Finding Dory is the sequel to the 2003 movie Finding Nemo.

The film starts off with Dory (Ellen Degeneres) as a child. Her parents Charlie (Eugene Levy) and Jenny (Diane Keaton) are prepping her for meeting other children. They remind her to tell them that she has a problem with short term memory, and they have her repeat it. Dory is cute and adorable.  She gets separated from them, becomes lost, and spends a long time looking for her parents again. Eventually, she bumps into Marlin (Albert Brooks), which is how the first movie started.

It’s a year later, and Dory has had the flashback to when she was a child. She remembers other details that she repeats to Nemo (Heyden Rolence). She’s convinced that she remembers enough to get back to them.The distance, however, is vast, as the place is in America. Dory’s very insistent, and effectively drags Marlin and Nemo along on the search.  With a little help from their turtle friend, Crush (Andrew Stanton), they make their way across the Pacific, to California.

Dory is rescued by humans, after becoming entangled in a six-pack ring. The humans work at a rescue and release aquarium, which, we come to find, is where Dory grew up. She meets Hank (Ed O’Neill), an ‘octopus’ on the loose, who doesn’t want to go back to the ocean. He’s avoided capture by the humans for a long time, because he’s the kind of octopus that can camouflage himself. She realizes her parents are involved at an exhibit, and asks him to bring her there. They make a deal. She was tagged when captured, and if she gives him the tag, he’ll be included in a shipment of fish to an aquarium in Cleveland, aka not released into the ocean.

While that’s going on, Marlin and Nemo are trying to find Dory. They chat up a couple of seals who can help them. They make their way with the help of a crazed common loon named Becky. Their route, however, is through the park, amongst the humans, with all the pitfalls that come with that experience. They do eventually find her, but does she find her parents?

I loved the whole movie, and it’s definitely in my top ten films of 2016. There was not a misfire or a faulty part of the film. The undercurrent of the film is about the bonds of family, and how strong they can be. There are a lot of laughs, thrills, and strong emotions throughout. It is a Pixar film, after all! While all of the animals are anthropomorphic (human-like), they still behave like animals in many respects. The seals do behave like seals, hermit crabs do their thing, and don’t get me started about the sea otters!

I think I might’ve enjoyed it more if I’d seen the 3D version, but the 2D is wonderful on its own. Yes, there is the mandatory “3D run through all the 3D objects” scene, and actually I suspect there are several of those, but I can’t be sure, because I only saw the 2D version.

There is a lead-in short called Piper, about a sand piper leaving the nest for the first time. Very enjoyable.

Lastly, Please do sit through the credits. There is animation during the credits revolving around Hank, and there is a post-credits scene that makes the wait worth it.