Jury Rules Disney Didn't Copy 'Moana' From Man's Story Of A Surfer Boy

A Los Angeles federal jury quickly decided that the creators of “Moana” never had access to Buck Woodall’s outlines and script for “Bucky the Surfer Boy.”

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A jury on Monday quickly rejected a man’s claim that Disney’s “Moana” was stolen from his story of a young surfer in Hawaii.

The Los Angeles federal jury deliberated for only about 2 ½ hours before deciding that the creators of “Moana” never had access to writer and animator Buck Woodall’s outlines and script for “Bucky the Surfer Boy.”

With that question settled, the jury of six women and two men didn’t even have to consider the similarities between “Bucky” and Disney’s 2016 hit animated film about a questing Polynesian princess.

Woodall had shared his work with the stepsister of his brother’s wife, who worked for a different company on the Disney lot, but the woman testified during the two-week trial that she never showed it to anyone at Disney.

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