Finding Dory Blu-ray Review
Mathew Plale
December 1st, 2016
Since helping find Nemo some years ago, Dory has…what was it, again? Oh, right. Dory (Ellen DeGeneres) has become much closer with little Nemo and her father, Marlin (Albert Brooks), serving as something of a guardian and even attending school as a teacher’s assistant.
Despite her serious case of memory loss (was she dropped on a coral reef as a child?), Dory recalls during a lesson that she once had parents herself. She dearly misses them, much like Marlin did Nemo. And so she sets off on a search for her parents (voiced by Eugene Levy and Diane Keaton) with the clownfish at her side, at least for a while. The adventure takes Dory to a marine institute off the California coast. It’s here that she encounters a series of new sea life creatures, including an octopus (septopus, really) named Hank (Ed O’Neill, ABC’s MODERN FAMILY), a directionless beluga whale named Bailey (Ty Burrell, also MODERN FAMILY) and a nearsighted shark named Destiny (Kaitlin Olson, FX’s IT’S ALWAYS SUNNY IN PHILADELPHIA).
FINDING DORY is, of course, the (inevitable) sequel to 2003’s FINDING NEMO. (The greenlight was likely helped by DeGeneres pushing it on her show every time Pixar released a movie.) That makes it the fifth sequel from the studio, who has become quite fond of follow-ups this decade. Said sequels rarely equal or surpass their predecessors—the standout here is TOY STORY 3, while CARS 2 ranks as not just lesser than the lackluster original but as the worst Pixar outing to date—so fans of FINDING NEMO will be delighted that FINDING DORY is successful in enhancing the characters, expanding the locations and, most impressively, proving capable of standing on its own.
Still, it would be fair to note that there is a lot of recycling. Yes, there are new characters (backboned with familiar voices, surely a guessing game for parents) and a clever setting, but the plot is more or less the same and the jokes delivered by the star don’t go too far past, “Hey, remember how forgetful I am?” This won’t be problematic to the younger crowd, but the parents may be wondering if Pixar itself is suffering from some sort of memory loss, or even too afraid to tinker with what fans loved about FINDING NEMO. And they shouldn’t be—consider the actual risk for the characters in TOY STORY 3; with FINDING DORY, we know that the titular fish will be just fine.
Unsurprisingly, FINDING DORY is another visually stunning addition to the Pixar brand. The water is glorious in how it shimmers and moves, the details of the sea life are wonderfully textured, the colors are vivid and mesmerizing. The Pixar team is filled with masters, here headed by director Andrew Stanton, whose most impressive work to date is still 2008’s WALL-E.
And so, even though it may occasionally come off as a rehash, FINDING DORY is a commendable outing from Pixar. It’s far from a TOY STORY, but it’s certainly got more personality and heart than any CARS.
BLU-RAY REVIEW
Video: 1.78:1 in 1080p with MPEG-4 AVC codec. This is an absolutely gorgeous transfer, with wonderful details and textures and rich colors and hues, whether in the ocean or on land. Pixar enthusiasts will be in complete awe of this transfer, which should come as no surprise considering the pristine quality of the studio’s other Blu-ray releases.
Audio: English 7.1 DTS-HD Master Audio; English 2.0 Descriptive Audio; Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital; French 5.1 Dolby Digital. Subtitles in English, Spanish and French. Likewise, the audio transfer is without any detectable flaws. The voices come through cleanly, the music is effective and the SFX provide a nice depth to the action and soundtrack.
Disc One:
Feature commentary with director Andrew Stanton, co-director Angus MacLane and producer Lindsey Collins: The trio offers an excellent and thorough commentary, reflecting in great detail on various aspects of the production. Animation fans—and Pixar aficionados in particular—will be delighted by this track.
PIPER (6:05): The stellar short film that played before FINDING DORY in theaters.
Marine Life Interviews (2:04): Offered here are mock-interviews with various characters.
The Octopus That Nearly Broke Pixar (9:05): Hank, the octopus/septopus, is the spotlight here, particularly his position as “the most complicated character” the team had to animate.
What Were We Talking About? (4:31): Various crew members discuss Dory’s short-term memory loss, including the challenges that come with having such a lead character.
Casual Carpool (3:47): Stanton, Albert Brooks, Ty Burrell and Eugene Levy take a drive around Los Angeles.
Animation & Acting (6:57) goes into the booth to see various cast members at work behind the microphone.
Deep in the Kelp (3:20): Disney Channel star Jenna Ortega hosts this piece, which briefly goes into Pixar’s research techniques.
Creature Features (3:02): Some of the cast members discuss their underwater counterparts.
Disc Two:
Behind the Scenes: There are five featurettes housed here: Skating & Sketching with Jason Deamer (4:14), with the character art director discussing his career at Pixar; Dory’s Theme (4:57), spotlighting the work of composer Tom Newman and music editor Bill Bernstein; Rough Day on the Reef (1:11), which shows off some funny computer glitches; FINDING NEMO as Told by Emoji (2:47), present in case you want to text the movie to someone; and Fish Schticks (3:35), collecting a number of amusing moments.
Living Aquariums: There are four screensavers here: Sea Grass, Open Ocean, Stingrays, Swim to the Surface.
Deleted Scenes (50:15): There are seven scenes here (only one of which is finished), which can be viewed separately or as a whole. They are: “Losing Nemo,” “Sleep Swimming,” “Little Tension in Clown Town,” “Meeting Hank,” “The Pig,” “Dory Dumped” and “Starting Over.” Each comes with an “Introduction” by Stanton.
Trailers
Disc Three:
DVD
