Finding Dory, the sequel to the smash hit Finding Nemo, shows that Pixar hasn’t lost the things that made them great in the first place.
Pixar has a pretty solid pedigree. Even at their worst, their films are pretty much better than anything else on screen. But busting out a sequel 13 years after the original film and having it be successful? That’s a tall order even for the highly respected animation giant.
Finding Nemo was massive smash at the box office and was loved by any critic still in possession of a soul not consumed by bitterness. Marlon the clownfish’s journey to find his missing son was an expertly told story with vibrant characters and heart-wrenching moments. Along the way, Marlon meets another fish named Dory, a regal blue tang, who has short term memory issues. She helps him rescue his son and returns home with them. Set a year later, Finding Dory is about the clownfish duo helping her reconnect with own family after she finally remembers she has one.
But does the sequel hold up to the original? Emphatically yes.
This is easily one of the best animated features in the last decade, which is saying something in a year that also saw another John Lasseter produced film named Zootopia hit screens. And like Zootopia, Finding Dory will be another box office monster.
The animation in this film is gorgeous. The technology has advanced greatly since the first film, which still holds up visually, but Pixar has taken full advantage those changes. This is easily one of the best looking films they’ve ever produced. The incredible visuals are highlighted in the character of Hank the seven armed octopus, voiced by Ed O’Neill of Married with Children and Modern Family fame. His movements are fluid and believable, and his color changing camouflage techniques are a stunning achievement. But he’s also a great example of another of Pixar’s great skills.
The development team at Pixar is incredibly talented at creating characters that draw you right in. That includes every step from each character’s individual conceptualization all the way to their execution, and in particular casting the right voices. Among other returning cast members, Ellen Degeneres is back the role of Dory and she does it well. She infuses the character with joy, optimism, suffering, hope, fear, and love, all at the same time. Her performance stood out in the first film for a reason and it’s just gotten better in the second.
Oddly enough, one of the best examples of how great they are at creating amazing characters is a common loon named Becky. She never says a word. In fact, there is quite obviously something wrong with this bird. But the Pixar crew find a way to make her one of the most interesting, engaging, and loveable characters in the film. When she is on the screen, you are fully engrossed in her character. Period.
The key to Pixar’s success has always been not putting the technology ahead of either the characters or the story. All three are developed in unison, to consistent success. The same is true in this film.
In Finding Dory, Pixar found a way to balance what made the first film work with new concepts and new characters to create something original in the context of the world created first film. Finding Dory is a completely different film from Finding Nemo while staying true to the world it created.
One is not simply a rehashing of the other.
Pixar is an animation giant. Even those movies that aren’t box office gold are still better than 90% of the movies you’re going to see that year. And it would be easy to find fault with this movie, to pick at plot holes and other issues. But I just can’t. Finding Dory is just too enjoyable, too engaging. It’s one of those films that you walk out of smiling, and you’re better for having watched it. Before walking into it I thought Zootopia was a shoe in for an animation Oscar. Now, it looks like it’ll have some solid competition.
And definitely stay to the end of the credits. The after credits scene answers one big question left over from the first film. It might be my favorite post-credits scene since Nick Fury stopped in to talk to Iron Man about the Avengers.
See Finding Dory. There isn’t any rust on this franchise.