Could the character of Moana who is currently drawing crowds into cinemas have been inspired by a script written more than 20 years ago? This is what American screenwriter Buck Woodall claims, who has just filed a copyright complaint against Disney.
According to the complaint filed on January 10 and which the American site Entertainment Weekly was able to consult, Woodall’s screenplay, written in 2003, would have served as the basis for the two films in the popular animated saga Moana released in 2016 and 2024 respectively.
Titled Buckyits screenplay recounted the adventures of a Polynesian teenager who was confronted with demigods and mythical figures of Polynesian culture during a sea voyage. A plot which closely resembles, on paper, that of Moana.
Buck Woodall claims to have developed the project in 2003 for a certain Jenny Marchick, then director of development at Mandeville Films. Today he accuses Mme Marchick for having secretly and without his consent transmitted his script to Disney.
-The screenwriter claims compensation corresponding to 2.5% of the revenue generated by the two films Moana. The first part of the Disney saga grossed more than $640 million at the global box office in 2016, while the second chapter has earned $990 million to date.
Not the first time
Woodall previously filed a lawsuit against Disney last November. However, this first complaint, which only targeted the first film in the saga, was rejected because it had been filed “too late”. In his new complaint, the screenwriter therefore focused his accusations more on the scenario of Moana 2launched last November.
This is not the first time that Disney has faced accusations of plagiarism. In 2015, writer Muneefa Abdullah accused the Hollywood studio of having taken elements from her book The new fairy tales in the script of the animated film The Snow Queen. However, the complaint was dismissed by the court the following year.
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