After 13 years of built up fan expectations, the recent release of Disney Pixar’s Finding Dory could be described as going swimmingly (blatant Disney-esque pun intended). It is an average family film focused on celebrating differences as Dory’s challenges with her short term memory progress the plot.
Finding Dory follows a structure that all ages can sit through, watch and simply enjoy. It works in true Disney fashion: it’s an adorable cartoon sprinkled with little bits of hidden adult humour.
However, in 2016, a time where removing the stigma around mental health is a current issue, Finding Dory seemed surprisingly scholastic.
It was not an obvious notion back in the early 2000s, but now it is apparent: the comic relief for the child abduction in Finding Nemo was a fish’s inability to remember –the film made jokes at the expense of a mental disability.
Dory’s endearment to audiences stemmed from her chronic short term memory loss, or as she refers to it as “short-term remember-y loss.” Both films continually make light witticism and hilarity at Dory’s expense.
In a less comical demeanor, other Finding Dory characters live with different types of impairment. This includes a whale shark with limited vision, a beluga with failing echolocation, and even a seven-legged octopus. This unusual mishmash of qualities adds a familiar dynamic to the plot, and preaches the cliché lesson to accept one another.
However, one must not look cynically towards this movie. The beauty of Finding Dory is that during her adventure, Dory sees the talents of these fish that may be overlooked by others. Her mind works in its own “Dory way”, as her mother Jenny (Diane Keaton) remark
Another stand-out aspect of the film is derived from the energy given off by the personality of Ellen DeGeneres, who voices Dory. Being a talk show host and comedian certainly helps DeGeneres, as she adds another layer to the film with her giddy, daffy and capricious antics.
She cleverly masks the underlying morals of living with a disability for most kids so that Finding Dory doesn’t explain it in patronizing detail. Overall it suggests a “believe in yourself” theme but with a more realistic approach.
Dory learns how to cope, accept herself and succeed on her own terms on her journey to find her parents through the movie. Too many child-friendly, or “G-rated” films project generic tropes, but it was refreshing to look at the series with an older and more critical perspective.
Compliments should also be given to the animators of Finding Dory alongside writers and directors Andrew Stanton and Angus MacLane.
Baby Dory will forever go down in history as the cutest fish in history, and that is an accomplishment after the character of Nemo from the earlier films. Also, the vibrant colours of the reef and ocean outdo any animated film. No wonder it took thirteen years.
Truly a lively film, Finding Dory reflected 2016’s condition: bringing an unexpected constructive spin on individuality and disability. Let’s just hope that if there is a threequel to come (as hinted after the credits), it does not take as long.
