[Blu-Ray Review] ‘Finding Dory’: Now Available On Blu-ray, Blu-ray 3D, DVD & Digital From Disney•Pixar

Finding Dory (2D) [Blu-Ray]

Director(s): Andrew Stanton, Angus MacLane

Cast: Ellen DeGeneres, Albert Brooks, Ed O’Neill (VOICES)

Release Date: November 15, 2016

A Review By: Kevin Lovell

Film Rating: 9/10
Disc Rating: 9/10

Synopsis:

When Dory, the forgetful blue tang (Ellen DeGeneres), suddenly remembers she has a family who may be looking for her, she, Marlin (Albert Brooks) and Nemo (Hayden Rolence) take off on a life-changing quest to find them with help from Hank, a cantankerous octopus; Bailey, a beluga whale who’s convinced his biological sonar skills are on the fritz; and Destiny, a nearsighted whale shark!

‘Finding Dory’, the hit sequel to Pixar’s animated masterpiece ‘Finding Nemo’ returns viewers to the lives of Dory, Marlin and Nemo who now live together following the treacherous quest they embarked upon in the previous film. Once Dory begins experiencing brief flashes of her childhood and parents, she soon sets out on her own journey to find her lost parents and the home she has largely forgotten. As the lovably forgetful blue fish heads out on the adventure of a lifetime, Marlin and Nemo desperately attempt to keep track of her, but before long find themselves on a hunt for Dory herself as they become continuously separated along the way; fortunately a few friends new and old just may provide Dory some much needed assistance in the meanwhile. Get ready to experience (or revisit) a beautiful, daring and heartwarming animated adventure for the entire family any time you may desire as ‘Finding Dory’ arrives home on Blu-ray to own.

‘Finding Dory’ is a fantastic piece of animated filmmaking and yet another outstanding sequel from the talented folks at Pixar, following in the footsteps of such previous animated sequels as ‘Toy Story 3’ that manage to capture everything fans loved from their predecessor(s) and simultaneously introducing some refreshingly unique and realistic additions into the mix to keep things from ever becoming even slightly tired. One can’t help but be in awe of the miniscule animated details that consistently convey such human emotion it’s truly remarkable to behold, and never used as a tool to distract the viewer from a lacking story as ‘Finding Dory’ is a fantastic film in every aspect and another addition to the ever impressive collection of animated gems from Pixar. Beautifully guided with obvious passion by returning director Andrew Stanton and featuring a collection of incredibly talented and fitting individuals both returning and new to the series providing their voice talent including Ellen DeGeneres, Albert Brooks, Ed O’Neill, Kaitlin Olson, Hayden Rolence, Ty Burrell and more, nearly all of whom deliver wonderful and perfectly fitting voice performances in each of their respective roles. Anyone who enjoyed ‘Finding Nemo’ or is a fan of Pixar’s animated films in general will definitely want to make sure to check out ‘Finding Dory’ as soon as you have the opportunity to do so; it’s well worth the cost of a rental at the absolute least.

Both the diehard Pixar fans and the majority of households with children will likely want to make certain to pick up a copy of ‘Finding Dory’ on Blu-ray to add to your Pixar/Disney collection. The Blu-ray release of the massively successful animated sequel provides outstanding high definition video and audio presentations on the feature film, along with plenty of enjoyable extras on the Feature disc and an entire additional Blu-ray disc loaded with even more bonus content including something for everyone with behind the scenes Featurettes, some silly and fun videos, and nearly an hour of ‘Deleted Scenes’ from the film with introductions by director Andrew Stanton, plus more (more detailed information regarding the bonus content can be found in the special features section of the technical specification coverage below). Altogether certain to make this impressive release an absolute must own for the majority of Pixar fans and family households alike.

