18/07/2016 by jo

Finding Dory

Finding Dory is the follow-up to the highly successful Finding Nemo, and takes us on a story with Dory. We’ve been to see a 3D preview screening as part of our DisneyLife membership which we now pay for.

Finding Dory. Ahh see, sequels can be so difficult to make when following something which is much-loved and done well. In a nutshell, Finding Dory succeeds – it really does. It’s funny, it isn’t a tear jerker like some of the Pixar films can be, though it has its moments.

We have a brief recap of Finding Nemo and Dory’s life before we’re whisked forward a year and our story begins.

Dory has short term memory loss. We find this out straight away as her parents are trying to teach her to remember things – and through a chain of events (which Dory has flashbacks to throughout the film) she loses her parents. In the future she has a flashback while helping Nemo’s class and remembers her family and information about where they live. Accompanied by Nemo and his dad Marlin, they make their way to the Marine Life Institute on the other side of the ocean. They handily get a lift there from some turtles!

Finding Dory - Dory

So then it’s the big task of Finding Dory ‘s parents, which of course isn’t straightforward. Marlin and Nemo are split from Dory, who is captured and placed in the Marine Life Institute in quarantine, where she meets Hank, a seven legged octopus aka a septopus (he has seven tentacles due to being grabbed in the ‘Touch Pool’ area of the Marine Life Institute). Dory also meets friends she knew when she was younger.

There are plenty of twists and turns, plenty of laugh out loud moments, and some moments where you really hope good things will happen. It’s a really enjoyable hour and a half – and there’s a lot of Dory of course.

There is a LOT going on in Finding Dory, with an easy to follow plot. I found I didn’t drift off at all and was laughing a lot. It is definitely the lighter side of Pixar and – SPOILER ALERT – handy for concerned parents who know how Pixar films tend to go – there are no deaths.

Finding Dory H with poster

The final word goes to H on this, who as we were leaving the cinema (we had to rush out, but I’ve since read there’s a little Finding Nemo reference right at the end) said, “we’ll be getting this on DVD, right?” – think that’s a big thumbs-up then!

Finding Dory is in UK Cinemas from the 29th July 2016. We received a free invite to attend a 3D screening via our paid DisneyLife subscription.

Oh, and as a final note, H still has NO idea she’s going to Disneyland Paris this year – and we’re doing a great job at keeping quiet about it all!

17/07/2016 by jo

Change4Life 10 Minute Shake Up with Team Dory!

Tom Daley and Rebecca Adlington have launched a summer of activity, encouraging families to join Team Dory and ‘just keep moving’ with Disney, Change4Life and the Amateur Swimming Association.

Tom Daley filming at the London Aquatic Centre for a new campaign from Disney, Change4Life and the Amateur Swimming Association (ASA).

Team Dory would like to invite you for a brand new 10 minute Shake Up in association with Disney, Change4Life, The ASA and the release of Finding Dory.

British sporting champions Tom Daley and Becky Adlington have joined forces and are encouraging children to ‘just keep moving’ this summer, as they launch nationwide interactive family swim sessions and a brand new 10 Minute Shake Up campaign – all inspired by the new Disney·Pixar blockbuster, Finding Dory.

The campaign from Disney, Change4Life and the Amateur Swimming Association (ASA) sees the launch of themed family swim sessions at hundreds of pools across the UK as well as new 10 Minute Shake Up activities, in a bid to make exercise fun and help children get the 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity they need each day.

Becky Adlington filming at the Manchester Aquatic Centre for a new campaign from Disney, Change4Life and the Amateur Swimming Association (ASA).

The Finding Dory inspired swim sessions, which are co-created with the ASA and run from 22^ndJuly until 4^th September, will provide an hour of in-water storytelling for the whole family, teaching children key swimming skills as they are taken on a journey with Dory and friends, led by trained instructors.

The Change4Life 10 Minute Shake Ups with Disney are back for a third summer to encourage children to get the 60 minutes of moderate to intense physical activity they need each day with fun 10 minute bursts of activity. For 2016, there are even more interactive Shake Ups than last year, including those inspired by the new Disney·Pixar film, Finding Dory, which set a box office record for an animated film when it opened in the United States in June.

British diving champion Tom Daley, alongside double Olympic Gold medal-winning swimmer and mum Becky Adlington are supporting the initiative. Tom is starring in a series of short films, which show that even serious athletes can take time for 10 minutes of fun, whilst Becky is sharing her top tips for inspiring children to get active in and out of the pool.

To coincide with the launch of the campaign, Disney, Change4Life and the ASA commissioned a survey of more than 1,000 children aged 5 to 11 and their parents on their attitudes towards physical activity. The survey revealed that three quarters of children aged 5 to 11 (73%) want to do more physical activity, and 56% of children miss taking part in school PE lessons over the summer.[i] Finding ways for their children to be active is a challenge faced by families, with 61% of parents saying they struggle for ideas during the school holidays.¹

The research showed that more than half of children (55%) said that swimming is one of their favourite ways to keep physically active during the summer holidays.¹39% of 5 to 11 year olds also said that they would want to go swimming more often if they could go with family members.¹

Physical activity helps children build social skills, boost self-confidence, improve bone and heart health and maintain a healthy weight,[ii] yet just 21% of boys and 16% of girls currently meet the national recommended level of activity of 60 minutes each day.[iii]

Campaign ambassador Tom Daley comments:
“Most people look at professional athletes and see the years of training and dedication they have put in, but do sometimes forget that what we do is also really fun and exciting. I’m a massive Disney fan myself and can’t think of a better way to get kids enjoying being active than combining their favourite stories and characters with exercise – whether that’s a Finding Dory swim session where families can learn key ASA skills or a Change4Life 10 Minute Shake Up game kids can play with their friends in the park. For me, showing that sport is not a chore and really has a fun side is an important message and I’m thrilled to be supporting this campaign”.

