Note: I wrote this for FS 101, my first-year seminar at Allegheny College. Lightly formatted for the web, otherwise as submitted.
The Question
Creativity and imagination have been the hallmark of The Walt Disney Company, but are the company's original ideas really 'original'? Recently, I was made aware of claims that state some of my favorite childhood movies and shows produced by Walt Disney Pictures, Disney for short, are not based on Disney's original ideas. Some of my favorite movies may even be considered a work of plagiarism. However, I am not certain if I can believe the claims made against Disney or not. To answer the question of whether or not Disney stole from other production studios, it is necessary to understand the copyright system and public domain, use that information to look into specific claims made against Disney, and take specific cases to conclude whether or not Disney stole their ideas.
The Public Domain
First of all, I was extremely surprised when my father told me that Disney uses old folk stories and fairy tales as the basis of many of their movies. He also explained that the movies Cinderella, Pinocchio, and The Little Mermaid are based on someone else's original work. With this knowledge, I was left to ask myself, how come there is no copyright issue with Disney producing movies that are based on someone else's concepts? The reality is that a lot of Disney movies are based on stories that are considered to be in the public domain. Materials in the public domain are not protected by copyright, patent, or trademark laws but, instead, can be used by anyone without permission (Stanford, 2013). At the time the movie Pinocchio was released in 1940, the original story of Pinocchio, published in the nineteenth century, was within the public domain. Disney was able to use the story without any objection, but this also means Disney cannot sue other creators for using the same source material, because it was not originally theirs to begin with. On one hand, I am glad Disney can produce modern interpretations of classic stories, but on the other hand, I wish that Disney relied less on the works of others.
Aladdin and The Thief and the Cobbler
One instance of a dispute between Disney and another company is between Walt Disney's Aladdin (1992) and The Thief and the Cobbler, directed by Richard Williams (1993). The Thief and the Cobbler is a partially unfinished movie that has been rebranded several times since the 1960s when Williams first conceived it. Both movies are based on a collection of folk tales known as Arabian Nights, which is within the public domain, so both companies had the ability to use it. Some have made claims that Disney reused character art from The Thief and the Cobbler, such as the antagonist ZigZag, to produce Aladdin's antagonist Jafar and the Genie. Even if the accusation is false, Aladdin's success harmed the production and viewers' interpretations of The Thief and the Cobbler, with some even calling it a rip-off of Aladdin. I find it very disheartening that Disney suppressed a film while also using the same source material to bolster their movie. Using material from the public domain is legal, but if Disney was reusing someone else's art and intellectual work as some claim, Disney would undoubtedly be violating copyright law.
Antz and A Bug's Life
On the other side of the spectrum, copyrights protect authors from people directly copying their work, though others can still use the ideas within it. Copyright was a huge point of contention between DreamWorks and Disney during the releases of two very memorable movies: DreamWorks's Antz and Disney's A Bug's Life. Originally, an idea for an ant-themed animated film was pitched by Jeffrey Katzenberg to Disney under the title Army Antz in 1988. The pitch was shot down, but about six years later Pixar, working for Disney, began production on A Bug's Life. Meanwhile, Katzenberg helped found DreamWorks in 1994 and later started production on Antz based on his original pitch. Both movies were released in 1998, and audiences immediately saw the similarities. Although we can never know for sure if Disney directly used Katzenberg's idea, from what I have learned, Disney seems to be able to use other people's ideas and rebrand them as their own. Seeing Disney, the company I held so dearly throughout my childhood, play the role of the villain in the movie industry was not only shocking but disappointing. I realize now how modern business practices rely so heavily on money and play into people's greed.
The Lion King and Kimba the White Lion
The final case, and the original claim that got me interested in this topic, is whether or not Disney stole their idea for The Lion King from a classic Japanese anime, Kimba the White Lion, without crediting the original creator. Kimba the White Lion was originally a manga by Tezuka Osamu, produced as an anime for Japanese television in 1965. The series features a white lion cub and his coming-of-age story as he tries to live up to his father's legacy as king of the jungle. Disney's The Lion King was released in 1994. After watching both series, I realized that The Lion King follows almost exactly the same premise as Kimba the White Lion, despite Disney's movie coming out almost thirty years after Kimba's initial adaptation.
One of the most noticeable similarities is the names of the protagonists, Simba and Kimba. However, the original Japanese name for Kimba is actually Leo; Kimba is only used for the English releases. So I do not believe the name of Disney's protagonist was directly related to the Kimba franchise. But Disney is not out of the hole yet, because there are still many more similarities in the settings, character designs, storyline, and themes.
Both main characters are lions in Africa who have to live up to their fathers' legacies of protecting the land and its inhabitants. Like Kimba, The Lion King features a baboon as an advisor and mentor, a bird side character, and hyenas as goons. There is even an antagonist in Kimba named Claw who looks eerily similar to Scar, both with a scratch on one eye. Part of me believes there are too many similarities to consider this a coincidence, yet Disney still maintains that their movie had nothing to do with Kimba. In the end, Tezuka's studio never sued Disney and said they do not consider The Lion King a work of plagiarism, but in 1994 a letter signed by hundreds of Japanese animators was addressed to Disney stating that they should give credit to Tezuka.
What It Changed for Me
Personally, I feel that Disney did use Kimba the White Lion as inspiration for The Lion King, whether it was a conscious decision or not, and it seems only right to give credit to Tezuka. As an avid movie and television watcher, I have always enjoyed Disney animation for the unique character designs and stories. Knowing now that Disney is not built solely on unique ideas has changed my entire perspective on the movie industry. I now see that just because something is popular does not deem it worthy of praise. I may not hold Disney in the same unwavering light as before, but I still appreciate the art and passion that goes into making each movie.
Conclusion
In conclusion, I cannot come to a definitive answer to whether or not Disney has stolen their ideas, but I find it quite surprising just how much unoriginal content Disney has used for previous projects. Whether it is the reuse of the public domain, denying and later using ideas pitched, or not giving credit to the inspiration for a movie, Disney treads the line between unoriginality and plagiarism. My overall opinion of Disney as an animation studio has greatly changed, because I now see it in the same light as other production companies rather than on a pedestal of its own. My view of the company may be diminished, but I still appreciate the animated movies for their art and for mainstreaming life lessons and themes for people throughout the world.
Selected References
- Burrows, P. (1998). Antz vs. Bugs. BusinessWeek.
- Pooley, J. (2018). 10 Times Disney Blatantly Stole from Other Movies. WhatCulture.
- Satonaka, M. (n.d.). An Open Letter from Machiko Satonaka. Letter to Disney.
- Sunder, M. (2011). Bollywood/Hollywood. Theoretical Inquiries in Law, 12(1).
- Tezuka, O. (1965). Kimba the White Lion. Fuji TV.
- Stanford University Libraries (2013). Copyright and Fair Use: The Public Domain.