People are always skeptical to watch a sequel to their favorite series in fear that it won't live up to the first one. Adults, teenagers, and children all argue that "Finding Dory" blows this unease out of the water. According to The New York Times, "'Dory,' directed by Andrew Stanton and Angus MacLane, is certainly the best non-'Toy Story' sequel the studio has produced."
I think it's safe to say that our generation was most excited to see this sequel. Since "Finding Nemo" was one of my favorites as a kid (still is), the thought of another movie containing the lovable characters had me anxiously looking forward to viewing it in theaters. The movie brought in $135 million just during its opening weekend. Only three other Pixar movies have topped Dory's ticket sales: "Frozen," "The Lion King," and "Toy Story 3."
The two main elements that made the movie enjoyable were the humor and the chaos. There were few times I was not laughing while watching it. When I wasn't though, I was nearly in tears due to the sentimental and heartwarming scenes. The film was a perfect mix of life lessons such as how friends can be family, how loving parents are, how strangers can become friends, and how to "just keep swimming."
It's hard to believe such a chaotic movie can flow so well, but just like any other series, the first movie really set the stage to let Dory thrive. "Finding Nemo" exposed Dory to the viewers. Dory is a character that was admired and adored by all despite how she was so confused. Her sweet self and perseverance shined brighter than her flaws during the quest to find Nemo. Just as in "Finding Nemo," Dory's memory doesn't exactly serve her well on her new adventure of searching for her long lost family.
Ellen Degeneres, the voice of Dory, has featured many segments on her show about the film, telling people how "warm the script is," and promoting the movie to her audience members. She even had a countdown clock on her show to the release time of the movie. Ellen's devotion just goes to show that not only do teenagers think it's great, but adults do too.
Because "Finding Nemo" and "Finding Dory" were so touching, they enhanced Pixar's reputation even further. The key to creating relatable films is that they design their movies to target all types of age groups and personality types. To me, Pixar movies aren't "kid movies." Even though I'm not a kid anymore, I know I'll still be watching them when I'm 30 years old.
