Disney wins copyright lawsuit over ‘Moana’
This image released by Disney shows the character Moana, voiced by Auli’i Cravalho, center, in a scene from “Moana 2.” (Disney via AP)
LOS ANGELES – A Los Angeles federal jury Monday rejected a writer-animator’s claim that the Walt Disney Co. lifted portions of his draft for a Polynesian-themed surfer story and used it for the 2016 animated blockbuster “Moana.”
Buck Woodall alleged that ex-Mandeville Films development director Jenny Marchick secretly handed Disney materials he produced privately for her two decades ago, and the company used elements of the work as the basis for its “Moana” project without permission, according to the suit filed in 2020 in LA federal court.
The suit says Mandeville had a first-look deal with Disney, as well as offices on Disney’s lot at the time of Marchick’s alleged association with Woodall, who claims he gave her access to his script and storyboards for his Hawaii-based “Bucky the Surfer Boy.”
“Moana” has reportedly raked in a nearly $700 million in worldwide box office.
The New Mexico-based animator filed a second lawsuit earlier this year that makes similar claims about the making of “Moana 2.”
That suit is seeking $10 billion for alleged copyright infringement based on Woodall’s allegations that the Burbank company plagiarized parts of his decades-old screenplay for the “Moana” sequel.
A Disney representative did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The 2025 complaint contends Marchick operated a “fraudulent enterprise that encompassed the theft, misappropriation, and extensive exploitation of Woodall’s copyrighted materials.”
The writer-animator again claims he gave Marchick a large amount of “intellectual property and trade secrets” — including a screenplay and an animated trailer — related to the Polynesian-themed project then known as “Bucky” between 2003 and 2008. Woodall claims he received copyright protection on the materials in 2004 and 2014.
According to Woodall, “Bucky” was appropriated by Disney for “Moana” and its sequel “Moana 2” without his approval.
The new lawsuit seeks 2.5 percent of “Moana’s” profits, about $10 billion, and a court order affirming his copyright and barring further infringement. (CNS)
