Disney sued for $10 million by animator Buck Woodall over 'copying' his original content for the animated film Moana

Buck Woodall is seeking $10 billion in damages, equivalent to 2.5% of the gross revenue generated by Moana.

Disney is facing a copyright lawsuit claiming that the highly successful Moana franchise was largely based on a decades-old screenplay, allegedly used without the original writer's permission.

Animator Buck Woodall has reportedly filed a lawsuit against Disney, accusing the studio of copying his idea for the animated film Moana and its sequel.

Buck Woodall is seeking $10 billion in damages, equivalent to 2.5% of the gross revenue generated by Moana. According to the lawsuit, Woodall alleges that he shared the screenplay and trailer for his film with Jenny Marchick, who was the director of development at Mandeville Films at the time. Marchick, who now serves as DreamWorks Animation's head of development for features, is claimed to have had access to the materials that Woodall asserts were later used without his consent.

According to a report by The Hollywood Reporter, the lawsuit, filed in California federal court last week, alleges that Disney took elements from a screenplay Woodall wrote for an animated film titled Bucky. The screenplay shares similar themes, including the story of teenagers from an ancient Polynesian village embarking on adventures to protect their homes.

Animator Buck Woodall alleges that between 2003 and 2008, he provided Jenny Marchick with "a substantial amount of intellectual property and trade secrets" tied to his project, originally titled Bucky or Bucky the Wave Warrior. These contributions reportedly included a finalized screenplay, character designs, budgets, a fully animated concept trailer, storyboards, background references, and additional materials.

Woodall further emphasizes that he secured copyright protection for these works in 2004, with an update to the copyright filed in 2014.

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Buck Woodall had previously filed a lawsuit against Disney concerning the original Moana film. However, a court ruling in November of last year dismissed the case, citing that Woodall had delayed too long in initiating the legal proceedings. The release of the sequel, however, has provided him with a renewed opportunity to pursue legal action.

While Disney has yet to address the current lawsuit, the company maintained during the earlier proceedings that none of the individuals involved in the creation of Moana had any access to Woodall’s materials.