Pixar reveals 'heart-wrenching' last-minute change it made to Finding Nemo

Pixar is known for making exceptional, and even Oscar-winning movies - but there were once fears it'd made a 'bad' film.

From Toy Story and Up, to Elementals and Inside Out, Pixar has created a series of classic films that are loved by all ages.

By 2002, Pixar had released Toy Story, A Bug's Life, Toy Story 2 and Monsters Inc., so the pressure to create another hit was on.

Next in line in the order of its releases was Finding Nemo, which landed cinemas in 2003. Of course it went on to be a huge success, with the 20-year-old movie still boasting 99 percent on Rotten Tomatoes to this day.

Finding Nemo is over 20 years old. Feel ancient yet? (Walt Disney Pictures/Pixar)

But as the film was being finished, some of the team Pixar had worries that the film wouldn't be very successful - sparking them to make a small but significant change.

Speaking to UNILAD, Pixar animator Jason Deamer - who worked on the 2003 film - revealed: "Originally you found out [about Nemo's mom's death] through flashbacks. We all went to the last screening before it was going to be finished, and we all walked out the theater and no one was saying anything... [We thought] 'Did we just just make our first bad movie?'.

"We were a little concerned, and Lee Unkrick said 'Let me try something', and he took those flashbacks and he recut them all in the beginning."

See the tearjerking scene that ended up in the movie here:

Deamer, who has worked at Pixar for 26 years, went on to explain why the small change 'made the whole thing work'.

"When you didn't know [about Nemo's mom's death] in the beginning, you thought Marlin was an overprotective, annoying character," he said.

"It was the same footage. We didn't animate anything new. [Unkrick] just told the audience that sooner. I know it's heart-wrenching, but otherwise you just didn't empathise with [Marlin's] over protective behaviour."

In regards to why Pixar movies have such tearjerking scenes like the one in question in Finding Nemo, Deamer insisted that movie creators are 'not trying to hurt your feelings'.

"They're trying to make you understand where characters are coming from," he explained.

Animator Jason Deamer has worked at Pixar for 26 years. (Disney/Supplied)

As well as Finding Nemo, Deamer has worked on the upcoming movie, Inside Out 2. The sequel comes nine years after the first film.

Ahead of its release in June, Deamer shared some Easter Eggs for fans to keep an eye out for.

Noting fan favorite Bing Bong who was tragically 'forgotten' by Riley in Inside Out 1, he shared: "Joy hasn't forgotten [about Bing Bong]. In Joy's bedroom there's an origami version of him, as well as an origami version of the Pizza Planet truck."

"One more for you: there's 4*TOWN poster in Riley's bedroom," he added.

4*TOWN is the boyband that featured heavily in Pixar's 2022 movie, Turning Red.

Inside Out 2 is set for release June 14, 2024.