A few months ago I went to the Monterey Bay Aquarium and I was amazed by everything I saw! I saw some adorable sea otters, a whole tank of Clownfish and Blue Tangs, and some creatures I had never seen before! One thing that I wasn’t sure I would want to do but then couldn’t resist was touching an octopus!
I had been warned that the Giant Pacific Octopus was slimy {eew} and that it could really attach itself onto you and make it hard to get it off {eek!} but once I went behind the scenes I knew I couldn’t pass up a once in a lifetime experience. And once my turn was over, I didn’t want to leave!
The octopus was very social and I kept laughing as the Aquarium employee kept having to pick it up and move it back into the tank as it kept trying to run away. In fact, the entire tank that it’s displayed in is lined with AstroTurf {the only thing they can’t stick to} so that it can’t get away- since octopuses are actually known to do that!
One soon-to-be famous octopus who escaped is named Hank, and technically, he’s a septopus. He lost one of his tentacles- along with his sense of humor- and wound up at the Marine Life Institute. He’s one of the latest Pixar characters, and he’ll make his debut on the big screen- and in your heart- when Finding Dory comes out on June 17th!
Hank is voiced by Ed O’Neill, who was the perfect choice for this gruff but lovable sea creature. He’s a good guy, but he’s sneaky- he uses his camouflage to escape his tank and helps Dory along the way. Here are some things you should know about Hank before you see Finding Dory:
-Hank was incredibly hard to animate. Octopuses have so many moving parts, including eight tentacles {well, seven for Hank}, hundreds of suckers that all work individually, and camouflaging abilities.
-The only other tentacles that have been in a Pixar movie were in Monsters, Inc. and they belonged to one of the monsters.
-Deciding where Hank’s mouth should be took a few tries. At first they tried to put it under his eyes, but that just looked funky. They tried not giving him a mouth, but it made it too confusing when he was talking. Finally, they settled on the small mouth between his front two tentacles- although sometimes you really see it more as his top lip moving instead of the full mouth.
-While animating Hank was very hard, it also provided a lot of opportunities. Octopuses can blend in with their surroundings- they can even change the texture of their skin! They also have the ability to use each tentacle individually, and Hank is able to grab things with his so it allowed him to move the story forward in a lot of ways.
-Most of Hank’s expression comes from his eyes and eyebrows. Since you can’t always see his mouth it became even more important for his eyes to tell the story, like in the photo above.
-It took a full year of testing alone to get the movement for Hank just right.
You can revisit old friends Marlin, Nemo and Dory and make new friends- including Hank- in just a couple of weeks! Finding Dory swims into theaters June 17th. You can keep up with updates about Finding Dory by following the hashtags #FindingDory and #HaveYouSeenHer– or you can follow Finding Dory on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, and even Tumblr! Don’t miss these free Finding Dory Coloring Pages & Activity Sheets while your kids are waiting for it to hit theaters!
Learn More: Free Printable Finding Dory Memory Cards Game | Exclusive Interview with Director Andrew Stanton and Producer Lindsey Collins of Finding Dory | Finding Dory: Telling Dory’s Story | Finding Dory at the Monterey Bay Aquarium
