'Finding Nemo 2' Promo Photo Shows Nemo Sliced Up As Sushi: Is It Offensive?

A Finding Nemo 2 promo photo has been released that shows the famous fish sliced up and stuffed inside sushi rolls.

The concept seems a little harsh for young children, as Nemo is a childhood icon for millions of tiny tots. But it does make for a striking image, and one that sticks in the minds of anyone who loves Finding Nemo and could be an effective marketing material for the forthcoming sequel, Finding Nemo 2

The picture appears to be an actual photograph of sushi made to look like it contains the beloved cartoon fish, inside a plastic container emblazoned with the Finding Nemo 2 logo.

But it is impossible to determine for certain whether the image was actually released by Disney and Pixar -- which jointly produce the Nemo movies -- or if it is simply the work of a cold-hearted photoshopper with a lot of time on his hands.

Either way, it is a play on the They Found Memo meme, which saw other such images emerging across the internet purporting to show where the fish had been found.

Finding Nemo is the story of a young fish named Nemo who gets separated from his school and ends up in a fish tank in Australia, and his father's hunt for the young guppy. In the course of his search, Nemo's father discovers that he should loosen the reins on Nemo because the world is not as scary as it seems to a naive fish like himself.

Some online commenters claim that the Finding Nemo 2 sushi was actually made and sent to members of the media in order to build buzz about the launch of Finding Nemo 2.

But one commenter said the idea seems to have simply been lifted from the photo editor who allegedly created the original image:

It is a 100% rip-off of the same 'they found nemo'-idea photoshopped some years ago (exept of the real delivery to the media planners), the commenter, Suzhi San, wrote on adverbox.com.

Buzz about Finding Nemo 2 reached a fever pitch on Monday, when the movie became a nationwide trending topic on Twitter on the heels of a string of news about new Pixar-Disney movies coming out in coming years, also to include Toy Story 4 and Monsters University, the sequel to Monsters Inc. All three movies have reportedly been green-lighted and are in various stages of pre-production or production.

On Tuesday, Deadline.com reported that Finding Nemo 2 -- which, like the original, is a collaboration between Pixar and Disney -- will be directed by John Carter director Andrew Stanton.

The screenplay for Finding Nemo 2 was penned by Laurie Craig and finished in 2010, but there is very little information about what exactly the movie's plot will entail, when it will be released, or any other such details.

The original Finding Nemo grossed $867.9 million worldwide, which makes it Pixar's second-highest-grossing film and the third-biggest animated Disney movie of all time, according to Deadline.com

Finding Nemo, which won an Oscar after being released in 2003, will be re-released in 3-D format this September, and will almost definitely clean up in the box office once again.