disney is the subject of a copyright lawsuit alleging that the popular franchise Moana was taken almost entirely from a decades-old script without the writer’s consent.
In a lawsuit filed on Friday and shared by the Entertainment Weekly portal, the animator Buck Woodall claims that the former development director of Mandeville Films, Jenny Marchickviolated her copyright by secretly passing to Disney materials he confidentially produced for her two decades ago. That material, Woodall alleges, became Moana and Moana 2.
Last November, a court ruling prevented Woodall from filing an identical lawsuit against the original 2016 film because the filing would have come too late. Although Woodall’s lawsuit, filed Friday, contains numerous allegations about the first Moana movie, The essence of its plot focuses on the sequel that premiered in November 2024.
What the lawsuit says against Disney over Moana
Woodall’s lawsuit alleges a “fraudulent enterprise that included the theft, misappropriation and extensive exploitation of Woodall’s copyrighted materials”headed by Marchick, who is now the head of development at DreamWorks Animation. Mandeville Films had a first-look agreement with Disney, as well as offices on Disney’s land in Burbank, California, at the time of Marchick’s dealings with Woodall.
The animator claims he gave Marchick “extremely large amounts of intellectual property and trade secrets” related to a project called “Bucky” and “Bucky the Wave Warrior” between 2003 and 2008. Those materials included a full script, character artwork, budgets, a fully animated concept trailer, storyboards, background image references, and more.
Woodall also notes that he received copyright protection on these materials in 2004, which was updated in 2014.
“Bucky” was never developed, but Woodall claims that Marchick was able to pass his materials to Disney by taking advantage of legal loopholes inherent in the “tapestry of confusion” that is Disney’s elaborate corporate structure. YesAccording to Woodall, “Bucky” not only became Moana without her consent, but also continued to serve as the basis for Moana 2..
The lawsuit lists a series of similarities between Woodall’s undeveloped script and Moana and Moana 2. Like “Bucky,” the first film follows a teenager on a canoe journey through Polynesian waters to save the Polynesian land. It features the Polynesian belief in spiritual ancestors who manifest as animal guides and a number of details including a symbolic necklace, navigation by stars, a lava goddess and a giant creature disguised as a mountainous island.
As for Moana 2, the lawsuit notes that details such as the rooster and pig companions, a quest to break a curse, a whirlpool that leads to an ocean portal and an encounter with the Kakamora warrior tribe were taken without “Bucky’s” consent. .
While Woodall claims in the new lawsuit that Disney did not provide all documents requested in the previous lawsuit, Disney did submit documents related to Moana, including story ideas, early drafts of the script, research notes, and presentation materials.
Woodall claims 2.5 percent of Moana’s gross income as compensationequivalent to 10 billion dollars, and a court order confirming its copyright and prohibiting future infringements.
Source: Ambito
I am an author and journalist who has worked in the entertainment industry for over a decade. I currently work as a news editor at a major news website, and my focus is on covering the latest trends in entertainment. I also write occasional pieces for other outlets, and have authored two books about the entertainment industry.
