A British screenwriter has filed a lawsuit claiming Pixar stole the idea for Cars from screenplays he shopped around to studios in the early 1990s, and is seeking an injunction to stop the June 24 release of Cars 2, writes The Hollywood Reporter.
The suit was filed by Jake Mandeville-Anthony in U.S. District Court and claims he write a three-part screenplay about real-life car racer Michael Own Perkins and a materials for an animated feature called Cars. Mandeville-Anthony’s materials for his version of Cars included a treatment, sample screenplay, descriptions of 46 animated car characters, 10 character sketches and a marketing and merchandise plan, the Reporter writes.
The copyright infringement and breach of contract complaint says copies of these works were sent to multiple production companies, including Disney and Lucasfilm, and cites numerous similarities between Mandeville-Anthony’s work and Pixar’s 2006 feature Cars, which grossed more than $450 million at the worldwide box office.
The Reporter also writes that the writer and Disney/Pixar have been engaged in a semi-private dispute in the United Kingdom, where a recent judgement in the case is under seal.
Pixar has not commented on the case.
I can’t see this going anywhere. As anyone who has ever experienced submitting proposals for new ideas to Disney/Pixar knows, they are water-tight in not considering any unsolicited materials. As a company that prides itself in developing ideas ‘in-house’ I don’t imagine they’ve even looked at Mr Madeville-Anthony’s pitch. Unfortunately, this lawsuit will probably make it even more difficult for aspiring writers to get read.
The idea behind Cars is also not a particularly original one, when the UK has already produced a number of transport related characters (Thomas the Tank Engine, Budgie the Helicopter, Roary Race Car being just a few examples). I might just as well pitch ‘Boats’ here and now, about a tug boat befriending a speedboat, who falls in love with a luxury yacht….
I guess now I have to slap you with a law suit now too Chester. I pitched Boats back in 2001, along with Parasails, Jet Ski’s, Go Karts, and Transformers a cartoon about robots that turn into cars and eat energon cubes.
A tugboat cartoon would be nothing new.
Ever same story with A Bug’s Life with a French writer (Ants 3 book) who of course have lost. 30 changes and the story,pictures, ideas is not from the author. Not complicate reference! reference !!! 😉
It’s not the first.
Like Disney’s movies, story come from; Uk, France, Italy and German. but they forget often to write the author 😉