The increase in Pixar sequels might be a largely disappointing trend (did we ever really need a Cars franchise?) but next year, it offers up a follow-up to one of their most universally liked films, Finding Nemo.
Finding Dory will focus more time on the fish voiced by Ellen DeGeneres, who sets off to find her family. It will also bring back characters voiced by Albert Brooks and Willem Dafoe, as well as bringing Diane Keaton and Idris Elba into the fold.
Alexander Gould, who voiced Nemo in the first film, has been replaced after his voice has deepened. The sequel takes place just six months after.
The first trailer, which DeGeneres premiered on her YouTube channel, suggests more of the same but the location will be different. “The movie will be mostly set at the California Marine Biology Institute, a huge complex of sea life rehabilitation and aquarium, where Dory was born and raised,” said Pixar president Jim Morris. “We will get to meet new characters, like an octopus, sea lions, a beluga whale, among others.”
The film was originally set to end in a marine park but was altered after the controversial documentary Blackfish. The first film made $936m worldwide.
Finding Dory is set for release in the US on 17 June and UK on 29 July 2016.
