Finding Dory, the sequel to 2003’s Finding Nemo, will pick up a few months after the original and dive in to the backstory of Dory, the forgetful fish who helped Marlin find his son. Ellen DeGeneres and Albert Brooks will return to reprise their roles, along with newcomers Diane Keaton and Eugene Levy as Dory’s parents, and Modern Family’s Ty Burrell as Bailey the whale.
At a Comic Con event in Brazil last weekend, Pixar president Jim Morris explained that Dory comes from the Marine Biology Institute of California, where most of the film will take place. Dory was set loose at a young age and she eventually made her way to Australia where she met Marlin. Andrew Stanton, who wrote and directed the original, will return with co-writer Victoria Strouse and co-director Angus MacLane. Finding Nemo won the Oscar for Best Animated Feature, the first Pixar film to receive this distinction, and was nominated for three more Academy Awards including Best Original Screenplay.
Sequels and spin-offs have been hit or miss for Pixar over the years. The Toy Story films have been massively popular with critics and audiences, though Cars 2 and Monsters University were met with less than the usual universal praise Pixar films receive. We’ll find out if short-term memory loss really does run in Dory’s family on June 17, 2016.