Buck Woodall’s five-year legal battle with Disney over the creation of Moana has reached a turning point. A jury in Los Angeles recently ruled in favor of Disney, saying that the main creators, John Musker and Ron Clements, had no knowledge of Woodall’s work, Bucky the Surfer Boy, while making the popular film.
Woodall’s fight isn’t over, though. He has filed a new copyright infringement case regarding the upcoming sequel, Moana 2. He is looking for a staggering $10 billion from Disney, which is about 2.5% of the projected earnings for this major animated release, expected to do very well at the box office.
After the verdict, a Disney spokesperson expressed pride in the work that went into Moana and emphasized that the jury found no connection to Woodall’s creations. On the other hand, Woodall’s lawyer, Gustavo D. Lage, voiced disappointment and mentioned that they are considering their next steps.
The key question in this trial was whether Musker and Clements had ever encountered Woodall’s materials. The jury concluded they had not. Disney’s attorney argued that the creators had never even heard of Bucky, making any claims of similarity between the two projects irrelevant.
This isn’t Woodall’s first legal struggle regarding Disney. In his initial 2020 lawsuit, he claimed that a relative, Jenny Marchick, helped him by passing his materials to Disney, although Marchick denied ever sharing these concepts. Woodall’s new case has lifted previous time limitations, leading him to seek compensation for Moana 2.
According to the documents revealed during this trial, work on Moana actually started in 2011, earlier than many might think. This fact adds complexity to Woodall’s claims and raises questions about the timeline of ideas and when they were shared.
Marchick, who is now head of development at DreamWorks Animation, has been linked to both Woodall and Disney through family ties. She testified that she did not recall showing any of Woodall’s work to Disney, emphasizing that any help she provided to him was limited. She once told Woodall she wasn’t able to assist him with his project.
No trial date has yet been set for the Moana 2 case, but it’s expected that Disney will soon seek to have this new lawsuit dismissed based on the recent outcome.
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