Ellen DeGeneres’ fame goes beyond her infamous talk show as she initially gained prominence from her onscreen performances as a prolific actress. However, later on, although DeGeneres committed to her talk show, she also appeared in several movies and even provided voiceover for a number of animated projects.
One that goes without saying is Finding Dory, the eagerly awaited sequel to Pixar’s beloved Finding Nemo, wherein Ellen DeGeneres played the voice of the titular character Dory. While DeGeneres’ skill in bringing Dory’s character to life is absolutely phenomenal, the actress used her real-life talent of speaking whale, in the Pixar film.
Ellen DeGeneres Brought Dory’s Whimsical Character to Life
Following the 2003 original Pixar movie Finding Nemo, where Ellen DeGeneres voice-acted the role of Dory, the actress was offered a standalone sequel Finding Dory in 2016. Playing the role of forgetful and whimsical Dory in the eagerly awaited sequel, DeGeneres added an extra layer of charm with her unique talent of speaking whale, which first featured in the beloved 2003 movie.
As the 2016 follow-up featured Dory in the titular role, the movie explored the theme of self-discovery and the importance of family. Further, Finding Dory showed the character’s journey through the vast ocean in search of her long-lost family, wherein the whale-speaking talent played a crucial role. And undoubtedly Ellen DeGeneres brought the character to life, flawlessly delivering the whale-speaking scenes.
According to ScreenRant, despite the importance of Dory speaking whales in the plot, director Andrew Stanton initially had reservations about whether Ellen DeGeneres would be able to perform them or not. The task not only required vocal flexibility, but it also needed the actress to embrace the absurdities. And surprisingly, despite Stanton’s doubts, DeGeneres took on the challenge and served with a memorable performance.
Ellen DeGeneres Learned to Speak Whale After a Vacation
Ellen DeGeneres’ commitment to her character contributed majorly to the film’s success. But one might wonder how exactly the actress delivered the whale sounds in Finding Dory. The story goes back to a vacation, when Ellen DeGeneres actually picked up the skill of speaking whale, in real life. Surprisingly, the whale speaking talent isn’t a fictional skill, it all came to DeGeneres quite unexpectedly.
During a discussion via Talks at Google, Ellen DeGeneres noted how the peculiar talent of speaking whale came to the spotlight during an odd moment while filming Finding Nemo. In that movie, Dory was seen speaking with whales in her distinctive, elongated vocal style. Now since that particular bit captivated audiences immensely, it was again used in Finding Dory (2016).
But the whole skill was actually influenced by a real-life experience that DeGeneres had. Apparently, during her vacation in Hawaii, the actress encountered a yoga enthusiast vacation neighbor, who had an unusual routine of performing intense yoga sessions while listening to whale sounds.
“I didn’t know you could buy that record, but there’s a record that just is whale sounds. And I was listening to it…and it was just the weirdest thing I’d ever seen in my life.”
That’s how Ellen DeGeneres picked up the bizarre skill. Eventually, this surreal experience not only served as a good story to tell but also inadvertently helped DeGeneres to mimic whale vocalizations in both Finding Nemo and Finding Dory.
