Finding Dory had a lot to live up to, as it had to show that Pixar could make a great sequel outside of the Toy Story franchise and it followed up a legitimate classic in Finding Nemo. That 2003 film was Pixar's first winner for the Best Animated Feature Academy Award and continues to sit at an astounding 99% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Although Finding Dory didn't quite reach the highs of Finding Nemo from a critical standpoint, it's still a fantastic sequel that's among the best films ever released by Pixar.
That's high praise and is proof of just how great Finding Dory is. Add in how well it did financially and Finding Dory deserves to go down as one of the best animated sequels ever released.
Finding Dory Continued What Worked In Finding Nemo
A handful of things made Finding Nemo such a beloved film. The story of a father searching for his son is captivating and gives the project an emotional tale for the audience to latch onto. It features beautiful visuals as Pixar's creation of the ocean is stunning and it has some lovable characters like Marlin, Nemo, and, of course, Dory. Finding Dory decided that it shouldn't mess with the formula too much and gave us more of those things.
Finding Dory changes things up just enough by focusing on the titular character's search for her family, who she was separated from when she was young. Her memory loss issues played a part in keeping her from fully looking for them but with the help of her new friends Nemo and Marlin, she's able to do so. That gives the viewers the emotional story to connect to as we've grown to love Dory and want to see her reunite with her family.
The visuals were even better this time around, as Pixar's technology had advanced a lot over the course of 13 years. Finding Dory ended up being one of the prettiest animated films of the decade, so if you liked how gorgeous Finding Nemo is, this is more of that. The movie also gives us a lot of Dory, Nemo, and Marlin, keeping what worked the first time around and doubling down, which was a good decision. The end result was a 94% Rotten Tomatoes rating for Finding Dory.
Finding Dory Was A Billion Dollar Hit
The critical success of Finding Dory is evident, as along with those positive reviews, it was also nominated for Best Animated Feature at the Annie Awards. It missed out on an Oscar nomination just because of how strong the competition was that year from the likes of Zootopia, Moana, and Kubo and the Two Strings. Beyond those critical numbers though, Finding Dory was a monster hit at the box office.
Finding Nemo grossed a whopping $941 million at the worldwide box office, yet Finding Dory managed to somehow best that. It pulled in over $1 billion, becoming just the second Pixar film to do that after Toy Story 3. It currently sits as the fifth-highest-grossing movie in Pixar's history. Even with those critical and commercial numbers, Finding Dory still doesn't get mentioned as much as it should when it comes to Pixar sequels, as the Toy Story sequels and Inside Out 2 get more appreciation.
Where Finding Dory Ranks Among Pixar's Best Sequels
Figuring out Finding Dory's place among Pixar's greatest sequels is difficult because the quality is just so high. Pretty much everyone agrees that Cars 2 sits at the bottom of the list and while it's a step up in quality, Cars 3 doesn't really stand up next to Pixar's greatest works. That leaves the two Toy Story follow-ups, Finding Dory, Inside Out 2, Incredibles 2, and Monsters University.
Considering where Finding Dory sits on a commercial and critical level, it's safe to put it ahead of Monsters University and Toy Story 4. Meanwhile, most fans of Pixar projects tend to agree that Toy Story 2 and Toy Story 3 are the pinnacle of Pixar sequels. That leaves Finding Dory to compete with Incredibles 2 and Inside Out 2 for third place. You could really go with any of them in any spot because they're all so close in quality. That's a testament to Pixar's impressive level of consistency.
Is There A Future For This Pixar Franchise?
When something makes $1 billion, especially after a previous installment nearly hit that number, it's almost a guarantee that the franchise will continue. However, a decade later and there doesn't seem to be much in the way of news for a new entry in this series. That said, director Andrew Stanton did note that he wanted to have worldbuilding across sequels as Toy Story has pulled off over the years.
That was back in 2016, though. In 2024, Pixar CEO Pete Doctor discussed exploring more of the ocean since it's so vast. However, Ellen DeGeneres, who voices Dory, said that she was done playing the character while in the middle of her final comedy tour. That doesn't bode well for the franchise because DeGeneres' voice is such a big part of why Dory is so popular. Of course, in Hollywood, you can never say never.
As recently as April 2026, Pixar announced that a new short film set in the world of Finding Nemo was greenlit. Not only that, but DeGeneres agreed to return to voice Dory. There's no word yet on the plot or if the other voice cast from the movies are also returning alongside DeGeneres. It might not be a feature-length third installment but fans will take more from Finding Nemo and Finding Dory however they can get it.
Release Date
June 17, 2016
Runtime
97 Minutes
Director
Angus MacLane, Andrew Stanton
Writers
Andrew Stanton, Victoria Strouse
English (US) ·