I have such fond memories of the Monterey Bay area that dates back to the 1970’s. My dad was a fisherman by hobby and loved to take us to Moss Landing, Monterey, Pacific Grove, and Carmel where we’d find fishing holes for me to test out my casting skills and attempt a catch. Other trips found us on Fisherman’s Wharf sampling delicious seafood cuisine, and more recently to Cannery Row for shopping, oceanfront walking/biking paths, and the Monterey Bay Aquarium. When I became an elementary school teacher, our proximity to the Aquarium made it an annual field trip spot to bring students at the first grade level. Then when my children were born, I became a parent chaperone on those same classroom trips. Coming full circle as a blogger, I’m heading back to Monterey next week for more amazing memories on the Finding Dory Event press trip that I accepted without a second thought!
Practically in my back yard, we’ll be doing some amazing stuff in Monterey Monday, March 7 and Tuesday, March 8th so you’ll have to follow along with the hashtag #FindingDoryEvent on social media. We will be screening some select footage of the film, taking a VIP tour behind the scenes of the Monterey Bay Aquarium, and interviewing a ton of amazing filmmakers and animators including 2-time Oscar winning Director Andrew Stanton.
Disney Pixar’s upcoming blockbuster Finding Dory leaves off six months after the story line of Finding Nemo reuniting everyone’s favorite forgetful blue tang, Dory, with her friends Nemo and Marlin on a search for answers about her past. What can she remember? Who are her parents? And where did she learn to speak Whale? How does the Aquarium fit into the picture? Dory (voiced by the amazing Ellen DeGeneres) suddenly recalls her childhood memories and remembers something about Monterey, California, so accompanied by Nemo and Marlin (Albert Brooks) she sets out to find her family.
She arrives at the ‘Monterey Marine Life Institute’ where she meets Bailey (Ty Burrell, Modern Family), a white beluga whale; Destiny (Kaitlin Olsen, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia), a whale shark; and Hank the octopus (Ed O’Neill, ModernFamily & Married…With Children), who becomes her guide.
The addition of the voices of Ty Burrell and Ed O’Neill have me even more excited than before. We love Modern Family as a family and we love when our favorite actors jump into blockbuster movies to voice animated characters! Also voicing characters in the movie, Eugene Levy and Diane Keaton, can you guess who they may be??
Check out the exclusive new trailer just released today on the Ellen DeGeneres show!
To top off this cool trip, we’ll be staying overnight at InterContinental The Clement Monterey overlooking the water on Cannery Row. I stayed there back in 2010 thanks to a contest win and it was remarkable!
Make sure you’re following me on the following social media channels next week for live coverage:
The Mom Jen on Twitter
The Mom Jen on Instagram
themomjen on SnapChat
Jen is on a Journey on Facebook
Of course, visit the official FINDING DORY website and also:
- Like on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PixarFindingDory
- Follow on Twitter: https://twitter.com/DisneyPixar
- Follow on Instagram: https://instagram.com/DisneyPixar
Hope you’re getting excited as excited as I am for the movie, FINDING DORY swims into theaters everywhere on June 17th!!
We were planning a trip to Monterey sometime next week so we’ll definitely try for Monday/Tuesday! Thank you for sharing!
Just to be clear, it isn’t a public event, but enjoy your trip to Monterey!