NEWS: Disney Faces Copyright Lawsuit Over 'Moana' Films

Moana has become a BIG property for Disney. Not only was the first Moana movie a smash hit, but the second movie recently premiered and has broken a lot of box office records.

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We’ve met Moana in the parks. She’s even got her own attraction in EPCOT, Journey of Water — Inspired by Moana. There’s a brand new Moana show on Disney Cruise Line’s newest ship, the Disney Treasure. Moana is EVERYWHERE. However, one animator is now saying that Moana and her story were stolen from his original idea and has filed a lawsuit against Disney, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Buck Woodall, an animator, has filed a lawsuit against Disney claiming that the company stole ideas for Moana from a screenplay he wrote for an animated movie called Bucky. Both movies have ancient Polynesian settings and teenagers who go on dangerous journeys to save their home. Both movies also have those teenagers encountering spirits.

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This is the second lawsuit filed by Woodall against Disney over Moana. In the first case, a court found that a jury should decide whether the two works are similar if the statute of limitations had not passed. At the time, the court concluded that someone working for Disney Animation TV may have seen materials from Bucky before beginning work on Moana in 2016. However, the court ruled that Woodall had waited too late to sue. The release of Moana 2, though, has allowed him to continue legal action.

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During the first case, U.S. District Judge Consuelo Marshall wrote, “There is a disputed issue of genuine fact regarding substantial similarity and striking similarity between the parties’ works.”

Disney contested allegations that the works were similar and that no one at the company had seen Woodall’s materials for Bucky. Moana director Ron Clements wrote, “Moana was not inspired by or based in any way on [Woodall] or his ‘Bucky’ project, which I learned of for the first time after this lawsuit was filed. Disney also provided documents that showed the origins of Moana, including research, story ideas, travel journals, and more.

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The lawsuit points out similarities between the two films, including the basic setting and story, the main character’s adventure starting with a turtle, a symbolic necklace, the main character meeting a demigod with a giant hook and tattoos, and a giant creature hidden in a mountain.

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The complaint states: “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.”

Woodall is seeking $10 billion, which is 2.5 percent of Moana’s gross revenue, as well as a court order barring further Bucky copyright infringements.

Stay tuned to DFB for more.

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