Disney settled in court with the creator of “The Snowman” after a copy-cat lawsuit (source: YouTube)
Nothing is new under the sun, right?
That is also true when it comes to Disney movies. As amazing as Disney movies are, there are a few that may have found their inspiration from previous works of art. As Picasso is credited as saying, “Good artists copy; great artists steal.”
One of the Disney films accused of plagiarism is Frozen — yes, the box office hit that gave us one of the most famous songs in Disney’s history.
The Snowman vs. Frozen
Frozen was the highest-grossing animated film at the time (Zootopia has surpassed it). It’s understandable: the movie is just fun. It has silly characters and a strong female lead.
As does happen with other Disney movies, controversy tends to creep into the conversation. A recent example are the claims that have surfaced that “Let It Go” is a coming-out anthem.
Well, Frozen’s first trailer (which doesn’t accurately depict the actual movie) was said to have ripped off a short animation called The Snowman. The plot of this short film is about a snowman who loses his carrot nose. Actually, a bird plucks it right off his face, the carrot ends up in the middle of a frozen pond, and the snowman together with some rabbits struggle to get the carrot.
Not only is this plot the same as the Frozen trailer, the shots are even lined up the same way. The creator of The Snowman, Kelly Wilson, took this to court. In Wilson’s complaint, she offered a frame-by-frame comparison between the two animations.
Wilson’s comparison between her short film, “The Snowman,” and Disney’s hit full-length movie, “Frozen” (source: www.scribd.com)
Wilson’s comparison between her short film, “The Snowman,” and Disney’s hit full-length movie, “Frozen” (source: www.scribd.com)
After two attempts to throw out the lawsuit, Disney settled with Wilson for an undisclosed amount of money.
Take a look for yourself — here are The Snowman and Frozen trailers back to back:
What About Frozen 2?
Josh Gad, the voice of Olaf the snowman, is excited to see a sequel to the hit movie.
“You know, [Olaf is] so new to the world,” Gad said. “I’d love to see what being around in this world a little bit has taught him, or is teaching him.”
The internet has reported a lot of things about the sequel, but nothing definitive yet — everything right now is just rumor and hearsay.
But what we can surely presume is that the music will be top-notch. Frozen won two Grammy’s — Best Song Written for Visual Media and Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media. It also earned a Grammy nomination for Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media. If they have the same team of music makers behind this movie, it’s bound to be another hit.
Disney settled in court with the creator of “The Snowman” after a copy-cat lawsuit (source: YouTube)
Wilson’s comparison between her short film, “The Snowman,” and Disney’s hit full-length movie, “Frozen” (source: www.scribd.com)
Wilson’s comparison between her short film, “The Snowman,” and Disney’s hit full-length movie, “Frozen” (source: www.scribd.com)
