YOU can keep your James Bonds, Hobbits, Hunger Games and whatever other lucrative film franchises you can think of.

For some film fans, the best news in ages is that another Pixar movie is in the works.

Actually, it's one of several, according to the company's website. But the comedian Ellen DeGeneres, who voiced Dory in the Oscar-winning Finding Nemo 10 years ago, has just announced on her show that a sequel, Finding Dory, is to be made. She's been pleading for ages, on her US TV show, for a sequel.

Animated films being a time-consuming process, the film won't actually be out for a couple of years. A follow-up (actually a prequel) to Monsters Inc is expected this summer; another film, The Good Dinosaur, is due next year, and there are at least two others in the pipeline. And Finding Dory, too.

Pixar films have been a source of joy ever since the first Toy Story, back in 1995. It's not just the storylines, the characters, the humour or the visuals: it's all of these, plus the chance to witness the remarkable advances in animation technology. Last year's hit, Brave (another Oscar winner, lest we forget), had at least a couple of elements – the fiery red hair of Merida, the heroine, and the lush forest texture of the Highlands – that would have been impossible at the time of Buzz Lightyear's first adventure. Now, the sky's the limit.

Pixar's finest moments have included Ratatouille, WALL-E, Up, Toy Story 3 and Brave. "Every Pixar picture, from Toy Story to Monsters Inc, has been a game-changer in the realm of animation," our film critic Alison Rowat observed last December, adding that Up took things to another level altogether. You can only wonder what they'll do next.