Getting back in the water 13 years after “Finding Nemo,” “Finding Dory” is a pleasant sequel*.

    Set one year after “Finding Nemo,” this film finds the adorably silly* blue tang Dory (voiced by Ellen DeGeneres), who suffers from serious memory loss, suddenly remembering that she was separated from her parents (voiced by Eugene Levy and Diane Keaton) when she was just a little girl.

    Helped by her clownfish friend Marlin (voiced by Albert Brooks) and his son Nemo (voiced by Hayden Rolence), Dory travels to the California coastline to track them down* — a search that leads to the Marine Life Institute, where she believes they have been waiting for her.

    Dory isn’t as emotionally nuanced* as the original film, but while the strongly entertaining sequel doesn’t have the same thematic* richness, it’s still willing to deal with loss in sad tones. DeGeneres does a terrific job finding the silliness and pain in an absentminded* character who is never just a one-joke creation. In “Nemo,” Dory mostly served as the comic relief*, offering the uptight* Marlin a more carefree outlook. But writer/director Andrew Stanton, co-writer Victoria Strouse and co-director Angus MacLane have fleshed out the blue tang for this follow-up film, making the risks obvious for this possible reunion with her parents.

    “Dory” introduces several new supporting characters. Among the additions, best are Ed O’Neill as a bad-tempered octopus who becomes friends with Dory, Kaitlin Olson as a funny nearsighted shark and Ty Burrell playing an unconfident* beluga whale who, in one of Dory’s best running gags, rediscovers his echolocation* abilities, leading to a series of funny sonar jokes.

    The film’s central theme is how families can break apart but also come back together. Although Brooks is more in the background for Dory, his Marlin remains a key character, trying to be less controling of his son and also understanding that he now needs to help Dory reunite with her family in the same way that she helped him before.(SD-Agencies)