Campaign ambassador Becky Adlington comments:
“Since I stopped competitive swimming a few years ago, I understand how tricky it can be to fit exercise into a busy routine – and also make it fun. As a mum, it’s even harder. But I’m passionate about inspiring the future generation to get active and that’s why I’m supporting this summer’s campaign from Disney, Change4Life and the ASA. The summer holidays can seem really long but there are loads of great ideas to get kids up and about with new 10 Minute Shake Ups, and what better way to spend time together than enjoying a family swim session where you’re learning key skills.”

Search Change4Life online for Disney and Finding Dory inspired 10 Minute Shake Ups and don’t forget to book your swim session today at www.disney.co.uk/justkeepmoving. We signed up for the Just Keep Moving sessions last year and received our Team Dory pack in the post last week too, so keep an eye out!

16/05/2016 by jo

A DisneyLife Update

It has been a while since I’ve mentioned DisneyLife – and I have to be honest, we have been so busy we haven’t watched it as much as I thought I would. With it being so mild this year we’ve gone out more and had less time when we’d sit and watch a film, so I already feel like this is something that would work for me if I could dip in and out of it.

DisneyLife questions, DisneyLife six month subscription

BUT! We have Disney plans afoot. I’ve just booked us into Disneyland Paris for H’s 7th birthday, something I have to keep really quiet about now for the next three months (anyone who knows me knows this will be extremely difficult). We’re in the Rio Grande hotel, which is themed like the Pixar movie Cars. This means H needs to watch it properly – we’ve caught the end of tv screenings of the films but never watched them in full. Amazon Prime doesn’t offer them, nor Netflix, a quick check on DisneyLife and it has all the films plus offshoots – exactly what we need!

Our biggest problem up to now has been the streaming. At home we have fibre optic internet and found some films would pause and buffer – to the point the film was unwatchable. At the start of the year it was less annoying to buy High School Musical 2 on DVD for £1 than put up with the buffering. Since then there have been several updates to the app, which (touch wood) seem to have fixed these issues. We watched Cars, and there were no pauses at all which was a huge reassurance.

The other problem we’ve had is using the additional content. H’s tablet is an Amazon Fire Tablet, and the DisneyLife app isn’t available as an option, just Amazon Kids. So a lot of the content she could have accessed wasn’t possible. I don’t know whether it’s a conflict of businesses, and hope it’s just an oversight. I couldn’t work out a way around it to install it either, so for us, DisneyLife has been about the movies they offer and not the other content.

Having said that, there is a LOT of content – just look at what you get when you search for Cars!

Cars related content at Disney Life

Right now I feel like DisneyLife is something I would sign up for a few months if we had several Disney films to watch – and there’s plenty of them you’re not likely to run out. The most recent releases (Inside Out, The Good Dinosaur kind of era) aren’t on DisneyLife yet, but with there being so much to get through that hasn’t been a problem – and we ended up buying Inside Out on DVD anyway!

More updates soon…

22/12/201501/01/2019 by jo

The Good Dinosaur – Our Review

Disney Pixar’s The Good Dinosaur is in cinemas – and we went to see it a couple of weeks ago.

the good dinosaur

The Good Dinosaur is the latest Disney Pixar animation, and one H was desperate to see – her love of dinosaurs and our love of Pixar films meant we went, of course.

So what happens when several million years ago, that asteroid hurtling towards earth misses? Fast forward several million years later, and dinosaurs rule the earth, and we get to meet Arlo the Apatosaurus, born to parents Henry and Ida, as well as his two siblings Libby and Buck. Arlo is shy, unconfident and timid. He’s given a task of setting up traps to protect their silo – and eventually comes across Spot, a young feral caveboy who has been stealing their corn. Arlo captures Spot but sets him free.

In the meantime, the classic Pixar ‘thing’ happens, death. Arlo then sees Spot, who he blames for the death, chases him, hits his head on a rock and ends up being saved by him. Both then try to make their way home, meeting several characters along the way and becoming friends in the process.

How scary is The Good Dinosaur? It has its moments – but as with all Pixar films, it’s family friendly – just think of the relationship between Arlo and Spot as a person and their family pet – except Arlo is the human and Spot is the dog. I found it charming and enjoyable.

Watch the trailer here –

The Disney Store have recently launched some toys from The Good Dinosaur – we were sent a Spot Small Toy (rrp £12.95) and a Tin Art Case Set (rrp £12.95) to review. H loves the Spot toy – he’s quite small but has the characteristics of the caveboy – and I would say Spot probably steals the film, so H was happy. The Tin Art Case Set has everything you’ll need for any colouring or writing you might need to do – pens, pencils, crayons, paints, felt tips, ruler and rubber plus a notebook, and a pair of young-child friendly scissors (i.e. without blades).

We think it’s a fine selection of The Good Dinosaur merchandise, and it’s available in store and online now – see the slideshow below for what’s on offer!