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Ellen DeGeneres brings fond memories to 'Finding Dory'

 

 

LOS ANGELES — It might be the ultimate example of animated art imitating life, but Ellen DeGeneres says she does have memory issues.

Not to the extreme of the forgetful regal blue tang fish Dory, whom she first voiced in 2003's Finding Nemo. But it's there.

"I do have a problem with memory, I really do," DeGeneres says. "I live in the moment. I focus on whatever is happening. I try to take it in and then it's gone."

That won't be a concern for DeGeneres as she makes her return in Finding Dory (in theaters Friday) after 13 years. Casually dressed in a Gap jean jacket and squeaky white sneakers as she sits in a Mondrian hotel suite scented with one of her favorite Annick Goutal candles, DeGeneres says stepping back into the character has evoked powerful memories.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"It's actually happening," says DeGeneres, 58. "I never (thought) in a million years."

That's slight hyperbole. The Ellen DeGeneres Show host has long discussed, and, yes, campaigned for a sequel to the fish tale of Dory helping a clownfish father (voiced by Albert Brooks) searching for his lost son Nemo. 

But after nearly a decade, she didn’t think it would happen.

“I was serious for the first year. Maybe two. And then it was like this long-running joke,” DeGeneres says. “The longer it went, the funnier it was. And the audience went along with it."

 

 

But in 2012, Nemo director Andrew Stanton called DeGeneres and jokingly said “uncle.” There would be a new movie. And it would focus on Dory, whom Stanton had created with DeGeneres in mind.  

 

 

 

 

 

“That was a big phone call for me,” DeGeneres says. “That phone call and the beginning of my talk show, those are big moments. Those are memories I do have.”

The opportunity to continue Dory's story is what spurred the sequel, the director says. But it hasn't hurt that DeGeneres has kept love alive for the character on a daily national platform.

 

 

"Ellen is chicken-and-egg with Dory," Stanton says. "You just cannot separate the two. It's her mannerisms, her natural style, not only as a comedian but her thinking. And it's (her) own impossible-to-define charm." 

The comparison goes right down to Dory's plucky, inspirational catchphrase, "Just keep swimming," which is now a DeGeneres-led part of the vernacular. "Who knew that was going to be my motto and attached to a character with whom I am thought of?" DeGeneres asks.

 

 

 

 

 

Stepping back into the recording booth to find Dory was surprisingly easy for her.

"Even though it's me, it's tweaked a little bit," she says. "I'm not Dory exactly, but it came back quickly."

 

 

DeGeneres was emotional as she pulled up to the Finding Dory world premiere last week and saw Hollywood Boulevard closed and covered in a celebratory ocean-blue carpet. Her wife of eight years, Portia de Rossi, made sure it wouldn't be forgotten.

"Portia kept saying to me, 'Take this all in. You've got to. This is really your day and it's incredible,' " DeGeneres says.

 

 

 

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