Disney is facing a lawsuit concerning their animated film, "Zootopia." According to reports, the complaint alleges that the film copied from another writer who had reportedly pitched the film to Disney on multiple occasions. Added to that, the complaint also highlights Disney being accused of copying in the past. That said, Disney has attacked the allegations and said that they would defend the film in court.
The suit even compared character designs from the pitch with the film
The suit claims that the film copied from the work of Gary L. Goldman, whose is credited with writing "Total Recall" and "Next," in addition to serving as a producer for "Minority Report." The complaint had been filed on Tuesday in California federal court and is said to come from Esplanade Productions, Inc.
The company is being represented by the law firm of Quinn Emanuel.
According to reports, the suit claims Goldman, on behalf of Esplanade, pitched the "Zootopia" franchise twice, once in 2000 and again in 2009. Goldman's Pitch offered a plethora of materials, reportedly including both a synopsis and character designs. Former Disney executive and Mandeville Films' CEO David Hoberman reportedly responded favorably to the pitch, but Disney appeared to ultimately pass on the project during the 2000 pitch.
The complaint even compared similar artwork from Goldman’s pitch to characters as they appeared in the final film. The characters that were compared to each other were mostly different species. Characters compared to Nick and Judy, for example, who are a fox and a rabbit in the final film, were a hyena and a squirrel in the pitch.
An ostrich character was compared to the villainous sheep character, Bellwether. The only character in the pitch that appeared to be the same species as its supposed counterpart in the film was a sloth character.
Goldman worked with Disney in the past, having been hired to work as a writer on a screenplay adaptation of the Stan Lee comic, "Blaze," in 2007.
Disney has said that they will defend the final film in court
The suit even quoted "Zootopia" director Byron Howard, with him saying that it can be a good thing to copy something since the final product will ultimately bring a "unique perspective" to it. Reportedly, the complaint mentioned the fact that Disney has been accused of plagiarism in the past, reportedly specifying “The Lion King,” “Toy Story,” “Monsters Inc.,” “Up,” and “Inside Out.”
In a released statement, a spokesperson for Disney criticized the lawsuit as being "an unprincipled attempt" built on "patently false allegations" and said that they will defend against the measure in court.
