Disney is facing a copyright infringement lawsuit filed by animator Buck Woodall, who claims the company used his confidential materials to create the blockbuster Moana franchise without his consent. Woodall alleges that the inspiration for both Moana and its sequel Moana 2 was taken from a decades-old screenplay and other intellectual property he provided to Jenny Marchick, a former Mandeville Films development director, who he says secretly passed them to Disney.
The lawsuit, filed on Friday, accuses Marchick of engaging in a “fraudulent enterprise” involving the theft and extensive misappropriation of Woodall’s copyrighted materials, including a screenplay, character illustrations, budgets, a fully animated concept trailer, storyboards, and background images. These materials were developed by Woodall between 2003 and 2008 for a project known as Bucky or Bucky the Wave Warrior, a concept that was never fully developed into a film. Despite this, Woodall asserts that the project was covertly adapted into Moana and continued into the sequel Moana 2.
While a previous attempt to bring a similar lawsuit against the 2016 Moana film was dismissed due to a late filing, Woodall’s new suit focuses primarily on the 2024 sequel. His claim suggests that Bucky, much like Moana, centers around a young protagonist embarking on a voyage across Polynesian waters, guided by spiritual ancestors, and encountering mythical creatures. Woodall also identifies striking similarities between his work and key elements of both films, including a symbolic necklace, star navigation, a lava goddess, and a giant creature disguised as a mountain.
As for Moana 2, Woodall points to a number of identical plot points, such as animal companions, a mission to break a curse, a whirlpool leading to an oceanic portal, and the introduction of the Kakamora warrior tribe—all elements that appear to have originated in his Bucky project.
Woodall is seeking damages of 2.5% of Moana‘s gross revenue, which he estimates to be around $10 billion, in addition to a court order affirming his copyright and prohibiting further use of his materials.
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