Pixar has a brand-new theatrical short on the way, and it stars one of the studio’s most beloved fish. On Friday, June 26, 2026, during presentations at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival, Pixar officially announced Loving Dory, a new short film featuring the forgetful blue tang who won audiences’ hearts in Finding Nemo and Finding Dory.
What Is Loving Dory About?
The short is directed by Lou Hamou-Lhadj and features a premise that is perfectly, hilariously on-brand for Dory. In Loving Dory, the absent-minded fish mistakes a plastic bag floating in the water for a jellyfish and promptly falls head-over-fins in love with it. According to The Walt Disney Company, the romance escalates from a little clingy to outright toxic before Dory’s friends are forced to step in. It’s the kind of sweet, character-driven comedy that made Dory one of Pixar’s most enduring and endearing creations, with an environmental gag at its center, since the bag she adores is exactly the kind of ocean trash real sea life often mistakes for food or a friend.
Pixar described the short as coming to theaters “soon,” though no specific release date or theatrical pairing has been announced yet. Given the studio’s history of attaching shorts to major theatrical releases, an announcement tying Loving Dory to an upcoming Pixar film is likely on the horizon.
Part of a Big Day for Pixar at Annecy
The Loving Dory announcement was part of a larger Pixar presentation at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival, one of the most prestigious animation festivals in the world. June 26 is also celebrated by fans as 626 Day, a nod to Stitch’s experiment number, making it a festive occasion for Disney and Pixar animation announcements.
Pixar also used the festival to share finished footage from its upcoming feature film Gatto, an original project from Luca director Enrico Casarosa set in Venice, which releases exclusively in theaters on March 5, 2027. The combination of a beloved legacy character returning in a new short alongside a fresh original feature made for a memorable Annecy showing for the studio.
Dory’s Legacy at Pixar
Dory, voiced by Ellen DeGeneres, first appeared in Finding Nemo in 2003 and became so beloved that Pixar built an entire sequel around her with 2016’s Finding Dory, which earned over $1 billion worldwide. The character’s combination of warmth, humor, and vulnerability has made her one of the studio’s most recognizable figures, and the premise of Loving Dory suggests Pixar is leaning into exactly the qualities fans have always adored about her.
Short films have long been a cornerstone of the Pixar brand, serving as creative incubators for new filmmakers and a way to deepen connections with beloved characters. From Presto to Bao to Float, Pixar shorts consistently rank among the most artistically ambitious work in animation, and Loving Dory appears poised to continue that tradition. Annecy was a busy stage for Disney animation this year, which also saw the debut of the new Lilo & Scratch short.
No details on the full voice cast, theatrical pairing, or a more specific release window have been shared yet.
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