Disney is once again facing legal trouble over Moana, as animator Buck Woodall has filed a lawsuit claiming that both Moana and its sequel were based on his copyrighted work without his permission. According to Entertainment Weekly, Woodall alleges that Disney wrongfully used ideas from a screenplay he wrote decades ago.
At the center of the lawsuit is Jenny Marchick, the former development director at Mandeville Films, who later became the head of DreamWorks Animation. Woodall claims that Marchick secretly handed over his material to Disney, leading to the creation of Moana. His previous attempt to sue over the first film was dismissed last year due to a late filing, but this new case focuses on Moana 2, which was released in November 2024.
Woodall argues that a “fraudulent enterprise” was at play, involving the theft and exploitation of his intellectual property. He alleges that between 2003 and 2008, he shared a vast amount of creative material with Marchick, including a full screenplay, character designs, an animated trailer, concept art, and other production assets for his project Bucky and Bucky The Wave Warrior. However, he claims the project never moved forward, and instead, elements from his work were later incorporated into Moana without his consent.
His lawsuit suggests that Disney’s complex corporate structure allowed them to obscure the origins of his material, making it difficult to trace the alleged infringement. Woodall is asking for a court ruling that recognizes his copyright ownership and stops Disney from further infringing on his work. He is also seeking financial compensation—specifically, 2.5% of Moana’s total revenue, which amounts to around $10 billion.
As of now, Disney has not publicly responded to the lawsuit.