You know that moment, the moment you’re in a room with Ellen DeGeneres and Ed O’Neill.  Yeah I know most of us can’t imagine a situation like that, but it happened to me. 

During the Finding Dory Press Junket we were able to interview numerous cast members who voiced the different characters in the movie and I cannot wait to share all of them with you.

You know an interview is going to be one of a kind when one of the celebrities walks in and instantly runs around the room.  I don’t know where Ellen gets her energy from but it is contagious that’s for sure!  

Ellen asked if we had seen the movie and we told her we were lucky enough to have watched it with her the night before and she followed up saying that while they had seen the movie before;

It’s really nice to see it with a bunch of people and feel the energy of everybody, and then it’s kind of like, “Oh, it really did work.”

Ed also said that when he first saw the movie he didn’t get emotional when Dory found her family but that he really choked up when seeing it at the premiere, being surrounded by everyone.

What phrase, similar to Just Keep Swimming, do you live your life by?

Ed jokingly replied; “Just keep punching!”  He continued that doing so gets harder as he gets older. Ellen’s reply was a little more serious, and I believe talks to her life story. 

I have to say it’s weird that that became a part of this iconic character, because I didn’t know it before this happened, but that was my motto, you know what I mean?  My life has gone through a lot of different twists and turns, and I did just keep swimming.  I didn’t realize that that was what I was doing.  But I just kept moving forward, and I just kept doing what I know how to do, which is make people happy and make people smile and make people laugh.  And so it’s just so weird that that is part of this fish’s motto. 

What is Ellen and Ed’s hope for parents, kids and people in general to take from the characters they play in the movie?

Ellen hopes that the message of never giving up resonates with people, that they;

“Be optimistic” and “there’s always another way.”  When someone says that there isn’t another way, there is.  You don’t get stuck.  And no matter what your situation is, it can get better, and everybody starts from6 a different place, and some people start with a lot more odds stacked against them.  But there’s a way out.  There’s a way to use whatever you do best to help yourself. Even if you have a disability, use your strengths.  Whatever that is.  Mine was making people laugh.”

Ed continued that his character, Hank, refers to there been no way out but Dory pushes him to show him that there is a way out.  There is always a way out.   “There’s always some other option.”

What research was done for their roles in Finding Dory?

Ed promptly replied; “I Googled “mimic octopus.”  Somebody told me to.  And I didn’t know that that animal existed.  You know it wasn’t like an octopus I knew of.  They shape shift.  Or they change colors.” 

Prior to the movie neither Ellen nor Ed knew such an animal existed.  Ellen joked that it’d be great if we could all do that.  Since this interview I have googled mimic octopus and you should too.  You’ll be as amazed as we were. 

What did you think coming into this role?

It was interesting learning that when Ed was offered this role he knew nothing of what he’d be other than an octopus.  When asked if he could see something written he was told there was nothing.  He jokes saying;

Well, why would I sign onto nothing, I don’t even know what it is.”  BUT – he was quickly reminded it was Pixar, it was, after all, a sequel to Finding Nemo and so he agreed.”

Ellen and Ed joke and chat about how Hank’s role progressed throughout the 3 years the movie was in production.  Ed had no idea just how big his character would be and that Andrew (Stanton) would call back into the booth on numerous occasions, Ed continues that “this is a bigger part than I thought it would be.”

Did Ellen and Ed work together during the 3 year production of Finding Dory?

While Hank’s entire role was with Dory, they had never worked together in the past and they never did while doing their voice work for their roles as Dory and Hank.  They were both always on their own working on their individual characters. 

Both Ellen and Ed speak to how hard voice over work really is.  Ellen jokes that you think you have a great thing here; “there’s no hair and makeup, and you can just show up.”  Yet that’s not at all the case, each recording session is 4 hours long and both insisted that you have to pace yourself through those 4 hours.  You’re the only one in the booth and you have to make sure you don’t burn out.

How involved were you in the writing of Finding Dory? 

Zero.  I mean I take full responsibility that it’s happening, because I made it happen, ’cause I kept saying, “What’s wrong with you people?  It won an Academy Award.”  It’s a great film, it’s iconic.  I didn’t ever imagine that it would be about Dory or that — I just thought that Pixar makes sequels, right?  There’s a Toy Story, Toy Story 2, Toy Story 3, there’s sequels, where’s this sequel?  Then it just became a joke.  

After a point even Ellen gave up on the idea of a sequel ever happening, but Andrew did call her, saying that he’s idea for a sequel was to make it all about Ellen and finding her family.  While Ellen did have a little free rein to ad lib lines (I won’t list any here so as to not ruin the movie), she had nothing to do with the writing of the film. 

What is your favorite scene?

While Ellen was quick to say that her favorite was the introduction of Hank when he turns on the garbage disposal accidentally.  Ed said he had a hard time choosing just once scene, he loved it all.  Of course then Ed and Ellen listed a couple different scenes that they really enjoyed, but to avoid any movie spoilers, I am going to refrain from listing them all out at this point. 

What better way is there to end off an interview with Ellen DeGeneres then to ask if she would be willing to DANCE with us – and she was willing, and she did dance with us.  We have photo proof, albeit a little blurry – we were too busy dancing to take better pictures. 

• Like FINDING DORY on Facebook 
• Follow FINDING DORY on Twitter 
• Follow Disney/Pixar on Instagram 
• Follow Disney Studios on Pinterest 
• Visit the official website here 

REMEMBER……

FINDING DORY swims into theatres everywhere on June 17th!