I took my little ones to see 'Finding Dory' this afternoon, & overall, it was a good disability narrative, both for adults & kids. My friend Heather Ure, a “neurodivergent femme-writer-mom” according to her Twitter bio, tweeted: The treatment of Gerald didn’t go unnoticed. They pretend to include Gerald, but then they bray in their loutish sea lion voices, “Off, off, off,” chasing him from their territory. Fluke and Rudder bullies Gerald, taking his pail and aggressively pushing him off their rock. Gerald looks a bit goofy with his bushy eyebrows and wide-eyed expression and it reinforces his lower status within a larger hierarchy where verbal and physical ability is privileged. They help Marlin and Nemo get into the aquarium by calling Becky the loon to transport them via pail of water.įluke and Rudder get the pail by luring in Gerald, a non-speaking sea lion who is clearly a sea lion that’s on the fringes of his social group.

Fluke and Rudder love to sleep and guffaw in a Cockney accent. The filmmakers balanced the feels with moments of cruelty in Finding Dory in the form of Fluke and Rudder, the two sea lions that Marlin and Nemo encounter during their search for Dory.įluke and Rudder (voiced by former cast members from The Wire Idris Elba and Dominic West) are oafish bros who occupy a prime piece of rock real estate near the aquarium. Pixar kept it real! There are the warm fuzzies and SO many feels that are de rigueur for every. I teared up thinking about my parents and the sacrifices they made for me, such as purchasing a van with a lift (no small feat for a middle class family) and various modifications to our home when I started using an electric wheelchair. They had every confidence that Dory would find them–they did their best at preparing Dory for the outside world and believed in her abilities. When I saw the wide shot of their home and the long rows of seashells like streaming sun beams, I thought about Jenny and Charlie’s dedication and labor. Jenny and Charlie re-constructed their environment with rows of shells radiating from their home in the hopes that Dory will find her way back. I got very verklempt near the end of the film when Dory was reunited with her parents. They accept Dory for who she is and love her unconditionally.They are protective about Dory and her safety (“Watch for the undertow!”).They teach her life skills that she will need.Jenny and Charlie are like many parents of kids with disabilities: We also see Jenny and Charlie help Dory with her memory by using songs and accommodations such as seashells that enable her to find her way home. Jenny and Charlie are patient parents who help Dory to be upfront about her disability, encouraging her to practice, “Hi, my name is Dory and I suffer from short-term memory loss.” Not a fan of the term “suffer” but anyhoo…Seeing the group of little tangs swimming nearby, I think Jenny and Charlie were preparing Dory as she planned to venture out to socialize with her peer group.

We see Dory as a young Pacific Regal Blue tang with her parents, Jenny and Charlie, voiced by Diane Keaton and Eugene Levy. When was the last time a live-action Hollywood film had this type of disability diversity and this many disabled characters interacting with each other?!?ģ ways Finding Dory kept it real about the disability experience #1: Parental anxiety and support She saves the day not in spite of but because of her disability. Best yet, Dory, voiced by Ellen Degeneres, is a disabled character that is front-and-center. The characters are part of ecosystems (the coral reef) integrated with non-disabled aquatic creatures. Not only are many disabled characters played by non-disabled people the storytellers are usually non-disabled who craft narratives about disability by using stereotypes and cliched tropes, robbing disabled characters and stories of agency and diversity.įinding Dory has multiple characters with disabilities that live in the community (the ocean) and in institutions (the aquarium, the quarantine section of the aquarium). People with disabilities do not see themselves very often reflected in popular culture with authenticity steeped in the lived experience. Warning: Spoilers to Finding Dory, Finding Nemo, and Toy Story 3 I tip my crip hat to the artists, writers and directors of this latest gem from Pixar. Finding Dory is film depicts more than disability, it depicts disability culture. There was so much to unpack and process when I got home that I decided to write this review. On June 25, 2016, I saw Finding Dory after reading many positive reviews and recommendations from my disabled friends.

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