Bryan Alexander

USA TODAY

Director Andrew Stanton was looking for a unusual way to voice his sea lion characters in Pixar's Finding Dory. He couldn't shake the thought of making them Guy Ritchie-type East London gangster sea lions.

Stanton couldn't really explain the impulse. But he knew that he was right when he heard the enormous sea mammals voiced by British actors Dominic West (as Rudder) and Idris Elba (Fluke).

Sneak peek: Meet the parents of 'Finding Dory'

The two actors memorably worked together on the famed HBO series The Wire and brought instant magic to their voice work for Finding Dory (in theaters June 17).

"Idris and Dominic are well-trained, dramatic, Shakespearean actors, but they can do comedy like nobody’s business," says Stanton. "They just ran with it. They played jolly and lazy really well.

"But the truth is, I really wanted to witness a Wire reunion," he adds. "So we got them together."

The first 'Finding Dory' poster has a familiar catchphrase

The sea lions are part of a cadre of characters coming to life in the sequel to Pixar's 2003 hit Finding Nemo. In the new chapter, forgetful fish Dory (Ellen DeGeneres) remembers her parents and treks from her coral reef home to Monterey, Calif., to find them.

The move to the California coast allows for a variety of emerging stars.

"The ocean is teeming with literally millions of species. People don’t want to feel like they just spent the movie in a pond," says Stanton. "There are just certain species of animals or fish that are fun to watch in real life and you can’t help but to throw a character on them. If they can find a home in Dory’s story, great. It’s a win-win."

This new team includes Dory's fish parents, Charlie and Jenny (voiced by Eugene Levy and Diane Keaton); a beluga whale named Bailey (Ty Burrell); a whale shark called Destiny (Kaitlin Olson); and the curmudgeonly octopus Hank (Ed O'Neill).

New 'Finding Dory' trailer is already making us cry

Some of new characters don't speak, such as ocean loons, which are ubiquitous in Dory — including Becky, who sails into the picture.

"Loons are the seagulls of this movie," says Stanton, referring to the memorable gull appearances in Finding Nemo.

Stanton knew he wanted to include sea otters because they're so cute.

"The truth is, otters are quite vicious. But no one wants that to be true. So we didn’t follow that," he says. "The otters ended up being more successful as cute creatures that just stare at you. We knew the effect they have on people."