Why Is Disney Being Sued by an Animator Regarding Moana 2? Find Out

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Following the acclaimed release of Moana 2, Disney is back in the news due to a legal dispute with animator Buck Woodall. Woodall claims that the Moana movies were developed from a screenplay he wrote and owned, without his consent, as reported by Entertainment Weekly.

Woodall asserts that Jenny Marchick, who was previously the development director at Mandeville Films and is now the head of DreamWorks Animation, breached his copyright by discreetly sharing Disney materials connected to work he created for her approximately two decades ago. The complainant contends that this material served as the foundation for Moana and its sequel.

According to recent reports, a court decision made in November barred Woodall from filing a case similar to the one against Moana’s initial release, as the submission was considered late. The newly filed lawsuit encompasses several claims, but it predominantly targets the second installment of Moana, which came out in November 2024.

As reported by Entertainment Weekly, Woodall claimed that Marchick was running a fraudulent business involving the unauthorized use, misdirection, and excessive exploitation of Woodall’s copyrighted works. This alleged scheme is said to have taken place when Mandeville Films, which at the time had a first-look deal with Disney and shared offices on the Disney lot in Burbank, California, was interacting with Woodall.

From 2003 to 2008, it’s said that Woodall allegedly shared extensive amounts of intellectual property and trade secrets about his projects Bucky and Bucky The Wave Warrior with Marchick. This included a completed screenplay, character sketches, an entirely animated promotional video, cost estimates, visual references, storyline diagrams, and additional materials, as stated in the report.

In the court documents, the plaintiff claimed that Bucky’s development never came to fruition as planned, but asserted that Marchick had given Disney his materials and took advantage of complex legal loopholes within Disney’s intricate corporate setup, which is often referred to as their “tapestry of confusion.

The document also claims that Bucky served as the inspiration for Moana and its subsequent sequel, without obtaining Woodall’s permission. The lawsuit details various correspondences between Woodall’s incomplete manuscript and both Moana movies, according to the report.

According to Entertainment Weekly, Woodall aims to legally establish his copyright possession and prevent any future violations. Moreover, he requests compensation equal to 2.5% of Moana’s total earnings, which is roughly $10 billion.

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2025-01-13 16:37