Disney has been hit with yet another lawsuit this year. Apparently, they had stolen the idea of Zootopia from a man named Gary L. Goldman, who is also the writer of Total Recall and Big Trouble in Little China.
Zootopia was a major success, generating more than $1 billion worldwide and winning awards at the Oscars and the Golden Globes for best-animated picture.
According to the description of the lawsuit, Goldman pitched the idea of Zootopia to Disney in 2000 and again in 2009. Both times, Disney rejected his pitch for the film.
He provided more than just a premise for the movie. “He provided a treatment, a synopsis, character descriptions, character illustrations and other materials”. Some of the pitch was supposedly copied verbatim in the Disney film.
Disney has already responded to the claims in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter by stating that it is “riddled with patently false allegations” and that they will “vigorously defend against it in court”.
They certainly have experience doing so as they have been sued many times before for films such as The Lion King, Toy Story, Frozen, and Inside Out.