A U.K.-based screenwriter is suing Disney and Pixar for copyright infringement and breach of implied contract, claiming that Cars and Cars 2 are based on a story and characters he submitted circa 1993.
In his lawsuit* filed March 14 in U.S. federal court, Jake Mandeville-Anthony alleges that "he sent copies of his works to various production companies, including Disney" and "met in person" with Jim Morris, then an executive at Lucasfilm, and gave him copies of his project.
(Morris, of course, joined Pixar in 2005 and was
named General Manager and Executive Vice President of Production in September 2008.)
Mandeville-Anthony says in his complaint that he sees overwhelming similarities between his creation and the Cars franchise. Thus, he's seeking an injunction to stop the release of Cars 2 on June 24. Super timing, don't you think?
The Hollywood Reporter's Hollywood, Esq. blog, which
broke the story a few hours ago, reports that Mandeville-Anthony recently sued Disney/Pixar in the U.K. The judgement in that case is sealed, suggesting that one of the parties views it as being prejudicial to future civil cases.
The only thing I can say about all this is, Not again. It seems that with every Pixar film somebody comes out of the woodwork declaring that the studio stole their concept, with no regard for the facts.
Monsters, Inc. is a prime example. A seemingly well-meaning social worker by the name of Lori Madrid, encouraged by friends and relatives, sued Pixar with a similar story and also sought a preliminary injunction to stop that film from being released.
Pete Docter, as director and co-writer, had to take the stand literally hours before Monsters, Inc. was scheduled to open on November 2, 2001 to defend his own integrity and that of the studio.
The presiding judge refused to issue the order. He later dismissed the entire lawsuit, ruling that the film didn't have anything in common with Madrid's work, apart from some general ideas that are not subject to copyright protection in the first place.
Less than a year later, another artist sued. Litigation lasted over three years, until Pixar agreed to settle out of court in order to avoid another trial.
(The cases are recounted in fascinating detail in chapter nine of David A. Price's The Pixar Touch.)
As for Cars, director John Lasseter has never been coy about his inspiration. He's loved cars since since he was kid. His dad worked at a Chevy dealership. After a road trip through America in 2000, Lasseter finally settled on a story.
*The case is Jake Mandeville−Anthony v. The Walt Disney Company et al, 2:11-cv-02137-VBF -JEM, United States District Court, Central District of California (Western Division − Los Angeles)
Disney/Pixar confirmed today that the follow-up to Monsters, Inc.—previously referred to as "Monsters, Inc. 2"— will be a prequel entitled Monsters University. 
It's been six months since we got our last look at progress on the Phase II expansion of Pixar's Emeryville campus.
Coming on the heels of today's reveal of concept art from the film, I just received a tip describing Disney/Pixar's plans to attach a teaser trailer for Brave to Cars 2.
Stunning new concept art from Pixar's upcoming feature Brave arrived this morning at Entertainment Weekly (EW) online. As you can see, Pixar's artists have captured the adventure of ancient Scotland.
EW also breaks the news that Reese Witherspoon won't be voicing lead character princess Merida, due to scheduling issues. Instead the role will voiced by Scottish actress Kelly Macdonald.
As we get closer to 2012, we've been hearing more about Brave. Toy Story 3 director Lee Unkrich let it slip in an interview recently that movie will be a "very gritty adventure". Others at Pixar and Disney have been playing up the comedic aspects of the picture.
More original, never-before-seen concept art from Pixar's infamously cancelled picture Newt made its way online today, on the German-language Pixarblog.de (via Bleeding Cool).
Stitch Kingdom has posted a few dozen pictures from the brand new Cars 2 exhibit at the Magic of Disney Animation attraction at Disney's Hollywood Studios in Florida.
Disney/Pixar have partnered with State Farm Insurance to bring life-size remote-controlled replicas of Cars 2 stars Lightning McQueen, Mater (pictured), and Finn McMissile (watch) as part of a multi-city tour announced this evening.
The Wrap reports that The Walt Disney Studios has shifted the opening date of Pixar's Brave by one week, from June 15, 2012 to June 22, 2012.
The rollout of Cars 2 characters goes into its tenth week with the debut of new addition Rip Clutchgoneski.
The Art of Cars 2 has gotten its striking final cover, replacing the temporary one from November. The new cover is up on the book's page at Chronicle Books.
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