When disability appears on screen, it usually arrives wrapped in heavy drama—the kind designed to shake us deeply or tug at our hearts, presented in a register so adult that children can't really engage with it. Pixar steps in to fill that gap. On September 15, the studio released Finding Dory, the sequel to the beloved Finding Nemo.
Both films grapple with disability, and both do it in a way that feels right. The first film, now thirteen years old, told the story of Nemo, a small fish with a shriveled fin who, after various adventures in the ocean depths, learns to face challenges while living within his physical limits. The sequel—as the title suggests—shifts its focus to Dory, a fish who struggles with short-term memory loss. She sets out to find her parents, whose memory she stumbles upon by accident among her forgotten past. Director Andrew Stanton has shaped both films with similar logic, making essentially the same point twice: once through physical disability, once through cognitive.
The film uses a sea-life rehabilitation center as its setting, where the motto is "rescue, rehabilitation, release." Here, Dory comes to understand just how serious her condition is. She learns new ways to live with it, accepting her disability as part of who she is rather than as an obstacle in her path. It's a story brimming with optimism—which doesn't hurt, at a moment like this—one that weaves lightheartedness with genuine reflection. The ideas are clear enough for children to grasp, and perhaps for that reason, it stands apart from other stories on the same subject.
Matteo Cinti, 2016