Whenever I hear about a movie sequel coming out more than a decade after the original, I always have so many questions I would like to ask the filmmakers. Why now? How come it took so long? What makes now a better time than a decade ago? Rarely, do movie lovers get those questions answered, but during a recent media event at the Monterey Bay Aquarium, a select group of bloggers and I got just that opportunity with Andrew Stanton, the director of Finding Dory and the film’s producer Lindsey Collins.
Andrew Stanton (Director) and Lindsey Collins (Producer) at the Finding Dory Long Lead press day at the Monterey Bay Aquarium in Monterey, CA. Photo by Marc Flores. ©2016 Disney•Pixar. All Rights Reserved.
It has been no secret that Ellen DeGeneres and has wanted a Finding Nemo sequel for many, many years. When Finding Dory comes out in theaters June 17, it will have been 13 years since the release of Finding Nemo. Every time DeGeneres would mention how much she would love to do a Nemo sequel on her show, Stanton, who was also the director of Finding Nemo director, would be flooded with emails forwarding the clip. According to Stanton, “I would hear about it all the time. But you know, I know her pretty well, and I always take it with a grain of salt and laugh.”
When Stanton made Finding Nemo, he felt the story was complete. He has a practice of not watching his films right away after they are finished because all he can really see is the work that went into them. Seven years after Finding Nemo was released, he finally sat down with the film for the first time. After watching it, in spite of being in the midst of another film project, he found his thoughts trailing off to Dory… a lot. He was worried about her. What if she lost Marlin and Nemo and didn’t remember them? He had always seen her as a tragic character that used comedy to survive, and now he was left wondering what had ever happened to her in the vast oceans. He also started to think about her “back story.” In Finding Nemo, she tearfully inquires about her parents, but that’s all we hear about her past. How does she know how to speak whale? Who is her family? He knew that Dory had a “problem” (her lack of memory and personal history), and all of the sudden felt like it wasn’t OK to just leave her as a character out there in the universe who saw herself as an individual with a problem.
“I remember the next thought I had once I realized, ‘Oh, I think I’ve got a story here.’,” explains Stanton, “[was] ‘I can’t tell anybody.’ If I tell anybody, the horse will never get back in the barn. And [I’ve] got to be really careful because it’s got to be done right.
In 2010, Stanton began talking to his very closest colleagues about the crazy idea of doing and Finding Nemo sequel focusing on Dory. In 2011, he got a little more serious about it, and in 2012, he hired screenwriter Victoria Strouse and they began, in ernest, to write and develop the film.
Finding Dory picks up a year after Dory and Marlin’s journey across the ocean to find Nemo. A massive stingray migration cruises through their neighborhood, triggering Dory’s memory. “The experience is viscerally similar to an event that separated her from her parents so long ago,” says Stanton. “She’s flooded with memories and suddenly very motivated to track down her family.”
Filmmakers have tried hard to include many of the beloved characters from Finding Nemo where they made sense to advance the story. Marlon and Nemo are in the film throughout–they may not be with Dory every step of the way–but, they are always a few steps behind her in the journey. Many of the original Finding Nemo animators were back on Finding Dory.
“They were really excited to be able to get back into [Marlon],” says Lindsay Collins, Finding Dory producer. “When you spend four years with these characters, you love them. You miss them. When the animators get back in–it’s almost like they get to start talking to them again.”
The production team also sought to include similar one-liners and gags from Finding Nemo. “We found when you literally repeated stuff… we were being… safe. So, we derivate off of a couple of things, which I think ends up being the best of everything,” says Collins. “You kind of remember that gag, but you’re not literally doing that same gag.”
Finding Dory will be a movie filled with enough nods to Finding Nemo and enough new adventure and heart to make it a refreshing, yet nostalgic feel-good movie for the entire family when it opens this summer. From the scenes I’ve already seen, I can tell you that the moment it starts you are sucked right in and part of Nemo, Marlon and Dory’s underwater world, like you never left.
If you haven’t already, you simply must check out the trailer below.
I went on a press trip sponsored by the Walt Disney Studios and Pixar in order to be able to do these interviews and learn about Finding Dory. All opinions are my own.
