Disney/Pixar are developing a sequel to Finding Nemo, the studio reportedly very happy with the plot concept, with Andrew Stanton returning to direct, before he possibily makes another live-action film for Disney.
When Dory said ‘just keep swimming' in 2003's Oscar®-winning film Finding Nemo, she could not have imagined what was in store for her (not that she could remember). Ellen DeGeneres, voice of the friendly-but-forgetful blue tang fish, revealed details today about Disney/Pixar's Finding Dory — an all-new big-screen adventure diving into theaters on Nov. 25, 2015.
‘I have waited for this day for a long, long, long, long, long, long time,' said DeGeneres. ‘I'm not mad it took this long. I know the people at Pixar were busy creating Toy Story 16. But the time they took was worth it. The script is fantastic. And it has everything I loved about the first one: It's got a lot of heart, it's really funny, and the best part is — it's got a lot more Dory.'
Director and Pixar veteran Andrew Stanton takes audiences back to the extraordinary underwater world created in the original film. ‘There is no Dory without Ellen,' said Stanton. ‘She won the hearts of moviegoers all over the world—not to mention our team here at Pixar. One thing we couldn't stop thinking about was why she was all alone in the ocean on the day she met Marlin. In Finding Dory, she will be reunited with her loved ones, learning a few things about the meaning of family along the way.'
According to Stanton, Finding Dory takes place about a year after the first film, and features returning favorites Marlin, Nemo and the Tank Gang, among others. Set in part along the California coastline, the story also welcomes a host of new characters, including a few who will prove to be a very important part of Dory's life.
t seems like the pay off to Disney Pixar's Finding Nemo sequel is being altered after the filmmakers saw Blackfish, a new documentary about abusive policies and practices at water-based theme parks like Sea World.
Louie Psihoyos, the director dolphin-slaughter documentary The Cove, apparently heard about a meeting between Pixar and Blackfish director Gabriela Cowperthwaite, then told The LA Times about it.
At the end of the movie, some marine mammals are sent to an aquatic park/rehab facility — a SeaWorld-type environment. After seeing Blackfish, they retooled the film so that the sea creatures now have the choice to leave that marine park. They told Gabriela they didn't want to look back on this film in 50 years and have it be their Song of the South.
The LA Times followed up with Cowperthwaite, who said that she had screened the film for Pixar, and that they were “impacted” by it but:
Whether Blackfish affects their creative decisions, I can't say.
I can't imagine Andrew Stanton, who is directing Finding Dory, would like to misrepresent the plight of orcas, or indeed any other sea life. If anything, I'd expect the film to be very sympathetic to the subjects portrayed in The Cove and Blackfish, if altogether less graphic.