"Oceans of Family Fun"
What You Need To Know:
FINDING DORY is delightful, unforgettable journey. Along the way, some new friends show up. The result is a whimsical, funny adventure filled with oceans of fun for the whole family. Best of all, FINDING DORY retains the optimistic, joyful vision moviegoers grew to love in FINDING NEMO. It celebrates friends and family, including mommies AND daddies. FINDING DORY shows that helping others is always the right thing to do, no matter what it takes.
Content:
(BBB, V, M) Very strong moral worldview validating family, parental love, helping others because it’s the right thing to do, optimism, perseverance, and friendship; no foul language (one use of “darn”); very light cartoon violence such as bumping one’s head, characters in danger of being swept away or getting lost, fish jump out of water, vehicles almost crash, one vehicle does crash, but no one gets hurt; no sex; no nudity; no smoking or drugs; and, at a marine zoo two women are briefly associated with one baby carriage, but it’s very quick and subtle, and other parts of the movie (especially regarding the title character’s circumstances) more strongly suggest that every child deserves (and needs) both a mommy AND a daddy.
More Detail:
FINDING DORY, the animated sequel to the classic family movie FINDING NEMO, shows Dory suddenly remembering she has a mommy and a daddy and getting help from her friends, both old and new, to reunite with them. FINDING DORY is another heartwarming, funny, whimsical fish story from Pixar and Disney showing that family and friends make life worth living.
Taking place one year after FINDING NEMO, the movie opens with Dory enjoying her new life with Marlin, his son Nemo and all the other fish on the beautiful coral reef somewhere in the Pacific Ocean. Dory suddenly remembers she has a mommy and a daddy and a home somewhere, but where? Dory can’t totally remember because she suffers from short-term memory loss.
All is not lost, however. Dory does remember one cryptic clue (“the jewel of Morro Bay”), but the clue would take her all the way across the Pacific Ocean to the California coast. Nemo urges Marlin to help Dory. Though he’s afraid to cross the ocean again, Marlin knows a guy, his sea turtle friend, Crush.
Their search leads them to the Monterey Marine Life Institute, “the jewel of Morro Bay.” However, Marlin and Nemo get separated from Dory. Dory must get help from a sly but grumpy octopus named Hank with only seven arms, while Marlin and Nemo get help from a couple lazy sea lions as they try to rescue Dory.
Will Dory ever find her parents? Will Dory’s friends lose Dory forever?
As one might expect, FINDING DORY is another delightful, unforgettable journey, but with old friends. Along the way, some new friends show up for the party. The result is a whimsical, funny adventure filled with oceans of fun for the whole family. FINDING DORY may not reach the heights of FINDING NEMO, which remains one of the most beloved animated movies of all time. However, it’s hard to be disappointed with such a fun, friendly and heartwarming movie.
Best of all, FINDING DORY retains the optimistic, joyful vision moviegoers grew to love in FINDING NEMO. It celebrates family, including mommies AND daddies. At one point, Dory expresses the fear that her parents will be angry because she forgot about them, but her fears are totally unwarranted. In fact, her parents have been thinking about nothing else than finding their daughter again and welcoming her with open arms, er, fins. The upshot of this theme is that FINDING DORY shows that every child deserves a mommy and a daddy who cares about him or her.
Beyond that, FINDING DORY shows that helping others is always the right thing to do. It also shows the power of optimism and perseverance, the kind of optimism and perseverance that’s beautifully summed up by Dory’s repeated motto, “Keep on swimming!”
Finally, FINDING DORY also celebrates friendship. Dory can rely on her friends as much as she can rely on her family. They never let her down, a quality that all true friends eventually display.
All in all, FINDING DORY is one of the better, most enjoyable, most positive animated movies to come along in the last couple years.