Is Finding Dory As Good As Finding Nemo?

My husband, daughter, and I saw Finding Dory (2016) over the holiday weekend. I LOVE Finding Nemo (2003), so I was really looking forward to this sequel. And I really didn’t know what to expect, except that Dory would forget everything immediately.

Piper

Before the movie, they ran the 6-minute Pixar short “Piper (2016),” which was really cute. At first I wasn’t sure what was happening. It was set on a beach by the ocean, so I wasn’t figuring out right away that this wasn’t Dory, it was a cute little bonus. The little piper learns a lesson that changes it’s perspective, and we can all learn something from it.

Cupcake

Finding Dory starts out with Dory as a cute little “Cupcake,” as her daddy calls her. We see how little Dory tries so hard to remember things, and how her parents try so hard to help her. And surely, a few memories come back to grown-up Dory in bits and pieces, which sets her on a journey to find the family she misses so much.

Old Friends Are Back

Surprise! Nemo and Marlin are back to help, and we meet some new, and old friends along the way. We all agreed our favorite character was Hank–voiced by Ed O’Neill, a sept-o-pus (an octopus that lost an arm) who made a big difference in how everything turned out. Dory was her usual sweet and funny self, and Ellen DeGeneres was superb as her voice (Dory even looks a little like Ellen!). Oh, and look for Darla, the little girl from the dentist’s office in Finding Nemo who accidentally kills all her pet fish, in one of the scenes at the aquarium.

I’m still absorbing, but I walked out feeling like, as much as I loved Finding Dory, I loved Finding Nemo just a little more. I just felt a little more connected to the characters. And apparently, IMDB agrees as Finding Nemo gets 8.1 out of 10 stars, and Dory gets 7.9. However, seeing Dory another time or two could change my mind. Dory is well worth the watch, for sure.

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