Why the movie Finding Dory is really worrying animal experts

Many Disney movies that feature animals result in enormous impact on those species. Will the same happen for blue tangs? Photo: Disney Pixar

Animal welfare activists and pet shop owners fear a wave of interest in tropical fish and the possible decimation of key species after the June release of Disney Pixar’s Finding Dory.

The animation movie is a sequel to 2003’s Finding Nemo, which had prompted a surge of cute orange clownfish being caught in the wild and sold at pet stores. Many parents and children, inexperienced with saltwater aquariums, bought a little Nemo fish and watched it die. The new movie includes the return of absent-minded Dory, a cartoon version of a Pacific blue tang voiced by Ellen DeGeneres.