Disney/Pixar 'Inside Out' Lawsuit: Child Development Expert Claims Studio Stole Ideas from Her Creation 'The Moodsters'
A child development expert filed a lawsuit against Disney and its subsidiary Pixar for allegedly stealing an idea for their 2015 box-office hit "Inside Out." Denise Daniels claimed the studio copied her TV show creation "The Moodsters" but she did not receive any compensation for "Inside Out's" box office and video distribution earnings.
Daniels, who is from Minnesota and co-founded the National Grief Institute, said she pitched "The Moodsters" to Disney from 2005 to 2009. The studio, however, wasn't interested in her TV show pilot idea.
"The Moodsters" featured five different personified characters with an assigned color to indicate moods like Happiness (yellow), Sadness (blue), Fear (green), Anger (red) and Love (pink). Daniels developed the characters based on her work with different kids after 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina.
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Disney's "Inside Out" have similar characters: Joy (yellow), Sadness (blue), Fear (purple), Anger (red) and Disgust (green). They dwell inside an 11-year-old girl named Riley, who was going through puberty in the story. Amy Poehler, Phyllis Smith, Bill Hader, Lewis Black and Mindy Kaling voiced the characters in the film.
Daniels, who has appeared on several talk shows to lend her expertise, also claimed her idea was known to Pete Docter, who would eventually end up directing "Inside Out." Docter, however, once said while promoting "Inside Out" that the story was inspired from his daughter who was going through puberty in 2009.
"We didn't literally get eye-rolls, because she knew that would get her in trouble, but she gave off that kind of feeling," the director said. "And that got me wondering, 'What's going on in her head?'"
"We look forward to vigorously defending against this lawsuit in court," a spokesperson for Disney said. The studio's lawyers, however, refused to make a statement on the allegations.
The suit comes as Disney is still fighting another lawsuit, filed by writer Gary L. Goldman, for copying ideas for "Zootopia." A judge set the hearing for this case for June 26.
