A Massachusetts artist has filed a lawsuit against DreamWorks Animation, claiming the studio stole his idea for the multi-million dollar Kung Fu Panda franchise.
In papers filed yesterday and obtained by EW, Jayme Gordon alleges that the studio stole the concept of and characters from his copyrighted works, titled Kung Fu Panda Power. He claimed he created the characters in the late 1980s or early 1990s and pitched them twice to studios — once to the Walt Disney Company and again to DreamWorks in the late 1990s.
This is the second Kung Fu Panda lawsuit facing the company. Another writer, Terence Dunn, claims he pitched the story to DreamWorks executives in 2001.
Gordon is seeking damages and lost profits, “which cannot yet be fully ascertained, but which shall be assessed at the time of trial,” according to the lawsuit.
Kung Fu Panda 2 is scheduled for a May 27 release. DreamWorks is not commenting on the suit.
I love when these suits are filed…years after the product has hit the market.
I love when people say they love things that they don’t really love.
I love when people make awesome replies like this (I really do) literally made me lol.
I TRULY love it when I read all the ‘lovings’ that are going on all over the place whether they are truly heartfelt or pure sarcasm.
I am so in love with my boyfriend Michael. He is the greatest guy in the world, and we watched “Kung Fu Panda” together.
I love kittens. They’re yummy.
He is doing it now?
Smart people… how long does it take to get everything ready for something like this? cause its been years since the release of the first movie.
Normally people who sue so much longer after the fact irritate me, but that’s a pretty incriminating comparison you have up there.
This isn’t the first time Dreamworks Animation has “copied” film ideas: Antz (from “Bugs Life”), Small Soldiers (from “Toy Story”), Fish Tale (from “Finding Nemo”)…
The whole Antz/Bug’s Life thing happened because someone left Pixar and went to the studio that made Antz, and ended up taking the idea for Bug’s Life with him. I forget who left though.
It was Katzenberg. The day he left was the day Bug’s Life was pitched. So it was another idea copied by Dreamworks, even though Antz was released first. It’s on their Wiki page if you want to learn more.
Small soldiers was a DreamWorks movie, not DWA. And Shark Tales came out before Finding Nemo.
..ehh “Shark Tale”…
Give him a chance, this could be true. It usually takes years to get all the legal paperwork together to make a case, plus DreamWorks has a history of stealing ideas.
As a professional illustrator, this looks really bad. Way too many comparisons here for it to be a coincidence. Katzenberg (the K part of SKG) also directed the Lion King while at Disney, which is very similar to the Japanese animation Kimba the White Lion. I am wondering if there was a clause when the work was presented that said something along the lines of work presented to us becomes property of Dreamworks. If they have really tight contracts, this artist may be SOL.
Your a peon illustrator who knows JACK SQUAT about intellectual property infringement or the legal system in California. Know your role and pipe down.
Ah, critism from the (obvious) intellectual elite. By the way, genius, “your”, when used like you have it at the beginning of YOUR ignorant diatribe, is actually spelled “you’re”. Also, there should be a comma between “Know your role” and “and pipe down” as they are two separate thoughts and stand alone as separate sentences. I also know nothing about the Californian legal system, but let’s face it, a thief is a thief whether they rob banks or steal from creators of intellectual property and run billion-dollar animation houses. Now…know YOUR role, and pipe down.
Yeah, most of these cases are crap, but this looks really bad for Dreamworks.
No there wasn’t a Dreamworks clause.. The project was submitted to Disney with just the copyright, while Katzenburg was working there and before Dreamworks existed.
Panda “Power”?
Really?
Scrappy Doo should sue this dirty hypocrite.
Unless you’ve got legitimate claims to the creation of a multi-(hundred)-million dollar franchise (or, Hell, claims to ANY intellectual property that’s EVER been seen outside of your “close circle of friends (peons?)” then perhaps you should save the witticisms (ah, yes, ever more sarcasm – the name should’ve warned you, your highness) for some other posting as it’s obvious you have no idea how frustrating it is for a creator to have their ideas stolen from them (especially when they were offered as a creator-owned property in the first place) by a pack of talentless jackals looking to feed from the carcass that some creative lion left in its passing. Enjoy the roadkill, Anastasia. *(doffs his cap in “adieu” and exits the throne room, stage right)
If you have legit evidence of the copyright infringement it usually pays off much, much more after your stolen idea, be it art, music, film, etc becomes a success. For example Kung Fu Panda = $632 million worldwide with a sequel releasing in May. What an excellent time to file this lawsuit…especially if it holds up. It’s possible he may have been holding off until now.
Agreed.
Also…
If the property was, indeed, truly stolen from its creator, should it matter in any way/shape/form how long it took prior to being challenged in a court of law?
Absolutely not.
Plenty of people wait decades to seek justice from their victimizers for a variety of reasons (most of which are never made apparent, nor should they have to be), which does not lessen the need for recompense but, indeed, only sharpens it.
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