Jury Rules Disney Did Not Steal Idea forMoanafrom Animator in $10 Billion Lawsuit

Mar. 15, 2025

Moana and Simea in Moana 2.Photo:Disney

Disney

A jury in Los Angeles found that an animator’sclaim that Disney stole the idea forMoanafrom him has no basis.

On Monday, March 10,multipleoutletsreportedthat a federal jury in L.A. needed only two and a half hours of deliberation before it concluded that the creators behind Disney’s 2016 animated hitMoana"never had access to" the outlines and scripts for a story titledBucky, which animator Buck Woodall previously alleged were stolen from him.

Woodall previously alleged that Jenny Marchick — DreamWorks Animation’s head of development for feature films who previously worked in relation with Disney at Mandeville Films on Disney’s property in Burbank, Calif. in the 2000s — shared Woodall’s materials for the project with Disney.

Moana in Moana 2.Disney

PerVariety, jurors did not have to address whetherMoanaandBuckywere similar because they ruled thatMoana’s filmmakers did not have access toBucky’s script.

John Musker, one ofMoana’s filmmakers, testified during the trial that he and collaborator Ron Clements drew on inspiration from other Disney movies they worked on likeThe Little Mermaid,AladdinandHercules; perTHR, jurors were shown scenes from those movies as Disney’s attorneys argued that the ideas Woodall alleged were stolen from him “can be found in most works from Musker and Clements.”

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“We are incredibly proud of the collective work that went into the making ofMoanaand are pleased that the jury found it had nothing to do with the Plaintiff’s works," a Disney spokesperson told multiple outlets in a statement.

Heihei, Maui and Pua in Moana 2.Disney

Woodall filed his lawsuit on Jan. 10 after a court separately ruled in November 2024 that Disney did not need to face another copyright lawsuit he had filed overMoanabecause he sued too long after the film’s release, asThe Hollywood Reporterreported at the time.Moana 2’s release in November 2024 enabled him to file the January lawsuit, in which he alleged thatMoana 2further utilized elements from his own screenplay. PerVariety, Woodall’s suit in relation toMoana2remains pending.

PEOPLE has reached out to Disney and Woodall’s attorney Gustavo Lage for comment on the ruling.

source: people.com