Film Preview: Finding Dory (2016)

Page Revisions:

(November 15, 2015) Original
(March 3, 2016) New Trailer (#2) / New Posters (#2-#9)
(June 5, 2016) New Trailer (#3) / New posters (#10-#18)

Release Date:

June 17, 2016

Synopsis:

From IMDb: “The friendly-but-forgetful blue tang fish reunites with her loved ones, and everyone learns a few things about the true meaning of family along the way.”

Poster Rating: C / C+ (4) / B- (4) / B- (9)

SEE ALL POSTERS BELOW
Review: (#1) It’s de rigeur for teaser posters to be overly simplified, but sometimes it’s too much and this is teetering on that edge.

(#2-#5) Four posters that are largely dissimilar, but have a unified theme, are interesting for little minds wanting to “find Dory” in each picture, but the “Where’s Waldo” concept is lost when locating Dory is so painfully simple.

(#6-#9) This series of four posters, one United States-based and the others international, show what you can do if you focus on creating unique experiences for each market. While none of these are visually inventive, they are all perfectly responsive to the perceived needs of the intended audience.

(#10-#18) I lumped together these foreign posters as they seem to be a part of a series, something this specific production has used before in other markets. They are all fitting to the theme and setting, but they aren’t particularly inventive either.

Trailer Rating: C+ / B- / B

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Review: (#1) What made the original film such a huge success was that it was incredibly funny. The Dory character is one of the reasons why Pixar is even revisiting Finding Nemo. However, when your first teaser is not only light on laughs, but almost entirely devoid of them, it does give one reason for concern.

(#2) The adventure now has some impetus and we better understand the purpose and stakes of the film, but it’s still missing a lot of that incredible humor that had audiences falling in love with the film and making it one of Pixar’s biggest successes. Perhaps the movie will be more interesting than this, but right now, prospects aren’t great.

(#3) We’re getting a more pointed look at the film’s plotting, which, surprisingly, makes the film look more appealing as it more closely resembles the original. That resemblance is unfortunate at times as it makes the film look more cookie-cutter than it should be.