Did Disney swipe Moana's story? $10 billion lawsuit by animator says 'yes'

Animator Buck Woodall has filed a $10 billion lawsuit against Disney, alleging the studio copied his screenplay for Bucky to create the hit animated films Moana and its sequel

Animator Buck Woodall has filed a lawsuit against Disney, accusing the company of copying the concept for its animated movie Moana and its sequel, according to a report by The Hollywood Reporter. The lawsuit was filed last week in a California federal court, alleging that Disney took elements from a screenplay Woodall wrote for an animated project called Bucky. Both works reportedly share themes of teenagers from an ancient Polynesian village embarking on adventures to save their homes.

 

Woodall is seeking $10 billion in damages or 2.5 per cent of Moana’s gross revenue. He claims to have shared the screenplay and a trailer for Bucky with Jenny Marchick, who was then the director of development at Mandeville Films and is now head of development for features at DreamWorks Animation.

 

The complaint states, “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.” It further alleges that a specific scene in which Moana and her crew encounter a perilous whirlpool-like portal mirrors unique imagery found in Woodall’s materials and could not have been independently created.

 

This is not the first time Woodall has taken legal action against Disney. A previous lawsuit regarding the first Moana film was dismissed in November last year due to the statute of limitations. However, the release of the sequel has allowed Woodall to file a new complaint.

 

Disney has not yet responded to the latest lawsuit. In the earlier case, Disney denied the allegations, asserting that none of the creators involved in Moana had seen Woodall’s materials. Director Ron Clements stated at the time, “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.”

 

Moana 2, which premiered last year as a direct sequel to the 2016 blockbuster, follows Moana (Auli’i Cravalho) and Maui (Dwayne Johnson) on a new adventure. The sequel earned $964 million at the global box office, making it the fourth-highest-grossing film of 2024. It is also a strong contender for major awards, including Best Animated Feature and Best Original Song, in the 2024-2025 awards season.