The Walt Disney Company is facing a lawsuit from an animator who claims that the Moana movies borrowed heavily from a script and art of his own, adding that he was duped by another studio into sharing these ideas. The damages sought? $10 billion.
In the lawsuit, animator Buck Woodall claims that Jenny Marchick, a one-time development director at Mandeville Films (whose Disney partnership resulted in movies like 2017’s Beauty and the Beast and Chip ‘n Dale: Rescue Rangers), relayed key materials – including a script, illustrations and more – to Disney. To quote the 33-page filing: [Disney and Marchick] “participated in a fraudulent enterprise that encompassed the theft, misappropriation, and extensive exploitation of Woodall’s copyrighted materials, intellectual property, and trade secrets as set forth in this Complaint. This conspiracy was marked by a web of coordinated actions, including but not limited to: deliberate misrepresentations to deceive Woodall; systematic concealment of critical evidence; covert meetings to plan their infringing activities; and the distribution of stolen materials across various platforms…” In short, Disney owes this guy some money.
If you’re wondering why the lawsuit is just now coming out when the first Moana was released by Disney back in 2016, it’s because Woodall missed that boat. As such, most of this filing focuses on Moana 2, which was released last November. Of note, Woodall never actually made his planned movie, titled Bucky.
We’re not going to pick a dog (or a rooster) in this admittedly one-sided fight, but going after the House of Mouse usually never works out for the plaintiff. That Woodall is also seeking $10 billion from Disney over the Moana similarities also doesn’t bode well for him. While there is no true telling just how far this lawsuit will go, we don’t see Disney forking over anything.
In total, both Moana and Moana 2 took in $1.67 billion worldwide (or less than five times what Woodall is seeking from Disney), making them both – especially the sequel – among the highest-grossing movies of their respective years. And with the live-action version starring Dwayne Johnson and Catherine Lagaʻaia slated for 2026, the franchise will only be adding cash that Woodall will no doubt feel robbed of.
Where do you see this lawsuit against Disney over Moana going?
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