Everyone's favorite blue fish is back and just as lost as ever in "Finding Dory," and this time she has a whole bunch of new friends! For Pixar's "Finding Nemo" sequel, Ellen DeGeneres, Hayden Rolence and Albert Brooks are back as the voices of Dory, Nemo and Nemo's father Marlin, and now they're off on another adventure to find Dory's family.
The previous cast of characters that had been announced included director Andrew Stanton returning as the relaxed sea turtle Crush and Bob Peterson as Mr. Ray, the teacher of the reef. Two brand new characters had also been previously revealed: a whale shark named Destiny and a beluga whale named Bailey, voiced by Kaitlin Olson and Ty Burrell respectively. Now, even more ocean friends have been announced featuring a star-studded cast of voices.
Diane Keaton, Kate McKinnon, Idris Elba, Eugene Levy, Ed O'Neil, Bill Hader, Torbin Bullock and Dominic West are some of the famous names voicing a bunch of new characters. Keaton and Levy will play Dory's parents, while Elba and West will play of a pair of lazy sea lions. "Saturday Night Live" stars McKinnon and Hader will make a cameo appearance together as a hilarious fish couple that Dory meets on her quest to find her family. As for O'Neil, he will be playing a "septopus," an octopus with seven tentacles, named Hank, and Bullock will play a kooky loon named Becky.
"It really is a whole new chapter this time," Stanton said of the new cast of sea creatures. "We're introducing new characters - each with his or her own unique voice. Everyone has something special to offer, which makes it fun and elevates the whole story. 'Finding Nemo' was a great calling card when it came to casting this movie. I don't take that for granted."
Since Idris and West both have worked together on the HBO series "The Wire" in the past, it'll be fun to see these two back together. "Idris and Dominic are well-trained, dramatic, Shakespearean actors, but they can do comedy like nobody's business," Stanton explained. "They just ran with it. They played jolly and lazy really well... But the truth is, I really wanted to witness a 'Wire' reunion. So we got them together."
"The ocean is teeming with, literally, millions of species. People don't want to feel like they just spent the movie in a pond," the director added. "There are just certain species of animals or fish that are fun to watch in real life and you can't help but throw a character on them. If they can find a home in Dory's story, great. It's a win-win."
"Finding Dory" hits theaters June 17. Meet all the adorable characters HERE!
