If there has ever been a better voice performance in an animated film than Ellen DeGeneres’ in Pixar’s wonderful sequel “Finding Dory,” I sure can’t think of it. Her tour de force even surpasses Robin Williams in “Aladdin.”
Reprising the role of Dory — the irrepressible bright blue tang with short-term memory loss whom DeGeneres played mostly as a comic-relief sidekick in “Finding Nemo” 13 years ago — the actress not only deploys sharp comic timing but executes a deep, poignant dive into issues of loss that will bring tears to your eyes.
The film opens with a flashback to Dory’s childhood, as her protective parents (voiced by Eugene Levy and Diane Keaton) try to help her thrive despite her disability. Then she wanders off and loses them.
We know from “Finding Nemo” that Dory eventually forgets her parents altogether, finding a surrogate in the form of Marlin (Albert Brooks), the neurotic clownfish whom she helps reunite with his missing son, Nemo (Hayden Rolence replaces the now-adult Alexander Gould for the sequel).
A year later, the three of them are living happily on Australia’s Great Barrier Reef when Dory starts recovering fragmentary flashes of memory that convince her she was born in captivity in far-off California.
A worthy sequel, it falls slightly short of being the masterpiece that the groundbreaking “Finding Nemo” was. But I don’t think anybody will be complaining.
Adoptive parent Marlin is reluctant, to say the least, but eventually he and Nemo join in Dory’s obsessive quest to find her parents. This parallels the story in the first film but — as the title hints — is also a journey of self-discovery for Dory, whose cheeriness masks deep sadness, guilt and self-doubt.
Her epic search — which is played out on a much larger scale than its predecessor — takes them to a massive aquarium/rescue-and-recovery operation where the ever-resourceful Dory is separated from her surrogate family (who have to ask themselves, “What would Dory do?”).
Marlin’s temporary replacement is the equally grumpy Hank (a very funny Ed O’Neill), a seven-legged octopus who grudgingly helps Dory only because she can give him a tag that’s his ticket to a Cincinnati aquarium where he wants to live peacefully in a tank.
The slinky, shape-shifting, color-changing Hank — who gets many great sight gags — is one of Pixar Animation’s greatest creations ever. Among many other aquatic standouts are Destiny (Kaitlin Olson), a nearsighted whale shark whom Dory remembers from her childhood, and her friend Bailey (Ty Burrell), a beluga whale who must overcome doubts about his biological sonar when the terrified Dory is forced to navigate the aquarium’s labyrinthine system of pipes.
Flawlessly directed, like its predecessor, by Andrew Stanton (with an assist from co-director Angus MacLane), the mesmerizingly beautiful “Finding Dory” gently tugs at your heart en route to a hilariously spectacular chase climax. A worthy sequel, it falls slightly short of being the masterpiece that the groundbreaking “Finding Nemo” was. But I don’t think anybody will be complaining.