The "Blackfish" Effect: Pixar Frees Marine Park Animals In Nemo Sequel

Since its release last summer, the documentary "Blackfish" has led to a public outcry calling for an end to keeping orcas captive at parks like SeaWorld. But while the debate rages the matter is still far from settled, the documentary's influence has already helped free some other marine park animals -- albeit fictional ones, for now.

According a Pixar employee speaking to the New York Times, the ending of an upcoming sequel to "Finding Nemo" has been rewritten in response to changing attitudes towards captivity brought about by "Blackfish".

The film, titled "Finding Dory" had an ending centered around a marine park -- but Pixar has since restructured the story so that the animals have the freedom to leave.

While Pixar has remained tight-lipped about other plot points in the feature film, slated to be released in 2015, this alteration alone speaks volumes about a shift in public awareness about the not-so-rosy existence of creatures kept at real-life marine parks -- and may, by presenting a more humane alternative to the captivity model of SeaWorld, be one of the more powerful instruments of change yet.

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