13 years after Pixar’s blockbusterFinding Nemohit theaters, the long-awaited follow-upFinding Doryis just around the corner, hitting theaters on June 17. Earlier this month, thesecond trailerdebuted with the latest footage, but today we have our first look at a slew of new characters, thanks to photos courtesy ofUSA Today. The first characters we meet are a pair of sea lions, voiced byThe WirestarsDominic West(Rudder) andIdris Elba(Fluke).
DirectorAndrew Stantontold the site that he wanted these characters to sound like East London gangsters from aGuy Ritchiemovie. While the filmmaker couldn’t explain why he wanted those characters to sound like British criminals, he praised their work in the recording booth, while admitting to an ulterior motive in casting the two actors. Here’s what he had to say below.
“IdrisandDominicare well-trained, dramatic,Shakespeareanactors, but they can do comedy like nobody’s business. They just ran with it. They played jolly and lazy really well. But the truth is, I really wanted to witness a Wire reunion. So we got them together.”
InFinding Dory, the story moves to the West Coast, asDorystarts to remember who her parents are, which sets her off on a journey to Monterey, California to track them down. The change in scenery helps account for these numerous new faces, withAndrew Stantonrevealing that he wanted to help convey how vast the ocean really is by showcasing plenty of underwater creatures of all shapes and sized. Here’s what he had to say below.
“The ocean is teeming with literally millions of species. People don’t want to feel like they just spent the movie in a pond. There are just certain species of animals or fish that are fun to watch in real life and you can’t help but to throw a character on them. If they can find a home in Dory’s story, great. It’s a win-win.”
Some of these new characters include Jenny and Charlie, Dory’s parents, voiced byDiane KeatonandEugene Levy, Bailey the beluga whale (Ty Burrell), a cranky octopus named Hank (Ed O’Neill) and a whale shark named Destiny (Kaitlin Olson). There are also a number of characters who don’t speak, such as ocean loons and otters.Andrew Stantonteased that ocean loons pop up just as much as seagulls did in the original movie. Here’s what the director had to say about how they changed the nature of otters for this family-friendly movie.
“Loons are the seagulls of this movie. The truth is, otters are quite vicious. But no one wants that to be true. So we didn’t follow that. The otters ended up being more successful as cute creatures that just stare at you. We knew the effect they have on people.”
Finding Dorywill be going up against Warner Bros.‘Central Intelligenceat thebox officeon June 17. This could result in an interesting showdown intheaters, pitting a beloved animated franchise against two of the world’s biggest movie stars,Dwayne JohnsonandKevin Hart. Take a look at the new photos, and stay tuned for more fromFinding Dory.
