Animator Buck Woodall files lawsuit against Disney for allegedly copying ‘Moana’ and ‘Moana 2’

Animator Buck Woodall has filed a lawsuit in California Federal Court against Disney, claiming that the company has ripped off elements from his original screenplay ‘Bucky’. Both of the projects have a similar backdrop of an ancient Polynesian village, followed by a teenager who resists their parents and involves a journey, encountering spirits manifested as animals.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Woodall tried to file a lawsuit against Disney, although, in November, the court ruled that the identical copyright lawsuit shall not be faced by Disney as he brought the complaint too late. However, the release of ‘Moana 2’ on the Christmas weekend has allowed Woodall to initiate further legal action. The court found that a jury should decide whether the projects ‘Moana’ and ‘Bucky’ are identical if the statute of limitations had not passed. The animator seeks USD 10 Billion or 2.5% of the gross revenue of the Disney film ‘Moana’, and a court order barring further infringement of his copyrights.

Other similarities in the works include the teenager’s journey starting with a turtle, a plot involving a symbolic necklace, a main character who encounters a demigod adorned with a giant hook and tattoos, and a giant creature that’s concealed within a mountain, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

According to the complaint filed by Woodall, the narrative began in 2003 when the animator gave the screenplay and trailer for his work ‘Bucky’ to Dreamworks Animation’s head of development for features Jenny Marchik, who formerly worked in Mandeville Films as a director of development. She allegedly asked for further developments such as a storyboard of the plot, and character designs, assuring him a film. At the time, Mandeville had a first-look deal with Disney and had offices in its buildings in Burbank.

Woodall’s adversary, Disney has also filed documents that suggest the origin of the story, and the development of the story through research documents, travel journals, pitch ideas, and scripts.