During awards season, Disney was hit with a copyright lawsuit for Moana 2.
Moana 2 has led to a lawsuit against Disney. The 2024 film is a follow-up to their 2016 blockbuster. It centers on Moana (Auli’i Cravalho) assembling a crew on a new maritime journey, which reunites her with her former demigod friend Maui (Dwayne Johnson). The animated musical was an immediate hit and went on to become the fourth highest-grossing film of 2024 with a global gross of $964 million.
The film is a strong candidate for Best Animated Feature and Best Original Song at several ceremonies during the 2024–2025 awards season, in addition to its record-breaking box office performance. The song “Beyond” was shortlisted for an Academy Award nomination, and it lost to Flow in the Golden Globes for Best Animated Feature. Due to the ongoing wildfires in Los Angeles, the official nominations were postponed by two days and will be released on January 19.
A copyright lawsuit has been filed against Moana 2, which has similarities to the Bucky screenplay.
Disney is being sued for violating Moana 2’s copyright. This is not the first time the entertainment giant has faced a copyright lawsuit; in a recent case, it was claimed that the MOVA Contour motion-capture software that made Beast come to life in Beauty and the Beast (2017) was stolen. However, the $600,000 fine was reversed because it was determined that Disney could not have known about the misuse, which was committed by a contractor. Ezequiel Martinez Jr. and Arthur Lee Alfred II sued the corporation that same year, claiming that it had violated their screenplay for the 2000 Pirates of the Caribbean.
The scene of an old Polynesian community
The souls of ancestors appear as animals during an ocean excursion that an adolescent embarks on.
A turtle is the reason this trip starts.
A symbolic necklace plays a significant role in the narrative.
A tattooed demigod with a hook is a supporting character.
In a mountain, a huge beast is concealed.
Sucked into a whirlpool portal is the team.
In this case, Woodall is suing Disney for copyright infringement for the second time. In November, his initial complaint against the original Moana was dismissed because it was judged to have been submitted too late. Consuelo Marshall, a U.S. District Judge at the time, stated that “there is a disputed issue of genuine fact regarding substantial similarity and striking similarity between the parties’ works.”
The Implications for Moana.
The case’s outcome can take years.
The resolution of this argument over the Moana 2 tale may ultimately take years. Although paying out $10 billion would not be a severe loss given the franchise’s enormous earnings, if the court finds in favor of Woodall’s complaint, the franchise’s survival may be in peril. But if that were the case, Disney would probably make sure it lasted by hiring Woodall as an executive producer and letting him profit from the success of subsequent films.