Disney has been hit with a copyright infringement lawsuit after the popular franchise was allegedly taken from a decades-old storyline without the author’s consent. The screenwriter is now seeking $10 billion in a new lawsuit.
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An animator is suing Disney for allegedly stealing the idea for the popular “House of Mouse” Moana films, which he says were taken almost entirely from his script without his consent.
Buck Woodall claims Disney stole numerous elements from his proposed animated film titled Bucky – a “fraudulent enterprise that encompasses the theft, misappropriation and extensive exploitation of Woodall’s copyrighted material” by former Mandeville Films development director Jenny Marchick.
Woodall claims to have produced a script and trailer for Buckywhich features a main character encountering a tattooed demigod with a giant hook and a giant creature hidden in a mountain, and began sharing details of this project with Marchick in 2003.
Ms. Marchick, who is now head of feature film development at DreamWorks Animation, requested documents such as production plans, character designs and storyboards, and assured Ms. Woodall that she could obtain the green light for the film.
Ms. Woodall has accused Mr. Marchick of using legal loopholes to pass his materials to Disney and claims he obtained copyright protection for his materials on Bucky in 2004 – a copyright that was updated in 2014.
“The Disney film Moana was produced as a result of Woodall’s delivery to Defendants of virtually all of the materials necessary for its development and production, after more than 17 years of inspiration and work on his film project. ‘animation,’ the complaint states.
The complaint also alleges alleged overlaps between Bucky et Vaiana 2.
Both films are set in an ancient Polynesian village and follow teenagers who try to save their land and encounter ancient spirits who manifest in the form of animals. The complaint points out in particular that details such as the rooster and pig companions, a quest to break a curse, as well as a whirlpool that leads to a portal, were all taken from the storyline of Bucky.
“Moana and her crew are sucked into a perilous whirlpool-like ocean portal, another dramatic and unique device – imagery found in the plaintiff’s materials that could not have been developed by chance or without malicious intentions.”
Mr. Woodall previously attempted to sue Disney over Vaiana. However, U.S. District Judge Consuelo Marshall ruled in November last year that he tried to file a lawsuit too late over the 2016 film, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Today, with the recent release of Vaiana 2which has already grossed $989.8 million worldwide, Mr. Woodwall is continuing his lawsuit and seeking damages worth 2.5 percent of the company’s gross receipts. Vaianaor 10 billion dollars (9.7 billion euros).
He further seeks an order prohibiting any further infringement of his copyright.
Disney has previously claimed that no one involved in the development of Vaiana had not seen the facilitator’s documents. The director of VaianaRon Clements, wrote a statement to the court after the first lawsuit: “Moana was not inspired or based in any way on [Woodall] or on his “Bucky” project, which I first became aware of after the filing of this complaint.”
According to the Hollywood Reporter, Disney also submitted documents regarding the origin and development of Vaianaincluding materials relating to history and presentation.
The first movie Vaiana was released in 2016 and was an immediate success. Last month we reported that eight years after its release, the film has become the most watched film streaming in the last five years.
ADVERTISEMENTIndeed, Vaiana has been viewed for over a billion hours, which equates to 775 million times per person. Or, as the Wall Street Journal puts it, “watching Moana for 150,000 years straight.”
Vaiana 2 has enjoyed exceptional box office success and could be on track for an Oscar nomination next week.
However, the sequel’s awards prospects don’t look very bright, especially since it lost the Golden Globe for Best Animated Film for the benefit of Flow – one of our favorite films of 2024. This recent lawsuit could further hurt the film’s chances, as the Academy may want to avoid any controversy in nominating it.
