With any sequel, fans of the original film wait in excitement as they get to revisit some of their favorite friends on the big screen again – like, Dory, Crush, or Mr. Ray. Equally exciting is getting to meet the new cast of characters which will support the beloved characters throughout their story. Pixar recently revealed additional insights into some of the new characters, such as — Becky the Loon, Dory’s parents, and a pair of gangster-like sea lions named Rudder and Fluke.
Today, details surrounding the vocal cast for the upcoming film were revealed and we were excited to see some of our favorites back in the recording booth, including Bill Hader (the voice of Fear in Inside Out) and Kate McKinnon (the voice of PEZ Cat in Toy Story of TERROR!). Below are some updated descriptions as well as details surrounding the voice actors behind the characters.
Kate McKinnon and Bill Hader make a cameo appearance as a fish couple that Dory briefly encounters along the way.
Torbin Bullock (veteran Pixar employee & Finding Dory second film editor) voices Becky, an offbeat, kooky loon who takes a liking to Marlin. Although she inspires little confidence—especially from a certain, skeptical clownfish—Becky might be smarter than she looks.
Eugene Levy and Diane Keaton were recruited to voice Dory’s parents. Jenny and Charlie would do anything for their only child. They celebrate and protect Dory, striving to arm her with the skills she’ll need to navigate the world with a faulty memory (which her parents do not have Dory’s memory issue). Jenny may appear cheerful and a little flighty—but she’s a protective mother and a smart role model. Charlie likes to joke around, but nothing is more important to him than teaching his memory-challenged daughter how to survive.
Dominic West and Idris Elba team up as the voices of Fluke (left) and Rudder (right), a pair of lazy sea lions who were rehabilitated at the Marine Life Institute. Marlin and Nemo find them snoozing on a warm—and highly coveted—rock just outside the center. These sea lions really enjoy their downtime and would rather not be bothered mid-nap—but their bark is far worse than their bite.
Bob Peterson is back as the memorable voice of Mr. Ray, the tune-loving teacher from the reef, who takes Nemo’s education—and that of his fellow undersea students—very seriously. Nobody enjoys Mr. Ray’s class more than Dory, who serves as his cheerful, albeit unnecessary, teacher’s assistant during their illuminating field trips.
Andrew Stanton (Director) and Bennett Dammann lend their voices to the ocean’s coolest turtles Crush and his son Squirt. They’re always happy to lend a flipper to a fish in need. Cruising the ocean for more than a hundred years definitely has its advantages.
Ty Burrell was tapped to give voice to Bailey, the Marine Life Institute’s resident beluga whale, who is convinced his biological sonar skills are on the fritz. The good news—or bad news, depending on who you ask—is that doctors at the MLI can’t seem to find anything wrong with him. Bailey’s flair for the dramatic never ceases to push his neighbor’s buttons: whale shark Destiny can’t seem to get through to him, no matter how hard she tries. Maybe he’ll listen to his new friend Dory, who seems to be full of crazy ideas.
Kaitlin Olson provides the voice of a whale shark named Destiny, who is a clumsy swimmer with a big heart. Destiny has a big everything, actually—whale sharks are the biggest fish in the sea. Destiny resides in the Marine Life Institute, where one day an oddly familiar blue tang named Dory falls into her pool. Destiny is admittedly embarrassed by her obvious lack of grace, a product of poor eyesight, but Dory thinks she swims beautifully. And Dory is delighted to learn that her supersized friend speaks whale, too.
Ed O’Neill lends his iconic voice to Hank, who is an octopus. Actually, he’s a “septopus”: he lost a tentacle—along with his sense of humor—somewhere along the way. But Hank is just as competent as his eight-armed peers. An accomplished escape artist with camouflaging capabilities to boot, Hank is the first to greet Dory when she finds herself in the Marine Life Institute. But make no mistake: he’s not looking for a friend. Hank is after one thing—a ticket on a transport truck to a cozy Cleveland facility where he’ll be able to enjoy a peaceful life of solitude.
Albert Brooks dives in again to help bring Marlin to life. He may have traveled across the ocean once, but that doesn’t mean Marlin wants to do it again. So he doesn’t exactly jump at the opportunity to accompany Dory on a mission to the California coast to track down her family. Marlin, of course, knows how it feels to lose family, and it was Dory who helped him find Nemo not so long ago. The clownfish may not be funny, but he’s loyal—he realizes he has no choice but to pack up his nervous energy and skepticism and embark on yet another adventure, this time to help his friend.
Hayden Rolence was called on to voice Nemo. One year after his big overseas adventure, Nemo is back to being a normal kid: going to school and living on the coral reef with his dad and their blue tang neighbor, Dory. His harrowing adventure abroad doesn’t seem to have sapped his spirit. In fact, when Dory remembers pieces of her past and longs to take off on an ambitious ocean trek to find her family, Nemo is the first to offer his help. He may be a young clownfish with a lucky fin, but Nemo wholeheartedly believes in Dory. After all, he understands what it’s like to be different.
Ellen DeGeneres returns to the sea as Dory, the bright blue tang with a sunny personality. She suffers from short-term memory loss, which normally doesn’t upset her upbeat attitude—until she realizes she’s forgotten something big: her family. Dory’s found a new family in Marlin and Nemo, but she’s haunted by the belief that someone out there is looking for her. She may have trouble recalling exactly what—or who—she’s searching for, but she won’t give up until she uncovers her past and discovers something else along the way: self-acceptance.
It should also be noted that back in 2013, Willem Dafoe mentioned that he was in the recording booth for the film – so we’ll keep an eye out for Gil and potentially more of the tank gang when the film hits theaters on June 17, 2016.
