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An animator has sued Disney for allegedly copying ideas for the hit film Moana from a decades-old script without permission.
Buck Woodall filed a lawsuit Friday in federal court in California, alleging that Disney took away many elements of the screenplay he wrote for an animated film titled “Bucky.”
The original film, released in 2016, tells the story of an adventurous teenager named Moana, voiced by Auli’i Cravalho, who embarks on a dangerous mission to save her people. During her journey, she meets Maui, voiced by Dwayne Johnson, and becomes her guide. The film was a huge word-of-mouth success, grossing more than $680m (£535m) worldwide and more than 1 billion hours streamed on Disney+.
Expected to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, Moana 2 follows a Polynesian teenager who receives an unexpected call from her wave-sensing ancestors, reunites her with Maui, and embarks on a new ocean adventure. The film grossed $57.5 million on its first day of release and has already grossed $989.8 million worldwide.
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Woodall originally sued Disney last year, but a California state court ruled in November that he had filed too late and dismissed his suit. With the release of Moana 2, animators can now sue production giants on the same basis.
The lawsuit alleges, in part, that Jenny Marchik, a former director of development at Mandeville Films and now head of development at DreamWorks Animation, is accused of “theft, misappropriation, and dissemination of Woodall’s copyrighted material.” The lawsuit alleges that he engaged in “fraudulent business, including fraudulent use.”
According to the suit, Woodall gave Marchk the script and trailer for “Bucky” in 2003, and over the next few years asked for additional material, including character designs, production plans, budgets and storyboards. Woodall claims he delivered “a significant amount of intellectual property and trade secrets” for the project, titled Bucky the Wave, and was told by Marchk that he would greenlight the film. .
“Disney’s Moana was created after more than 17 years of inspiration and commitment to the animated film project, with Udall turning over to Defendants virtually all of the components necessary for its development and production.” The complaint states:
They also point out the suspected overlap between Bucky and Moana 2.
Both stories are set in ancient Polynesian villages and follow a group of teenagers who set out on a dangerous voyage to save their land, and along the way encounter ancient spirits who appear in the form of animals.
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The lawsuit specifically points out that details such as the chicken and pig companions, the encounter with the Kakamora warriors, and the spiral that leads to the portal are all taken from Bucky’s script.
“Moana and her crew are sucked into a dangerous spiral-like ocean portal, another dramatic and unique device included in Plaintiff’s materials that cannot be thought to have been developed by accident or without malicious intent. image,” the complaint states.
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Mr. Woodall claimed that Bucky’s material was copyrighted in 2004 and that the copyright was renewed in 2014.
He accused Marchik of exploiting a loophole in the law to get his material to Disney, even though Bucky ultimately wasn’t involved in development.
Woodall is seeking damages equal to 2.5 per cent of Moana’s gross revenue, or $10 billion (approximately £8.2 billion), and an injunction to prohibit further copyright infringement.
The Independent has contacted Universal Pictures, which owns Disney and DreamWorks Animation, for comment.
In response to Woodall’s original lawsuit, Disney claimed that no one involved in Moana’s development had seen the animators’ materials.
Director Ron Clements said in a court statement: “Moana was not inspired by or in any way based on (Woodall) or his Bucky project; I only learned about it after the lawsuit was filed.”
Disney submitted documents related to Moana to the court, including story ideas, research, early screenplay drafts and scripts, and travelogues, to support its claim that Moana was developed independently of Bucky.
