Dude! Disney has unveiled the adorable characters featured in Finding Dory, its upcoming sequel to 2003’s Finding Nemo, and Marlin, Squirt the Turtle and Nemo the clownfish are back, along with many new whimsical sea creatures.
Ellen DeGeneres‘ Dory, a blue tang fish who is afflicted with short-term memory loss, is missing in action in this installment of the franchise. After finding a family in Marlin and Nemo, Dory still has a lingering feeling that there’s somebody out there still searching for her — and she’s right.
Dory’s parents, Charlie (Eugene Levy) and Jenny (Diane Keaton), will be introduced in the sequel, Disney announced on Wednesday, March 30. “They celebrate and protect her, striving to arm her with the skills she’ll need to navigate the world with a faulty memory,” the studios teased. “Jenny may appear cheerful and a little flighty — but she’s a protective mother and a smart role model. Charlie likes to joke around, but nothing is more important to him than teaching his memory-challenged daughter how to survive.”
Other returning characters from Finding Nemo include Crush the chill sea turtle (Andrew Stanton) and his adorable son Squirt (Bennett Dammann).
Nemo’s teacher from his reef, Mr. Ray (Bob Peterson), also returns for the sequel. “Nobody enjoys Mr. Ray’s class more than Dory, who serves as his cheerful, albeit unnecessary, teacher’s assistant during their illuminating field trips.”
There are also plenty of new characters, including otters, Becky the loon, Destiny the whale shark (Kaitlin Olson), Bailey the beluga whale (Ty Burrell), Rudder and Fluke the sea lions (Dominic West and Idris Elba) and Hank the octopus (Ed O’Neill).
Most of these critters live in the Marine Life Institute, where Dory suddenly finds herself one day. “Hank is the first to greet Dory when she finds herself in the Marine Life Institute,” according to the Finding Dory Facebook page. “But make no mistake: he’s not looking for a friend. Hank is after one thing — a ticket on a transport truck to a cozy Cleveland facility where he’ll be able to enjoy a peaceful life of solitude.”
Finding Dory hits theaters on June 17. Watch the trailer above!
