Wednesday, January 15, 2025 - Disney is being sued by an animator for allegedly stealing the idea for Moana 2, as well as for the 2016 original.
In a lawsuit filed in California federal court on
January 10, Buck Woodall claims the company stole pieces of a screenplay he
wrote for an animated film titled Bucky for Moana 2.
He alleges that both his screenplay and that of the animated
film take place in a storied Polynesian village and are centred around young
adults who seek to salvage their homes while coming across spirit animals along
the way. Claims the company stole pieces of a screenplay he wrote for an
animated film titled Bucky for Moana 2.
He alleges that both his screenplay and that of the animated
film take place in a storied Polynesian village and are centred around young
adults who seek to salvage their homes while coming across spirit animals along
the way.
The lawsuit comes after a November court hearing relieved
the studio from an identical lawsuit by Woodall over the first Moana film, as
he had waited too long to file his suit, according to The Hollywood
Reporter.
However, the release of Moana 2 granted him the ability to
again take legal action.
In the initial case, the court declared that a jury should
decide whether the projects are significantly similar.
It also came to the conclusion that someone at Disney
Animation TV could have seen Bucky's copyrighted materials before development
on Moana began.
Per THR, US District Judge Consuelo Marshall wrote in the
order, 'There is a disputed issue of genuine fact regarding substantial
similarity and striking similarity between the parties.'
Dating back to 2003, Woodall claims he presented the
screenplay and a trailer for Bucky to Jenny Marchick, former Mandeville Films
Director of Development.
According to the animator, Marchick, who is now DreamWorks
Animation’s Head of Development for Features, asked for materials like
production plans, character designs and storyboards.
Per his recollection, the exec notably assured him she could
greenlight the film.
The complaint details that Mandeville had a first-look deal
with Disney, along with offices at its Burbank studio.
The legal filing highlights parallels between Moana and
Bucky, including that both share a theme of recognizing the Polynesian belief
that ancestors can be manifested as animals.
Additionally, each protagonist in the respective screenplays
has a narrative that begins with a turtle, as well as a storyline with a
meaningful and symbolic necklace.
According to the complaint: 'Disney’s Moana was produced in
the wake of Woodall’s delivery to the Defendants of virtually all constituent
parts necessary for its development and production after more than 17 years of
inspiration and work on his animated film project.'
It goes on to claim that ‘Moana and her crew are sucked into
a perilous whirlpool-like oceanic portal, another dramatic and unique
device–imagery found in Plaintiff’s materials that could not possibly have been
developed by chance or without malicious intentions.'
Woodall is seeking damages to the staggering tune of $10
billion, or equivalent to 2.5 percent of Moana's gross revenue, as well as a
court order preventing continued infringement of his copyrights.
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