Disney accused of ''stealing'' fan film choreography for Star Wars Visions

It’s not unusual for creative ideas to influence others. Almost anytime I interview a game developer, the topic of influences comes up. Most teams can name a few games that inspired their own. There have been examples of teams taking this too far. Think back to earlier this year, when Peak, the co-op mountain-climbing game now nominated for a Game Award for Best Multiplayer Game, was practically recreated in its entirety in Roblox. Megabonk, the game that recently withdrew from its Game Award nomination, has also been unofficially recreated on Switch. Many would agree that this crosses the line, but where exactly does that line fall? Earlier this week, the Netflix animated film Mahavatar Narsimha was called out for imitating a fight scene from God of War (2018), sparking discussions about inspiration versus imitation. But what about when a fan film comes into the picture? Should Disney be allowed to use choreography for a Star Wars fight scene from a Star Wars fan film? Many people think so.

Disney is accused of “stealing” action design from a Star Wars fan film, but not all fans agree

Today, a clip was shared on social media highlighting the similarity between a 2019 Star Wars fan short film and an episode of the animated Disney+ show Star Wars Visions, an anthology series set in the Star Wars universe. The specific clip comes from Season 2, Episode 7 of the Star Wars show, which aired in 2023. The post on X/Twitter links back to the original Instagram post from the creator of the fan film, who writes: “Why Disney? Is it because we made a non-profit tribute fan film of one of your IPs and now you feel justified in stealing from this pool of creative output? Maybe either a) pay your animators more or b) hire an action designer.” But not everyone agreed with the creator.

The video sparked an interesting discussion. Some X/Twitter users sympathized with the creators of the fan film, but many seemed to believe that Disney's actions were (at least to some extent) justified, one user posted an image from the film Princess Bride, with the text: “You’re trying to kidnap what I’ve rightfully stolen,” which looks like pointing out the fact that the fan film was inspired by Star Wars in the first place.

Replies to the post shared on X/Twitter.Source: X/Twitter

Other users advised that the original creator take it as a compliment, like one user who wrote: “I’d not attack it if I were the person. I’d embrace it as a huge compliment and then use that momentum to get hired or turn it into a positive spin PR thing and get as much traction as possible to GET hired by someone,” (emphasis added by the user). Another common sentiment was that Disney was not to blame here; instead, it was the animation studio that created the episode, as one person replied: “If by Disney, you mean the Indian studio that was contracted to make this.” This refers to the Indian studio, 88 Pictures, which was hired to create this particular episode. Every episode of Star Wars Visions is created by a different animation studio, which gives each episode a unique look.

A few side by side images from the clips shared on social media.Source: lorenzhideyoshi on Instagram

Above are a few screenshots from the post that show some key moments. Was the scene inspired too much by the fans’ creation? It definitely divided the Internet. We can’t exclude the coincidence, but the similarity is striking! If the accusations are true, it would be nice if the animation studio or Disney have reached out to the creator for permission. But are they required to do that? I am not a lawyer, so it’s hard to say with any certainty.

• Star Wars
• Disney
• fan film / amateur films
• Disney+ / Disney Plus