SPOILER ALERT
There is always skepticism when it comes to movie sequels, especially that of Disney movie sequels. Walt himself never believed in making sequels, so there were never any produced during his time. And people realized he was right after Disney Animation Studios released The Rescuers Down Under in 1990. The Rescuers was the most successful movie produced after Disney's death in the 60s, so it was a likely candidate for a sequel. However, the sequel ended up being the worst preforming Disney movie of the 1990s. From then on out, all sequels were produced and released by Disney Toon Studios. They had low budgets, and most were released straight to DVD.
Pixar even received bad reviews on one of its sequels, Cars 2. So a lot of moviegoers were skeptical when it came to Finding Dory. But Pixar also made some really great sequels, such as Monsters University, Toy Story 2 and Toy Story 3 (you're lying if you say you didn't cry at TS3). Finding Nemo is also one of Pixar's best preforming movies of all time. It has a nearly perfect score of 99% on Rotten Tomatoes.
So with the combined knowledge of Disney notoriously bad sequels and the success of the OG Finding Nemo, I really didn't know what to expect with Finding Dory.
I was blown away.
Finding Dory included stellar animation, distinct characters, comedic moments, a captivating plot and tear-jerking moments. I cried twice during the movie. Once during Dory's reunion with her parents, and once because I was laughing so hard at the slow-mo truck dumping all of the fish back into the ocean. That is my personal criteria of a good movie; I cry at an emotional scene and I cry laughing at a funny scene.
This sequel had a perfect blend of old characters and new characters. We see appearances from Mr. Ray, Crush and Squirt, and the seagulls. And we got introduced to more memorable characters such as Hank, Becky, and of course, the sea lions (GERALD!). Their "Off! Off! Off!" was an alternative to the seagulls' "Mine! Mine! Mine!" My favorites were Destiny and Bailey.
Destiny and Bailey are a prime example of opposites coming together, just like Marlin and Dory. Destiny and Bailey bicker in the beginning, but they end up helping each other out. Destiny teaches Bailey how to use his echo-location, and then Bailey uses his echo-location to help the near-sighted Destiny in return. These two are another iconic duo to add to Pixar's list that includes Woody and Buzz, Wall-E and Eve and Mike and Sulley.
I was absolutely captivated by the overall theme of the movie. Dory is told all her life that she is incapable of doing things normally because of her disability. Her short-term memory always gets in the way. Sometimes other fish just laugh at her, sometimes she ends up accidentally hurting others. But Dory always has the best intentions, and she always keeps optimistic about life. Just keep swimming, just keep swimming... Throughout her life, Dory needs help. Her parents had to keep a close eye on her when she was a baby, and without Marlin she'd still be lost. She needs the help of Crush, Hank, the hermit crabs, and the other Blue Tanks. And even then she doesn't find her parents. It isn't until she is dumped back into the ocean, all alone and the memories escaping her that she slowly finds her parents...all by herself. For years, people have been complaining that Disney should make a Princess that is bald for the girls who have cancer or a Princess that is blind or missing a limb or in a wheelchair. But now there's Dory. She was able to accomplish what she wanted to do despite her disability.
What I liked best about the plot was how difficult it was for Dory to find her parents. Every time you think she's close, you find out that there's one more place Dory has to go. Pixar definitely had fun playing on the audience's emotions in this aspect, and we wouldn't have it any other way.
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