Pixar clearly realized — somewhere between 2003 and now — the extent to which even the most jaded among us have difficulty resisting the heartstring-yanking antics of that forgetful but enthusiastic fish voiced by Ellen Degeneres — Dory. Dory stole the show in Finding Nemo, and the sequel, which has been in the works for a while, centers around her — and her backstory (which will never not be a strange thing to say about an animated fish). The just-released first trailer for the film (set for release June 17, 2016) shows how Dory has, to an extent, been lost all along, and is only now trying to find herself through some answers about her past. (Again, still talking about a fish.)
Despite her terrible memory, Dory is triggered to recall — and want to seek — her family, who happen to be a great distance from her current home in the Great Barrier Reef: they’re in California, at the Monterey Marine Life Institute. Nemo and his father Marlin (still voiced by Albert Brooks) go along with her, essentially encountering the cast of Modern Family reconstituted as sea creatures: Ed O’Neill plays a grouchy octopus, and Ty Burrell is, as described in /Film, a “misguided beluga whale.” Idris Elba and Dominic West are both said to voice characters in the film, too — though their parts are unknown. Dory’s parents are voiced by Diane Keaton and Eugene Levy.
Watch the trailer: