MAGGI PICAYUNE

It’s not quite Inside/Out but this Pixar sequel is far superior to Monsters U and the orifice gouging Cars 2. I’m still bummed the studio plans to churn out sequels (Toy Story 4 and Incredibles 2) yet they pulled through on Dory.

A year has passed since Finding Nemo and while learning about the big manta migration, Dory finally remembers her family along with their possible location, a oceanic research facility. There’s a journey to get there followed by hilarity from the various resident ocean creatures held in the facility until they are well enough to return to the Pacific. That’s about all I’ll say regarding the plot.

Dory succeeds as a sequel by avoiding the major flaw I have in them, it doesn’t keep all of the original cast and then pile on new ones into the mix. The only returning characters are Marlin, Nemo and Dory with appearances by the teacher manta and the surfer sea turtles. Kids will be entertained, they’re relatively easy when it comes to animation. Adults? I think it passes muster.

Stay to the end with the closing credits.

Alamo Extras: an old cartoon of a fish playing hooky from “school”; newsreel sequence of a deep-sea diver; clip of a Diver Dan story; the trailer for The Incredible Mr. Limpet; a claymation demo showing memory; Pixar in a box presentation; clip from a Japanese kid show called Gimme Gimme Octopus and you can see the influence on Yo Gabba Gabba!; a TED talk discussing how an octopus moves and hides; octopus playing the piano cartoon.