A first official glimpse at "Finding Dory,' the highly-anticipated sequel to Pixar's hit "Finding Nemo,' was revealed at the Disney's D23 Expo on Friday, Aug. 14.
Initially, "Finding Nemo' director Andrew Stanton had no plans to come up with a sequel to the 2003 movie, saying it was a "closed circuit.' However, he later on realized that Dory's story is not yet over and could still be expanded, as pointed out by Entertainment Weekly.
"I wanted to know that if this charming, forgetful fish ever got lost again, that she would be OK. That she would find her way home. And at the end of 'Finding Nemo,' I wasn't confident about that. So that's when I knew I had another story," Stanton said during the Expo.
"Finding Dory' will also shed light on the events that take place in an ocean sanctuary where wounded animals get treatment and are released back into the wild.
Ellen DeGeneres will return to lend her voice for Dory; she will be joined by "Modern Family' stars Ed O'Neill, who will play Hank the Octopus, and Ty Borell, who will voice an unnamed white beluga whale. Destiny, a new whale shark, will be played by Kaitlin Olson.
Albert Brooks returns to take on the role of Marlin the clown fish, and new actor Hayden Rolence will voice Nemo due to the fact that "the original [actor Alexander Gould] is now 21 years old," producer Lindsey Collins explained.
A description of a short footage from the film unveiled at the D23 expo was posted by EW. The clip featured Dory being revived after what may have been a fainting spell. The film's main character was also shown remembering that she had to swim to California, which was far away across the ocean.
"Dad, you can get us all the way across the ocean, right?" Nemo asks.
His father Marlin sighs and says, "No"¦ But I know a guy," as the clip comes to an end.
DeGeneres, who voiced the dearly loved blue tang with short-term memory loss, has continually pushed on with her campaign for the studio to come up with a sequel ever since.
At the D23 Expo event, Disney Creative Chief Officer John Lasseter made sure that the audience caught a glimpse of a reel of compiled videos of DeGeneres's constant requests.
He also joked that he took a softer line and gave in to the pressure. "OK, OK, OK," he said. "We are in production on "Finding Dory.'"
"Well, it means a lot to me because it is a really sweet character," DeGeneres said in an interview with PEOPLE about the upcoming film in which her character searches for her family. "And she's flawed, and I think that it's important for kids to grow up and see flawed characters that are lovable and that really, no matter if they make mistake after mistake, they have a little surrounding pack, like a friendship with all these other fish that they travel with that forgive her."
DeGeneres also opened up about Dory being lost for a long time and attempting to find her own family as she realizes she has her own clan.
"She misses the fact that she has a family, and she realizes she has a family. And where are they? Did her parents give her away? Where is her family?," the award-winning TV host said.
Playing the roles of her family members are Diane Keaton as Dory's mom and Eugene Levy as her dad.
Details for the official premiere date of 'Finding Dory' are yet to be announced.
