Well that was fast. It seems like only yesterday that Finding Dory was announced, and now here we are with the first trailer for the film, opening next summer. That all seems like very quick turnaround, but that's really just a mirage. That we didn't here about the Finding Nemo sequel until Disney wanted the information out probably speaks to how smooth everything on the film ran, compared to this month's Good Dinosaur, which has been befallen by every set back an animated film possibly could be, short of cancellation.
What's more, this is actual footage form the film, not a nostalgia trailer that cuts together scenes form Pixar's earlier, better films. Nor is it footage from the first film with a stinger on the end. Nope, this is all new, and it looks delightful. And gives us a lot of information for such a short glimpse. Dory is increasingly disturbed by a surfacing memory of a family she's long forgotten and is driven by an unknown urge to find them again, hence the sleep swimming. Now, the moral of the story is as clear as a neon sign: Dory, Nemo and Marlin will go on this journey to find her family, discovering in the end that true family are those that stand by you no matter what. It's a cliche, but there is a reason is a tried and true cliche: that's pretty solid ground on which to build an emotional narrative. Keep in mind that Pixar's best films are the ones with the simplest lessons at their core. As much as I dislike getting too invested in sequels, Pixar's offerings have been so over the map recently that if it looks like Finding Dory is a return to form, I'll hold on to that hope for as long as I can.