Overall, ‘Finding Dory’ is a visually gorgeous, occasionally intense and thoroughly heartwarming animated adventure and a truly fantastic sequel to Pixar’s animated masterpiece ‘Finding Nemo’ that fans won’t dare to miss out on. Fans of the film or simply Pixar’s animated features in general will likely want to make sure to purchase a copy of ‘Finding Dory’ on Blu-ray in order to have the ability to experience it with top notch high definition video and audio presentations any time you may please. Those who haven’t yet had the pleasure and are hesitant to drop the cash on a blind purchase will nonetheless want to make sure to give it a rental or something similar, you shouldn’t be the slightest bit disappointed with this truly wonderful film.

VIDEO:

The Blu-ray release of ‘Finding Dory’ features a full 1080p High Definition presentation utilizing a 1.78:1 Aspect Ratio. The video presentation looks absolutely gorgeous and delivers a sharp, detailed and clean presentation from start to finish that perfectly represents the animated beauty always on prominent display, and never suffering any notable faults throughout. It holds up admirably even during the darkly lit and/or heavily populated sequences and never results in anything occurring on screen to become negatively affected or rendered indiscernible. Overall, this is a fantastic high definition video presentation that should easily please the masses.

AUDIO:

The Blu-ray release features a lossless 7.1 channel DTS-HD Master Audio Soundtrack. This lossless multichannel soundtrack provides a clean, crisp and discrete audio presentation throughout that isn’t afraid to get aggressive at times. Constantly utilizing all seven available channels in order to send ocean and crowd elements, along with a whole lot more throughout the various speakers, and never causing any dialogue which may be occurring simultaneously to become distorted or rendered inaudible. Overall, this is a wonderful 7.1 channel DTS-HD MA soundtrack that adds even more fun to the overall viewing experience and should easily please the audiophiles and casual viewers alike.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

The Blu-ray release of ‘Finding Dory’ includes a notable collection of bonus content spread out between the 2 Blu-ray discs. For the sake of simplicity I’ve broken down the extras by disc immediately below.

Disc One (aka the Feature Disc) includes an ‘Audio Commentary with Director Andrew Stanton, Co-director Angus MacLane, and Producer Lindsey Collins’, in addition to the Pixar Animated Short ‘Piper’ (running approximately 6 minutes in length), and some fun animated ‘Marine Life Interviews’ (running approximately 2 minutes). The disc also includes a number of behind the scenes Featurettes and videos including behind the scenes footage and interviews/comments with the cast and crew, plus more; they include: ‘The Octopus That Nearly Broke Pixar’ (approximately 9 minutes), ‘What Were We Talking About?’ (5 minutes), ‘Casual Carpool’ (4 minutes), ‘Animation and Acting’ (7 minutes), ‘Deep in the Kelp’ (3 minutes), and ‘Creature Features’ (3 minutes).

Disc Two (aka the Bonus Disc) is entirely dedicated to extras and is broken down into four sections for simplified navigation. The first included section is ‘Behind the Scenes’ and includes: ‘Skating and Sketching with Jason Deamer’ (running approximately 4 minutes), ‘Dory’s Theme’ (approximately 5 minutes), ‘Rough Day on the Reef’ (1 minute), Finding Nemo as Told by Emoji’ (3 minutes), and ‘Fish Schticks’ (4 minutes). The next section includes a collection of ‘Living Aquariums’ which are long running screensavers that instantly turn your TV into a gorgeous and relaxing CGI fish tank with animated material from the film; the four Aquariums you can select from are ‘Sea Grass’, ‘Open Ocean’, ‘Stingrays’ and ‘Swim to the Surface’. Next we are treated to a collection of numerous ‘Deleted Scenes’ from the film featuring introductions by Director Andrew Stanton (running approximately 50 minutes altogether). The last section included on the disc is ‘Trailers’ which includes Theatrical Trailers for the movie from various countries; included are: ‘Sleep Swimming – United States Trailer’ (approximately 2 minutes), ‘Theatrical Payoff – Japan Trailer’ (2 minutes), ‘Can’t Remember – Spain Trailer’ (1 minute), and ‘Journey – Russia Trailer’ (2 minutes).