LOS ANGELES — A jury on Monday rapidly rejected a person’s declare that Disney’s “Moana” was stolen from his story of a younger surfer in Hawaii.
The Los Angeles federal jury deliberated for under about 2½ hours earlier than deciding that the creators of “Moana” by no means had entry to author and animator Buck Woodall’s outlines and script for “Bucky the Surfer Boy.”
With that query settled, the jury of six girls and two males didn’t even have to think about the similarities between “Bucky” and Disney’s 2016 hit animated movie a couple of questing Polynesian princess.
Woodall had shared his work with the stepsister of his brother’s spouse, who labored for a unique firm on the Disney lot, however the lady testified throughout the two-week trial that she by no means confirmed it to anybody at Disney.
“Obviously we’re disappointed,” Woodall’s lawyer Gustavo Lage stated exterior court docket. “We’re going to review our options and think about the best path forward.”
In closing arguments earlier Monday, Woodall’s lawyer stated {that a} lengthy chain of circumstantial proof and similarities so quite a few they will’t be coincidences make it clear that his story “Bucky the Surfer Boy” was the idea for the hit 2016 animated movie.
“There was no ‘Moana’ without ‘Bucky,’” Lage stated throughout closing arguments in a Los Angeles courtroom.
Protection lawyer Moez Kaba stated that the proof exhibits overwhelmingly that “Moana” was clearly the creation and “crowning achievement” of the 40-year profession of John Musker and Ron Clements, the writers and administrators behind 1989’s “The Little Mermaid,” 1992’s “Aladdin,” 1997’s “Hercules” and 2009’s “The Princess and the Frog.”
“They had no idea about Bucky,” Kaba stated in his closing. “They had never seen it, never heard of it.”
Musker and Disney attorneys declined remark exterior the courtroom.
“Moana” earned almost $700 million in world field workplace.
A decide beforehand dominated that Woodall’s 2020 lawsuit got here too late for him to say a bit of these receipts, and {that a} lawsuit he filed earlier this 12 months over “Moana 2” — which earned greater than $1 billion — should be determined individually. That swimsuit stays energetic, although the jury’s determination doesn’t bode effectively for it.
The comparatively younger jury of six girls and two males watched “Moana” in its entirety within the courtroom. They’re contemplating a 2004 story define that Woodall, a New Mexico author and animator, created for “Bucky” in 2003, together with a 2008 replace and a 2011 script.
Within the latter variations of the story, the title character, vacationing in Hawaii together with his mother and father, befriends a bunch of Native Hawaiian youth and goes on a quest that features time journey to the traditional islands and interactions with demigods to save lots of a sacred website from a developer.
Jurors would have needed to resolve whether or not the 2 works had “substantial similarity,” a query that a lot of the trial addressed, however their directions informed them to cease in the event that they answered “no” to the entry query.
Round 2004, Woodall gave the “Bucky” define to the stepsister of his brother’s spouse. That lady, Jenny Marchick, labored for Mandeville Movies, an organization that had a contract with Disney to create live-action movies and was positioned on the Disney lot. He despatched her follow-up supplies by means of the years. He testified that he was surprised when he noticed “Moana” in 2016 and noticed so a lot of his concepts.
Marchick was solid because the mastermind of the theft in his authentic lawsuit earlier than she was dropped as a defendant. She testified that she had not proven “Bucky” to anybody at Disney. And messages shared by the protection confirmed she finally ignored Woodall’s queries to her and informed her stepsister that she’d informed Woodall there was nothing she might do for him.
Disney lawyer Kaba argued there was no proof Marchick ever labored on “Moana” or acquired any credit score or compensation for it. He emphasised to jurors that Woodall needed to show the “Bucky” supplies acquired to the creators of “Moana” and never merely somebody with connections to the company.
Lage, Woodall’s attorneys, outlined the similarities of the 2 works in his closing.
Each embody Polynesian demigods as main characters, with the figures of Maui, Te Fiti and a fiery volcano goddess in “Moana” clearly counterparts of the divine characters in “Bucky.”
Each embody shape-shifting characters who flip into, amongst different issues, bugs and sharks.
Each embody the principle characters interacting with animals who act as spirit helpers.
And Lage stated Moana struggling to study to sail in her quest echoes Bucky’s wrestle to study to surf for his.
“How many coincidences are too many?” the lawyer requested. “When does a coincidence stop being a coincidence?”
Many others, together with shapeshifting characters, seem all through movies together with “The Little Mermaid,” “Aladdin,” and Hercules, which made Musker and Clements important to the Disney renaissance of the Nineties and made Disney a world powerhouse.
Many others, together with animal guides, return to Disney films as early as 1940’s “Pinocchio” and seem in all of Musker and Clements’ earlier movies.
Kaba stated Musker and Clements developed “Moana” the identical approach they did the opposite movies, by means of their very own inspiration, analysis, journey and creativity.
The lawyer stated 1000’s of pages of improvement paperwork present each step of Musker and Clements’ creation, whose spark got here from the work of Paul Gaugin and the writings of Herman Melville.
“You can see every single fingerprint,” Kaba stated. “You can see the entire genetic makeup of ‘Moana.’”
And not one of the in depth Disney documentation makes any point out of Bucky, the lawyer argued.
“This is Ron and John’s story,” Kaba stated. “No matter what they tell you, this is not Buck Woodall’s story.”