By Madison Watts, Editor-in-Chief

Disney and Pixar plan to “just keep swimming” with regards to the extremely popular animated film “Finding Nemo.”

The existence of the mythical sequel “Finding Dory” was confirmed in April and is currently slated to be released Nov. 25, 2015. This release will be 12 years after the initial release of “Finding Nemo,” which is perhaps why this news has caused such a stir.

Despite the time gap, Disney and Pixar have been successful in bringing back a lot of the same elements that viewers loved about the original movie. Director Andrew Stanton returns, along with Ellen DeGeneres as the lovable blue tang, Dory. Lead characters Nemo and Marlin also return, accompanied by various other members of the gang.

“I have waited for this day for a long, long, long, long, long, long time,” DeGeneres said in a press release, imitating her character’s lovable style. Click below to watch a funny clip of DeGeneres announcing the news to her studio audience.

[youtube id=”_JJmDavBXrw” width=”600″ height=”350″]

Reynolds High School senior Peter Harrison, a huge “Finding Nemo” fan, has also long awaited the release of this film.

“Dory was clearly the funniest character in the first movie, so I’m really excited to see how they’re going to expand on her story line,” he said.

Stanton has dropped a few hints so far about the plot of the upcoming movie; he said the makers of the film were curious as to why Dory was all alone on the day she bumped into Nemo. Mirroring the first film, Dory will embark on a journey to find her loved ones and learn a little more about what it means to be part of a family.

With the feel-good vibe and mushy-gushy moral of the story taken care of, the writers also want to make sure the humor of the sequel rivals that of the first film.

“Finding Nemo”had several quotable one-liners that have stuck in the minds of kids and adults alike.

“I have memorized the entirety of “Finding Nemo” and I intend to do the same with ‘Finding Dory’,” senior Kate Sarfert said with a smile.

Disney and Pixar have discovered that it pays to be memorable. “Finding Nemo” grossed more than $900 million in box office sales worldwide, a fair sum for an animated children’s movie about some little fish.

In other Disney/Pixar news, a prequel to the childhood favorite Monster’s Inc., entitled Monster’s University, is being released this summer. Find a Pine Whispers review of the film that follows Mike and Sulley during their college days and is set to hit theaters on June 21 by clicking this link.

Despite this upcoming release and the fact “Finding Dory”is more than two years away, the “Nemo” sequel is still garnering a lot of the attention.

DeGeneres summed up the “Dory” hype enthusiastically: “It has everything I loved about the first one: It’s got heart, it’s really funny, and the best part is — it’s got a lot more Dory.”