
When I saw the wide shot of their home and the long rows of seashells like streaming sun beams, I thought about Jenny and Charlie’s dedication and labor. Jenny and Charlie re-constructed their environment with rows of shells radiating from their home in the hopes that Dory will find her way back. I got very verklempt near the end of the film when Dory was reunited with her parents.

We see Dory as a young Pacific Regal Blue tang with her parents, Jenny and Charlie, voiced by Diane Keaton and Eugene Levy. When was the last time a live-action Hollywood film had this type of disability diversity and this many disabled characters interacting with each other?!?ģ ways Finding Dory kept it real about the disability experience #1: Parental anxiety and support She saves the day not in spite of but because of her disability. Best yet, Dory, voiced by Ellen Degeneres, is a disabled character that is front-and-center. The characters are part of ecosystems (the coral reef) integrated with non-disabled aquatic creatures. Not only are many disabled characters played by non-disabled people the storytellers are usually non-disabled who craft narratives about disability by using stereotypes and cliched tropes, robbing disabled characters and stories of agency and diversity.įinding Dory has multiple characters with disabilities that live in the community (the ocean) and in institutions (the aquarium, the quarantine section of the aquarium). People with disabilities do not see themselves very often reflected in popular culture with authenticity steeped in the lived experience. Warning: Spoilers to Finding Dory, Finding Nemo, and Toy Story 3 I tip my crip hat to the artists, writers and directors of this latest gem from Pixar. Finding Dory is film depicts more than disability, it depicts disability culture. There was so much to unpack and process when I got home that I decided to write this review.

On June 25, 2016, I saw Finding Dory after reading many positive reviews and recommendations from my disabled friends.
