A filmmaker is suing The Walt Disney Firm for copyright infringement, claiming that the media conglomerate’s hit films “Moana” and “Moana 2” copied substantial components of a script he wrote.
The lawsuit, filed Friday by Buck Woodall in California federal court docket, claims the Disney movies exhibit “breathtaking” similarities to his script, “Bucky the Wave Warrior” or “Bucky,” an animated characteristic he says was impressed by his “unique exposure” to Polynesian tradition.
Woodall is in search of “at least $10 billion” in damages and a pair of.5% of the gross income from “Moana 2” and associated merchandise, a sum he estimated to be “at least $5 billion.”
Each “Moana” and “Moana 2” had been runaway hits for Disney, with the sequel setting the file for the largest Thanksgiving weekend debut in field workplace historical past (it raked in $221 million in its five-day home open).
Along with Disney, manufacturing firm Mandeville Movies and former Mandeville exec Jenny Marchick (presently head of characteristic improvement for DreamWorks Animation) are named as defendants, per Individuals.
The timing of the authorized motion is lower than best for Disney. The studio is reportedly hoping “Moana 2” will garner a Finest Animated Function Oscar nod when the Academy declares nominations, which was prolonged due to the devastating LA fires.
In response to Woodall’s lawsuit, the alleged similarities between the “Moana” films and his script embrace a teenage protagonist on “a dangerous voyage across Polynesian waters” to avoid wasting an “endangered” island, “ancient spirits manifested as animals which guide and guard the living,” a symbolic necklace central to the story and a demigod with a large hook and tattoos, amongst others.
Woodall claimed that he started sharing his concepts for “Bucky” with Marchick when she was at Mandeville Movies in 2003. On the time, the corporate had a “first look” take care of Disney, per the lawsuit.
The filmmaker additionally alleged that over years of improvement, Marchick “prodded” him for extra content material tied to his “Bucky” idea — together with an animated trailer, storyboards and a full script, all of which he stated he supplied.
On “the eve of the discharge of ‘Moana’” in 2016, Marchick allegedly told Woodall that she wasn’t positive any of the supplies he despatched her “made it beyond her desk,” in accordance with the lawsuit. Nevertheless, Woodall contended that the content material was already in Disney’s arms when he submitted the ultimate draft script of “Bucky” in 2011 to Marchick.
In his lawsuit, Woodall claimed the supplies he made for “Bucky,” together with a trailer, had been registered with the Writers Guild of America, and it obtained federal copyright protections in 2004 earlier than being up to date in 2014.
The animator’s grievance is his second in opposition to Disney over the “Moana” franchise. In November, a choose dismissed Woodall’s earlier swimsuit over the primary “Moana” film, saying he filed too late.
Woodall’s allegation that a few of his authentic materials was copied and integrated in “Moana 2” has renewed his hopes for a authorized showdown, on condition that the sequel was launched solely two months in the past.
In response to his new lawsuit, Woodall is in search of a jury trial.
The Submit has reached out to The Walt Disney Firm for remark.
