The premiere of "Finding Dory" brought together children and adults alike as the blue Dory we met and fell in love with in 2003 swam back onto the silver screen and back into our hearts. Watching "Finding Dory" was like welcoming home an old friend from their adventures -- they’re familiar and yet different somehow, creating the need to catch up and see what’s going on now.

The premise of this story is that Dory remembers her family through the fog of her short-term memory loss and she feels compelled to go and find her parents whom she has been unable to remember for several years. The problem is… she doesn’t know who they are or where they could possibly be.

I thought this before and I definitely thought it again after watching this movie: Pixar is pretty darn good at creating sequels. Because there are 13 years between "Finding Nemo" and "Finding Dory," it’s very clear how well-thought out "Finding Dory" is. It’s not a “get rich quick” sequel because while it’s a continuation of the story of “Finding Nemo,” Pixar recognizes that it is distinctly different from "Finding Nemo" and should be treated as such. The beginning of the film gently acknowledges the film that came before it-- revisiting old characters like Mr. Ray, Crush and Squirt the sea turtles, etc-- and even throws in shadows of some of the jokes from "Finding Nemo." But after the opening scenes, the film takes on a life of its own.

I admire this film because it really shows Pixar’s creativity and how well the story writers think outside of the box. Since these movies are ocean-based, it would be easy to think that they had to stay in the ocean. It would be too easy to think that they could only do things that fish could conceivably do (like swim across the ocean). "Finding Dory" makes very brave and imaginative choices in terms of setting and storyline. My mind was blown.

The characters were really great as well. What was noticeable in pretty much every character was that there was something about them that was considered disadvantaged. My favorite character was Destiny, who is a near-sighted whale shark. She had trouble finding her way around her living space and often bumped into walls. Bailey the beluga whale couldn’t echo-locate. And of course, Dory who has short-term memory loss. For me, the most powerful part of this film was seeing the characters with attributes that would supposedly hold them back from being successful sea creatures, overcome those challenges. They accepted that they couldn’t see very well or couldn’t remember everything or whatever was shown to challenge them and then they stepped up to those challenges and lived their lives. I thought that was powerful to send the message of “you’re perfect as you are.” There aren’t enough bits of media that spread that message.

Everyone needs to go see "Finding Dory." Come for the cuteness, come because your child or someone else’s children are making you go,and stay for the laughter and positive message.