I won’t disclose any spoilers, but Finding Dory, the much-anticipated sequel to Finding Nemo, has a very clear message: fish, octopuses, rays, whales, sharks, and other sea animals belong in the ocean.
According to the New York Times, the creative team at Pixar was in the middle of production on Finding Dory when the 2013 documentary Blackfish was released. After Blackfish, which shows the negative effects of marine animals living in captivity, public condemnation of SeaWorld began to grow, which caused filmmakers to push back Finding Dory’s release date in order to rewrite the script. The result of the rewriting is a clear statement against marine animal captivity.
People For the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) is fully against marine animals living in captivity. According to PETA, “Tanks cannot even begin to replicate the complex world that these animals need. Some aquariums (even ones like The Marine Life Institute in Finding Dory that operate as a ‘rescue, rehabilitate, release’ facility) actually encourage the public to handle, touch, and pet stingrays in touch tanks where the harassed animals have no means of escape. Nearly everywhere touch tanks are offered, stingrays die prematurely: 41 of 43 rays died in the Calgary Zoo’s touch tank, 18 of 19 died at California’s Fresno Zoo, 19 of 34 at the Brookfield Zoo, and 11 of 18 at the National Zoo.”