Movie Review
Families can be made up of all kinds of different people (or in this case, fish). That’s the big idea behind the recently-released movie, Finding Dory.
Finding Dory is the sequel to the very popular movie Finding Nemo, which came out 13 years ago. Both are “animated” movies (similar to cartoons).
In Finding Dory, a forgetful blue fish named Dory becomes lost, and must be reunited with special people in her life.
Likeable Dory has short-term memory loss, which means that she can remember things that happened a long time ago, but can’t remember things that just happened. It’s a condition that causes trouble when she becomes lost, because she has trouble remembering directions like “turn left and then right.”
Fortunately, she has lots of good friends to help her find her way. Friends like a little fish named Nemo, and his father, Marlin.
Finding Dory is a beautifully drawn film that is stunning to look at. And, although the title gives away some of the plot, there are enough twists and turns throughout the movie to make it interesting.
Much of the film takes place out of water—in a marine wildlife centre and even on a highway—so the filmmakers had to be very creative about finding ways for the fish to move from place to place. At one point, Dory is in a coffee pot full of water, carried by a very nimble octopus.
Finding Dory has been very popular with audiences since it opened on June 8. In fact, it has already made $136.2 million in ticket sales.
The characters in the film were “voiced” by popular actors including Ellen DeGeneres (a talk-show host) as Dory and Ty Burrell (Phil Dunphy on TV’s Modern Family) as a Beluga whale who has lost his “echolocation” ability.
Ellen DeGeneres has waited a “long, long, long, long, long, long time” for the next film in the Nemo series, she said in a media release from the film’s creators, Disney/Pixar. “It’s got a lot of heart, it’s really funny, and the best part is—it’s got a lot more Dory.”
Fun fact: Dory is a Paracanthurus Hepatus, a type of surgeon fish. Other names for this fish are: regal tang, blue tang, hippo tang and flagtail surgeonfish, according to Wikipedia.
Related links
Here is a link to Disney’s website, featuring a media release for Finding Dory.
CURRICULUM CONNECTIONS
By Jonathan Tilly
Writing/Discussion Prompt
Animated films are some of the most loved movies in the world. Why might people have such strong connections to cartoon drawings? What can cartoons convey that actors can’t? What limitations do animated movies face?
Reading Prompt: Variety of Texts
How is a review different from a news article? How is it similar?
Primary
Read a variety of literary texts (OME, Reading: 1.1).
Junior
Read a variety of texts from diverse cultures, including literary texts (OME, Reading: 1.1).
Intermediate
Read a wide variety of increasingly complex or difficult texts from diverse cultures, including literary texts (OME, Reading: 1.1).
Language Feature: Verbs
“Voiced” is a verb used in this review. It’s an unusual verb that isn’t used very often.
Here are some other interesting, and uncommon, verbs. What do you think each one means? Look it up to see if your guess was correct.
Juxtapose
Assuage
Fawn (note: this isn’t the noun, which is a baby deer)
Dodder
Misspell
Skirl
Vex
Crave
Liquefy
