Film Theory: Finding Nemo Doesn't Have A Happy Ending...

As a final tangential thought, if we’re looking at the real science behind our aquarium pals, there's a flaw that becomes clear. Pixar put a lot of effort into creating exact fish replicas for their film, going so far as to have biology lessons for all their employees to learn the precise fin strokes for animation. Coral's defensive reaction for her children is the natural reaction of the species and gender of Clownfish... but there's one thing missing from this entirely accurate exercise in scientific fish animation.

Clownfish in nature live in large groups, populated by an abundance of males and one alpha female. This alpha female mates with all the others in the group to keep the clownfish uprising going strong - and if anything were to happen to her, a male would change his hormones and take over the role of getting some.

That’s right, clownfish are hermaphrodites by nature, and adapt to the environments they inhabit. This means as soon as Coral passes away after the attack, Marlin would become a woman to keep the clownfish balance going strong.

Finding Nemo can still be read as a father overcoming the loss of his wife and son, but if we’re being accurate, he’d be Nemo’s mother by the end of the film. Not that it changes anything really, but it’s something to think about whilst you’re weeping into your pillow later. You’re welcome.