Jury Decides Disney Didn’t Commit Copyright Infringement in Making of MOANA

Published: March 12, 2025

Jury Decides Disney Didn’t Commit Copyright Infringement in Making of MOANA

Movieguide® Contributor

On Monday, a jury decided that MOANA was not copied from writer and animator Buck Woodall’s script for “Bucky the Surfer Boy.”

The writer had shared his script with a relative, Jenny Marchick, who worked with a different company on the Disney lot. However, the relative testifies that she never showed the script to a Disney employee.

“Obviously we’re disappointed,” Woodall’s attorney Gustavo Lage said. “We’re going to review our options and think about the best path forward.”

Woodall’s complaint read, “This case arises from a two-decade-long scheme masterminded by Marchick but ultimately joined in with malice and for profit by all Defendants pursuant to the aforementioned conspiracy described in this Complaint. The scheme started out as a plan by Marchick to support her thirst to gain success in her desired career in the movie industry, at all costs, by working with the Defendants to steal all the components of Plaintiffs Copyrighted Materials, as that term is defined in this Complaint.”

Over two weeks of argument, Lage claimed that “There was no ‘Moana’ without ‘Bucky.’”

Defense attorney Moez Kaba said MOANA writers “had no idea about Bucky. They had never seen it, never heard of it.”

This is Woody’s second time trying to pursue credit for MOANA. In 2020, a judge ruled that Woodall’s filing came too late. He also has an ongoing case for MOANA 2.

On Tuesday, the court officially reached a verdict in Disney’s favor.

“We are obviously disappointed in the verdict,” Lage said. “At the present time, we are weighing our options to determine the best path forward regarding the legal remedies available to our client.”

Disney said in a statement: “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.”

To make their decision, the jury watched MOANA in the courtroom and reviewed Woodall’s story outlines and scripts.

In the latter versions of his story, the main character vacations in Hawaii with his parents, goes on a time-travel quest to ancient islands and interacts with demigods. The main character interacts with an animal who acts as a spirit helper.

Kaba argued the similarities relating to Polynesian lore are not copyrightable. He further argued that supernatural shape-shifting characters are a classic feature in Disney movies, like ALADDIN, THE LITTLE MERMAID and HERCULES. Animal guides go all the way back to PINOCCHIO, which premiered in 1940.

Kaba also argued that Disney has thousands of pages that display creators John Musker and Ron Clements’ steps to the making of MOANA.

“You can see every single fingerprint,” Kaba said. “You can see the entire genetic makeup of ‘Moana.’”