Pixar confirms the return of Dory in a new short film for cinemas
Pixar Animation Studios surprised the audience at the Annecy International Animated Film Festival by confirming the production
Pixar decided to dive back into the waters of the reef. In a move that took attendees at the Annecy Festival by surprise, the animator confirmed the development of “Loving Dory”, a short film that will bring back the forgetful blue surgeon who conquered the world more than two decades ago.
But it is not just another sequel. The project, directed by Lou Hamou-Lhadj and produced by Mary Alice Drumm, focuses on the short format that Pixar had left aside in recent years. And to seal the pact with nostalgia, the house of the lamp announced that Ellen DeGeneres will repeat in the original version, lending her unmistakable voice to the protagonist.
The synopsis of the short begins with a familiar image: Dory accompanies Nemo to school. But the return trip goes awry when our heroine gets trapped in an anemone. Her supposed salvation comes floating from the surface: what she thinks is a jellyfish is actually a plastic bag with an empty sunscreen container.
What comes next is pure Pixar. The fish develops an almost romantic relationship with that inanimate object, in a dynamic that the most acute will remember the bond that united Wall-E and Eva in the first bars of that 2008 classic. The short promises to explore innocence and loneliness from the particular perspective of a character who lives trapped in the immediate present.
A tradition that comes back to life
Over the last decade, Pixar had drastically reduced the habit of accompanying its feature films with theatrical animated shorts. “Loving Dory” marks a return to that practice so celebrated by fans.
Although there is no confirmed date, everything indicates that the short will be screened as an appetizer for “Gatto”, the studio's next big bet on an Italian feline, whose premiere is scheduled for March 2027.
It is no coincidence that Pixar chose Dory for this return. The franchise accumulates figures that make it one of the crown jewels of world animation.
Twenty-three years after their first appearance, the characters on that reef show that they are still relevant.