Summary
Disneyhas had a lot of success with theMoanafranchise, and a court has now reached a verdict on a longstanding lawsuit that alleged stolen intellectual property in the creation of what has grown to be one of the company’s biggest IPs.
At its core,Disneyis driven and powered by its IP, which it has cultivated from some of the greatest creative minds over the decades and occasionally defended fiercely from infringement. The shoe would find itself on the other foot when the company’s highly successfulMoanafranchise was accused of emerging from stolen IP by unaffiliated animator Buck Woodall. The creative has been railing against the company for a long while now, and has filed legal action against the company claiming thatMoana’sstory, setting and certain character design aspects were lifted from original work he tried to get across to the company. Most recently, the$10 Billion lawsuit moved forward with jury selection in February, with fans of the property observing intently.
While lawsuits are notoriously drawn out processes, the jury in this case has reached a relatively speedy verdict. As reported byDeadline, the eight-person jury spent just three hours in deliberation before coming to the conclusion thatMoanacreators John Musker and Ron Clements didn’t have any knowledge ofBucky the Surfer Boy,the work that Woodall claims was ripped off, while working onMoana.
“We are obviously disappointed in the verdict,” Woodall’s attorney Gustavo D. Lage said concerning the verdict. “At the present time, we are weighing our options to determine the best path forward regarding the legal remedies available to our client.” In addition to whatever options the attorneys decide to take up concerning the case, Woodall also still has ongoing action in the courts concerningMoana 2,the 2024 sequel that’s set to hit Disney+ this week. Disney’s legal team also released a statement lauding the decision via a spokesperson for the company.
We are incredibly proud of the collective work that went into the making of Moana and are pleased that the jury found it had nothing to do with Plaintiff’s works.
The ruling is unsurprising, even ignoring the shaky connections between the two products made by the plaintiff. Like any other corporation of its size, Disney is no stranger to legal actions, including having to face credibleanti-trust lawsuits concerning the company’s streaming strategy. While Woodall’s claims have besieged the company for five years at this point, there’s little chance that his claims would even earn a raised eyebrow from Disney’s legal team beyond this point. The ruling in this case could be grounds to throw out any other legal action from Woodall concerningMoana, its sequel, and any other related targets. In fact, this is likely to be Disney’s next move in the legal battle, bringing an end to the entire thing with strong precedent.
With all the merch, rides, and the live-action adaptation in the works (albeit without one of its lead actors returning), there’s no chance that Disney will let anyone get between the company and the Moana IP. At this juncture, it doesn’t seem like there’s any hope left for Woodall and anyone else with similar concerns or complaints will likely be discouraged as well. Considering the definitive nature of the ruling against the complaint, maybe similar claims should be discouraged after all.
TheMoanafranchise is available to stream on Disney+, with the live action adaptation set for theatrical release on July 30, 2025.
