Just about every week, we like to have Family Movie Night. Sometimes the kids actually sit and watch the selection, while other times they bounce around too much for anyone to pay attention. When it came to the copy of Finding Dory I received, they were super absorbed.

This wasn’t actually the first time we watched the film. Over the summer, we went to the drive-in with my folks for a Dory/BFG double feature (on July 3rd as you can see in the Photo Diary from that day). While I was able to watch most of both films, my wife could not say the same because our 2 year old felt the need to move from my folks’ car to ours and back on repeat. Even so, the kids really enjoyed the film and have been anxiously awaiting its arrival on Blu-ray ever since.

If you’re not familiar with the plot, the Finding Nemo sequel picks up with a young, forgetful Dory getting lost and spending all her time up until the events of the previous film trying to find her parents. With the events of Nemo resolved, she remembers that search and heads out on her own quest with Nemo and Marlin aiding her. As you might expect, they take the long way and meet a great deal of interesting characters along the way.

Finding Dory received a great deal of praise and I think it’s well-deserved. I’m not sure I’d say it’s my favorite Pixar movie of all time — Toy Story 3 might never lose that honor — but it’s definitely up there. The key for me is that, like my favorite Pixar picture, this one’s all about relationships. There’s the lost parental relationship — something I can partially relate to as an adopted kid — as well as the friendships which bolster one another as things get harder and harder on the journey.

Oh and as someone who can’t seem to remember much anymore, I feel like I can relate much more to Dory’s memory problems than I could when I saw the first film in Columbus with my friends Geof and Matt in college. Hey, I remembered that, so that’s something!

So, that’s what I responded to an an emotional level. There’s also a great number of laughs and thrills that will keep the kids as entertained as always. We’re all big fans of the sea lions and Becky because they made us laugh. And, silly as it might seem on paper, that whole bit with the truck at the end is still a well-crafted rollercoaster.

The Blu-ray itself looks amazing, as you’d expect from a Pixar/Disney offering. The set also includes the pre-film short “Piper,” plus a new short and a variety of behind-the-scenes interviews and footage. Even if you’re not usually a special features person, definitely check out “The Octopus That Nearly Broke Pixar” about how the complexities of Hank not only knocked out systems, but also lead to the loss of a limb.