In the past, I’ve written about the labor of love (and talent) that goes into bringing an animated movie to life. Finding Dory, which will be released on June 17, is no exception. In Finding Nemo, we never knew much about Marlin’s comedic sidekick. She had short-term memory problems and spoke whale… and that’s about it. But, what ever happened to Dory after they found Nemo? Is she ok? If she can’t remember much from one minute to the next, what is the back story of her life? In Finding Dory, the audience gets to learn who Dory is and about her life, where she came from and the adventures that have made her who she is.

Bringing a story like Dory’s to life isn’t easy. First, you are dealing with a character who is already loved by so many. The production team had to be careful to bring audiences a story that would meet with their expectations and adorations for this lovable fish. Second, Dory–for all intensive purposes–has a disability. She can’t remember anything and while this can be frustrating, it’s also heartbreaking.

While I was at the Monterey Bay Aquarium for a special sneak peek of this film, I was able to attend a presentation by Finding Dory Co-Director Angus MacLane and Story Supervisor Max Brace, who explained the process of bringing Dory’s story to the big screen.

To begin, producers got together and brainstorm the story. They knew they wanted the film to take place in the “Marine Life Institute,” an aquarium much like the beloved Monterey Bay Aquarium. They brainstormed the different types of set pieces that would be fun for Dory to go to at an aquarium. One such setting is a touch pool. We’ve all experienced them and if you’ve seen kids at a touch pool, some are gentler than others.

Producers thought it would be funny to have Dory in a touch pool environment and have her react to all of those fingers and arms thrusting down into the water. The team began visiting touch pools at a variety of aquariums to see how they are built and how people interact with the pools so that they could develop gags and ideas. They had to decide its shape and the types of animals. How would the animals react? Do they love it? Hate it? The opportunities for the laughs and action were countless.

Once the different story elements are determined for a scene, the writer writes the script pages for that scene. An artist is then assigned the scene and the producers and directors discuss their “hopes and dreams” for the scene. The artist will then start taking the words on the page and turn them into the visual story telling of the film. The artist helps create how the movie will be blocked and shot. In a live action film, this same type of planning is done so that all of the camera direction is determined before the actors and production team even walk on set. Once these “storyboards” are created, they are taken back to the directors so that they can provide their ideas and give feedback on how they scene may play better on camera for the audience. Once the directors have provided their feedback and the scene is finished, the artist sits with the larger production team to go through the scene and get even more feedback. In all, 103,639 storyboards were created during the three-and-a-half-year storyboard process.

Armed with all of the feedback, the scene is “buttoned up” and sent on to the editorial team. In the meantime, the producers and directors are working on recording the “scratch” track, which are the temporary voices so the editorial team and time out the scene. The editors begin cutting together the scene with temporary voices, sound and music. The editors work with the director to refine the scene–minor or major changes may be made–ranging from changes to the dialog between the characters to cutting a scene all together if is just doesn’t work or help move the story.

The entire process is exhausting and amazing all at once. These films are a labor of love along every step of the way.

I’ve seen a number of full scenes from Finding Dory, and I cannot begin to tell you how heartwarming and wonderful it is. My family will for sure be there when the film opens on June 17!