"Blackfish," a documentary examining the traumatic effects of keeping killer whales in captivity, was made to effect social change and awareness when it comes to the conditions in theme parks like Seaworld. And though it's barely made $100K at the box office, the right people are seeing it because the film's doing just that, especially at an industry level.
In fact, inspired by the revelations in "Blackfish," Pixar has decided to alter the ending of the much anticipated sequel to "Finding Nemo."
According to a piece first reported in the New York Times, the original version of "Finding Dory" involved the sea-faring characters being taken to a marine park. But on the heels of the bad publicity raining down on Seaworld courtesy of "Blackfish," Pixar has restructured the script so that the animals at the "aquatic center" have the option to leave. (Not sure how that works, but perhaps that's where suspension of disbelief comes in — after all, it's a movie about talking fish.)
"Blackfish" distributor Magnolia Films released this comment in response to the change: “We think it speaks to the integrity of Pixar that they’d be moved to revise the story of 'Finding Dory' because of the revelations in "Blackfish." We’re ecstatic that [director] Gabriela Cowperthwaite’s powerful doc is making this kind of cultural impact."
If this has piqued your interest in "Blackfish," let us pique it a little more.
Here's the trailer: