You know her as the regal blue tang with the short-term memory loss from Finding Nemo; her colleagues know her as Dory.

Finding Dory story takes place one year after Dory (Ellen DeGeneres) helps clownfish Marlin (Albert Brooks) find his son Nemo (Hayden Rolence) who was captured when he accidentally went into deep water in Finding Nemo. Despite her inability to remember anything for long, Dory went out heroically with Marlin and brought back Nemo.

Finding Dory, however, is Dory’s story. She starts getting flashes from her past, of her parents and above all, of her life before she grew up. With the help of all stock characters from Finding Nemo, cranky octopus Hank (Ed O’Neill), a near-sighted whale shark Destiny (Kaitlin Olson) and a concussed beluga Bailey (Ty Burrell) they try to find what really happened to Dory’s parents and how she was separated from them.

Finding Dory is by far one of the most difficult of animated films produced by Disney Pixar; the 3D adventure takes place either in the open sea or in an aquarium where every other sea animal is present. There are sea lions who do nothing but guard their space in the open; there is a bird which only responds to you if you talk to her by looking straight into the eye and many more. My personal favourite was the seven-legged Octopus Hank, who could blend in with his surroundings whenever he wanted and that helped him escape and stay out on multiple occasions.

Finding Dory is a journey to self-discovery if you ask me. Until and unless you know yourself, you will not be able to associate with your new ones. Just like it was in Nemo, family is family here as well. The story where the fish stage a coup, search for clues and in the end hijack a vehicle, are all well-executed and will appeal to all, be it an eight-year-old or 88-year-old!

Published in Dawn, Young World, July 23rd, 2016