer is called "Beyond the Sea", which has already been featured in the credits of Finding Nemo.
 * The song that plays during the second trailer is "Solsbury Hills" by Peter Gabriel.
 * Gabriel has previously interpreted "Down to Earth", which plays during the credits for WALL-E.
 * Ed O'Neill and Ty Burrell, who play Hank and Bailey respectively, are in the series, Modern Family, as Jay Pritchett and Phil Dunphy, respectively.
 * This is the fifth closing music of Disney and Pixar logos since A Bug's Life, Toy Story 2, Monsters, Inc. and Toy Story 3.
 * Dory is seen addressing Marlin by his name for the first time and also, she never gets Nemo's name wrong.
 * Hank and his penchant for escaping is based on the fact that octopuses are some of the smartest and most intelligent invertebrates around and many Octopuses in aquariums have a penchant for escaping from their pens or tanks. The latest example being Inky from the New Zealand Aquarium.
 * Gerald and his bucket could be a pun on the a sea lion and his "I has a BUKETTT!!!!" and then "I has no BUKETT!!!" meme that was popular several years ago.
 * In the scene where Marlin and Nemo are stuck in the tank with the other blue tang, one tang is wearing a tag that says "1995" and another wears one that says "2015" which denotes Pixar's first movie Toy Story and its latest movie before Finding Dory, The Good Dinosaur.