With just over a week until the Academy Awards nominations are revealed, Disney faces a lawsuit for plagiarizing the concept of ‘Moana’ and its sequel.

Filed last Friday in a California federal court by animator Buck Woodall, the lawsuit accuses Disney of stealing elements from his animated screenplay titled ‘Bucky.’ Both narratives, set in an ancient Polynesian village, feature young protagonists who defy parental expectations to undertake perilous journeys to protect their communities.

The lawsuit was lodged following a November court decision which determined that Disney was not liable in a previous similar copyright suit regarding Moana, as Woodall's claim was filed too late. The release of ‘Moana 2,’ however, permitted new legal proceedings.

In the prior case, it was determined that the question of substantial similarity between the works would be for a jury to decide, had the statute of limitations not expired. The court also noted that someone from Disney Animation TV might have viewed copyrighted ‘Bucky’ materials before Moana’s development, which began prior to its 2016 release.

U.S. District Judge Consuelo Marshall highlighted that, “There is a disputed issue of genuine fact regarding substantial similarity and striking similarity between the parties’ works.”

‘Moana 2,’ a potential nominee for best animated feature at the upcoming Academy Awards, achieved a box office debut of $224.2 million, setting a record for the largest five-day opening ever. The original film earned $687 million globally.

Disney has yet to respond to these allegations.

Woodall claims that in 2003, he presented the ‘Bucky’ screenplay and a trailer to Jenny Marchick, then a director of development at Mandeville Films and now at DreamWorks Animation, who requested additional materials including character designs and storyboards, promising the possibility of greenlighting the film. At the time, Mandeville had a first-look agreement with Disney and operated out of Disney's Burbank offices, as per the lawsuit.

The complaint draws attention to several parallels between ‘Moana’ and ‘Bucky,’ such as their celebration of Polynesian spiritual beliefs in ancestors as animals, similar starting points involving a turtle, and a storyline with a symbolic necklace. Both feature a protagonist meeting a demigod with a hook and tattoos and a monstrous creature hidden within a mountain.

According to the lawsuit, “Disney’s Moana was produced in the wake of Woodall’s delivery to the Defendants of virtually all constituent parts necessary for its development and production after more than 17 years of inspiration and work on his animated film project.”

The suit alleges similarities with ‘Moana 2,’ where both stories involve the protagonist seeking an ancient island to lift a curse, with unique scenes like a dangerous oceanic portal also claimed to be taken from Woodall’s work.

Woodall is seeking damages amounting to 2.5 percent of Moana’s gross revenue, or at least $10 billion, and a court order to halt further copyright infringements.

In a summary judgment of the previous lawsuit, Disney refuted claims of similarity and stated that the creators of Moana were unaware of Woodall’s materials. Director Ron Clements affirmed, “Moana was not inspired by or based in any way on [Woodall] or his ‘Bucky’ project, which I learned of for the first time after this lawsuit was filed.”

To defend its creation of the movie independently, Disney presented evidence including original story ideas, pitch materials, and scripts, underscoring its development process for ‘Moana.’

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