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NEAR ARENDELLE — Filmmaker Kelly Wilson is suing The Walt Disney Co. over a complaint the teaser trailer for "Frozen," which was released in June 2013, is similar to a short computer animated film he made entitled “The Snowman.”
“The Snowman” short is about a snowman that loses his carrot nose on a frozen lake and must battle a gang of hungry rabbits to save it.
The “Frozen” teaser trailer shows the film's snowman, Olaf, losing his carrot nose on the ice and battling the reindeer Sven to save it.
Wilson wants the judge to compare “The Snowman” with the “Frozen” trailer and not the film itself.
The plaintiff claims there are similarities in the plot as a snowman competes with an animal on slippery ice to recover his carrot nose and the characters, both snowman are portrayed as awkward, insecure and clumsy. Wilson also claims the themes of competition, sacrifice, friendship and gratitude are also similar as are the sequence of events, setting, mood, pace and dialogue.
“The claim is utterly without merit” a Disney spokesman said, “and we defend it vigorously.”
“Frozen” is the top-grossing animated film of all-time doing over a $1 billion world-wide at the box-office. Curtis Linnell is a communications graduate from Brigham Young University and writes for ok.com
