DeGeneres teases about trans character in ‘Finding Dory’

Little Dory’s doting parents are helping their daughter develop skills for dealing with her memory troubles when an undertow whisks her out to sea. Deftly navigating the complex inner workings of the MLI, Dory and her friends discover the magic within their flaws, friendships and family.

And once again, there’s a heart-tugging story involving parents and children and the true meaning of family, and I’ll be damned if I didn’t find myself gulping hard at some of the more emotionally involving moments. I do, I was a young teen then. Last time I checked, there weren’t very many transgender stingrays going to the movies. There is a certain loss in taking the movie away from the open ocean and into more man-made environments, but it actually opens up opportunity for some tremendous visual contrasts, as the colors and vibrancy of the underwater world pops against the world of concrete structures and ordinary glass tanks. But it’s not a simple switch in perspective: In seeing through her forgetful fisheyes, you realize how terrifyingly disorienting it is to be Dory. This was her second viewing of the completed film, she said, and she could detect no sign that the two women in the brief shot are a same-sex couple.

Dory, for one, doesn’t see it. As an adult who has daily battles with anxiety, I watched Dory do what I have done to myself thousands of times: tear herself down for her self-perceived incompetence, self-sabotage her creative ways of thinking, and repeatedly apologize to everyone around her for feeling as though she was being a nuisance when she really just needed help. Hayden Rolence is one of the new names on board as he takes over the character of Nemo. He’s voiced by Ed O’Neill of “Modern Family”, and for whatever reason, the marina workers are really terrible at keeping track of his whereabouts. His camouflage and contortion skills provide much of the film’s physical comedy.

“Finding Dory” introduces the blue tang fish as a baby, long before she meets her clownfish pals Marlin and Nemo. Directed by Andrew Stanton (“Finding Nemo”, “WALL•E”) and produced by Lindsey Collins (co-producer “WALL•E”). Dory’s failing memory may be a handicap, but it’s also the key to her resilience.

And it’s not just Dory to get excited about. The climax is also riveting as the team work together to achieve a common goal, culminating with a surreal, slow-motion sequence to Louis Armstrong’s What A Wonderful World. Like nearly every Pixar film before it, Finding Dory feels a little too manufactured.

Don’t miss the adorable opening short Piper and stay till Pixar mascot Luxo Jr’s outro for a post-credits scene.