Finding Dory: What Went Wrong? – Wisecrack Edition

If you’re going to make a sequel, try not to take 13 years to make it. If you take 13 years anyway, then at least don’t rewrite the whole thing at the last minute, right? Wrong. In this edition of What Went Wrong, we explore how late stage rewrites in Pixar’s Finding Dory led to some questionable narrative choices ,resulting in a rather underwhelming film.

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Written by: David Radcliff
Directed by: Michael Luxemburg
Narrated by: Jared Bauer
Edited by: Mark Potts
Assistant Editor: Andrew Nishimura
Motion Graphics by: Drew Levin
Produced by: Jacob Salamon & Emily Dunbar

© 2017 Wisecrack, Inc.

[Artislife]

Wow. When I saw Finding Dory I was really underwhelmed while everyone else loved it. At the time I just couldn't really explain why but the Wisecrack team really got to the center of it. Great video. I really feel that Dory's disregard for Nemo's safety and her passive protagonist status are what bothered me the most

[jackiehouse]

Animators: "We're stuck and there's no obvious way we can go with the plot."
Director: "FLASHBACK"
Animators: "but she has memory loss, we don't thin-"
Director:

[drallore]

Hank felt affection for dory after she helped him fight his fear of being touched by kids in the hands on exhibit. It's heavily implied that his tentacle had been ripped off by a child in the past and as such caused him some PTSD that was left untouched until Dory helped him deal with it through pure obliviousness to the true danger of the situation. I believe they were planning on providing a horrifying flashback to reveal hank's trauma, but I'm unsure why they specifically decided not to.

[AstralPandaBoi]

The movie was your basic sequel but those little Dory moments where she didn't understand this "adult" things and was just adorable naive inocent little fish did brig a small man tear in my eye.

[PowahSlapEntertainmint]

Cant wait to see "Finding Octopus" or whatever that guy's name was.

[unfinishedkt]

why am i paying 10 dollars a month to avoid ads when the ads are literally inside the videos i want to watch now?

[sheeesh]

Just wait for Cars 4: Mater goes Nascar

[Draconis]

Honestly, I was really hoping you'd do Finding Dory in this style. So much of it felt like a pulled punch, and I'm glad to see your reasoning for that. Much appreciation!!

[OurFoundingLiars]

Nemo was the name of the ww2 submarine that went missing. The vessel ended up being found in Australia. When the classified files leaked the government asked Disney to make a movie to discredit the findings. I also have no idea what I'm talking about. Keep asking questions.

[cryptid-artha]

I loved Finding Dory! The music and the trail if shells was so beautiful, and I liked how things were triggering the memories. I knew somebody with memory loss when I was younger, and I have memory loss too. Sometimes the most random of things can bring a memory I COMPLETELY forgot rushing back, or fragments of them that help me recall it.

[HeyNonyNonymous]

6) Dory's memory disability doesn't go away. In fact, the way Dory remembers and forgets is not only consistent through out the movie, but realistic as well. Not all of our memories are stored in the same way. Emotional connections are stored separately from explicit memories of past events, and an emotional response can trigger and connect us to a memory, as well as familiar sensory stimuli. All of Dory's flashbacks work that way. And she has more and more of them the closer she gets home - to a familiar place. Memory of skill sets and general knowledge are also stored separately, People with amnesia still remember how to talk, read, perform skills that they used to perform and remember stuff they studies in school or university. So Dory's remembering that echolocation is "the world's most powerful pair of glasses", or that an octopus has three hearts is completely realistic. The writers did their research here.

[stevonico]

Anyone else catch the "Emotionally de-fish-ient"?

[TimAquila]

Maybe its just me but i still liked it. Yes, Finding Nemo was better overall, since it flows far better but Finding Dory still hit me on a emotional level during the most important moments.
We dont feel that attached to Dorys parents but the tragic part isn't the loss of her parents. Its the tragedy of her situation when she was a child. A little fish who lost her parents without the ability to remember them. And I think her gap of knowledge helped to deliver the most depressing moment of the film - when it seems like her parents are dead. Also i think, that most of her flashbacks are pretty reasonable since they're linked to things she experienced during her past.
The reunion between Dory and her parents was pretty heartwarming as well. It shows us, how dedicated Dories parents were by putting that much effort into the only small hint they could give Dorie.

[winonadaphne]

what??? i got teary multiple times throughout the film

[stephanierend]

I feel emotionally invested in the loneliness Dory is forced to live in. It’s not about the audience caring about loading one caracter, it’s about how lonely dory is and how she can’t control it but still manages to be happy.

[Cobra_Khan]

Wow. I thought I was the only one who didn’t like Finding Dory. Thanks for putting this together and bringing up these great points!

[TheMightyPika]

Finding Dory is about living with mental illness/disability. As someone with a mental disability, I found the film engaging, honest, and heartbreaking at times. I've never seen a movie tackle the subject with the same kind of bravery.

Yeah, it's not about a parent/child connection (like we've seen a thousand times before and literately billions of people instantly relate to). Pixar took a risk to tell a story that not everyone would connect with, but those who do will connect with it immediately.

"Being a passenger in your own movie"? Being tossed around with no control over your life? Congratulations: that's what it feels like sometimes.

Most of all, it shows how being mentally disabled hurts - not only yourself but the people around you. It hurts, it's isolating, it's scary, but sometimes (here's the key), people will love you. Characters love Dory just as they get frustrated with her. Sometimes it's hard to see the love through all the fear and confusion. Sometimes it's hard for the people who are frustraited with you to realize they care. That's life.

That's the real message behind Finding Dory. It's not about the search for her parents, you structure-obsessed dopes. It's about everyone involved realizing that even if you're disabled, your life has meaning and you should not hide yourself from the world.

[adnanilyas]

You know what would have added emotional weight to the story? If her parents were actually dead.
You know what would have made Nemo and Marlin a little bit less of a useless entourage? If it was Nemo who found out that Dory's parents were dead and had to cope with learning that information through his dad before telling Dory.
And you know what would have made Dory a proactive hero? If Dory reacted badly to learning her parents were dead... and then had to break through her repeating amnesia to make a decision on what to do.

[Jarod-vgwq]

Marlin is a awesome dad, his one of the braved I’ve ever seen.

[MichaelH]

Pixar assumes the viewer has already seen Finding Nemo and expects the audience to carry over the character development, motivation and their emotional attachment from Finding Nemo to the sequel