Disney's Frozen sued for $250 million over plagiarism

Published September 27, 2014
Photo courtesy – E! Online
Photo courtesy – E! Online

Oscar-winning animated musical film Frozen is facing a $250 million lawsuit by writer Isabella Tanikumi, who has claimed that the story is based on her own life.

According to E! Online, Peruvian writer Isabella Tanikumi has filed a three-page federal complaint against the Walt Disney Company saying the company plagiarised her life story to make the award-winning film, and has sued the mass media corporation for $250 million.

According to court documents, Tanikumi states that Frozen was taken from her memoirs "Living My Truth" and "Yearnings of the Heart", where she talks about growing up in the Andean mountains of Peru.

The author claims that Disney copied the feeling, story, characters and plot from her original work and is demanding a jury trial. She further states that there are eighteen instances in the film which are similar to her autobiography.

Frozen, which was said to be inspired by Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tale "The Snow Queen" tells the story of a fearless princess who sets off on an epic journey alongside a rugged iceman, his loyal pet reindeer and a snowman to find her estranged sister, whose icy powers have inadvertently trapped the kingdom in an eternal winter.

Disney is yet to respond to a request for comment.

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