Thirteen years have passed since the release of "Finding Nemo," but that's certainly done nothing to dampen enthusiasm for Pixar's sequel.

"Finding Dory" earned $9.2 million in Thursday previews at the North American box office, a new record for an animated film -- swimming past the likes of "Minions" ($6.2 million), "Despicable Me 2" ($4.7 million" and fellow Pixar releases "Toy Story 3" ($4 million) and "Inside Out" ($3.7 million).

Entertainment Weekly reports that while early projections pegged "Finding Dory" for a $100 million domestic opening weekend, the strong Thursday-night performance could help push it closer to $120 million.

That would be an all-time best for Pixar, ahead of "Toy Story 3's" $110.3 million in 2010 (not adjusting for inflation), and challenge "Shrek The Third" and "Minions" as the biggest animated opening in box office history.