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Animator Buck Woodall Sues Disney for Allegedly Copying Ideas for Moana and Moana 2: Details
Animator Buck Woodall has filed a lawsuit against Disney, accusing the company of copying elements from his screenplay for Bucky in Moana and its sequel, Moana 2.
With only a little over a week left for the Academy to announce the 2025 Oscar contenders, Disney is facing a lawsuit for allegedly copying ideas for Moana and its recently released sequel.
Animator Buck Woodall, in a filing on Friday, January 10, in California federal court, accused Disney of ripping off elements of a screenplay he wrote for an animated film called Bucky. He claims his work, like the aforementioned Disney offerings, is set against the backdrop of an ancient Polynesian village and follows teenagers who defy their parents by embarking on dangerous voyages to save their community while braving spirits manifested as animals along the way.
The filing of Friday lawsuit follows a court ruling in November 2024 that saved Disney from facing an identical copyright lawsuit brought by Woodall over Moana because he sued too late. The release of Moana 2 over the Christmas weekend allowed him to initiate the current legal action.
In that case, the court found that a jury should decide whether the works in question are, in fact, identical if the statute of limitations had not passed.
Moana 2, which may garner an Academy Award nomination for Best Animated Feature, debuted at $224.5 million at the box office. The original grossed at least $687 million worldwide.
Woodall is seeking damages equivalent to 2.5 percent of Moana’s gross revenue, or $10 billion, as well as a court order barring further infringements of his copyrights.
The screenplay for Bucky has been registered with the Writers Guild of America and is under the protection of the U.S. Copyright Office, granting protection to the material.
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