By Teri Bayus ~
Finding Nemo was a favorite movie of mine until I shared it with my 2-year-old grandson and he was traumatized from the first frame when Nemo’s mother and brothers are eaten.
The rest of the movie is a child’s worst nightmare — being lost from his parent. The “child” that this movie was intended for, sobbed for days after seeing it.
I always wonder why cartoons insist on the most upsetting story lines for their movies? Bambi losses mom, dad doesn’t help, so skunks and bunnies raise him. Dumbo’s mom is jailed and buzzards raise him. Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty’s fathers die and they are stuck with an evil guardian.
Even the Little Mermaid, Ariel, doesn’t have a mom and defies her father’s rules. So with trepidation in my heart, I took my grandkids to see “Finding Dory.”
In these first few minutes of this film, Dory is talking about going home to “Morro Bay, The Crown of the Pacific.” As this is the grand’s hometown, they were thrilled that Dory wanted to come here, but wondered why I never take them to the Aquarium? This movie will do well for Morro Bay tourism, but they might be saddened to find there is no California Marine Life Institute.
I’m glad to say that despite being a sequel, Finding Dory is a solid, visually striking, and thoroughly entertaining feature. Dory (voiced by Ellen DeGeneres) returns as the blue tang fish with a heart of gold and a memory of, well, a fish.
She begins to remember where she comes from after connecting the dots of past traumas. She, along with clown fish Marlin (Albert Brooks) and Nemo (Hayden Rolence) make the long journey from Australia’s Great Barrier Reef to California in order to find her family.
Along the way to Dory’s ultimate self-discovery they meet a cast of colorful characters including a grumpy octopus named Hank (Ed O’Neill). He was my favorite of all the supporting characters whose hidden care for Dory and her ultimate goals was expressed perfectly through his brilliant character arc throughout the entire run time of the film.
A nearsighted whale shark named Destiny (Kaitlin Olsen) and a Beluga whale (Ty Burrell) add to the texture of this hero’s journey story line that was played more out of the ocean than in — that was weird for a fish’s story.
For much of the film it relies and retreads the same emotional ground as Finding Nemo did. The young Dory is practically cuteness overload; with big bug eyes nearly bulging out from the eye sockets and strategically mispronounced words that instantly paint her vulnerability, as well as Nemo’s little fin did many years ago.
Using the characteristics of the under-the-sea life (octopus camouflage and smartness, seals on the rock dreaming of being on the rock), the writers did well to further awareness of marine life and using it for plot points.
My favorite part was the original and humorous gag involving a touch pool where fingers becomes exploding landmines and the fish all experience waves of PTSD from the roaming little hands.
Finding Dory is directed by Andrew Stanton and Angus MacLane who led the team of amazing animators. Each and every fish (that matters) pops out on the screen exactly as the animators want them to. Each time the audience is supposed to see something important, we see it, thanks to the fantastic animation team working on Finding Dory.
All of the colors magnificently stand out from the overall bland backgrounds, and make the film look astounding.
Finding Dory made me laugh, giggle, cry and laugh some more. Its humor is in the characters, but the heart of the story sets it apart to reach and not traumatize kids and be fun for adults.
Teri Bayus is the Host of Taste Buds, shown on Charter Cable Ch. 10 and on Central Coast Now TV. Teri’s culinary erotic book, “Consumed,” is available at: www.amazon.com/Consumed-Teri-Bayus-ebook/dp/B016DW85PA. Dinner and a Movie is a regular feature of Tolosa Press.
