Disney and Pixar are being sued over van featured in new movie Onward
The two lead characters travel in a van across the film's magical world
This article contains some adult language
An artist is suing Disney, Pixar and movie producer Kori Rae, alleging that they conspired to create an animated version of her unique personalised van without her permission.
The van in question is a purple 1972 Chevrolet G10 belonging to Sweet Cicely Daniher, nicknamed "the vanicorn," which features a piece of unicorn artwork on the side.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Daniher claims that Pixar had rented her van in September 2018 for "a one day music festival/activity day for Pixar employees and families," without informing her that they intended to put it in their new film, Onward.
Daniher is suing for copyright infringement, violation of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, violation of the Visual Artists Rights Act and violation of the California Artists Protection Act.
Onward stars Tom Holland (Spider-Man: Far From Home) and Chris Pratt (Guardians of the Galaxy) as two elves who journey across a mystical world on a quest to bring their late father back for 24 hours.
Among her demands, Daniher is asking the court for an injunction which would prevent Disney and Pixar from distributing, marketing or selling infringing advertisements, merchandise and the film itself.
Onward has a UK release date of Friday 6th March 2020
Authors
David Craig is the Senior Drama Writer for Radio Times, covering the latest and greatest scripted drama and comedy across television and streaming. Previously, he worked at Starburst Magazine, presented The Winter King Podcast for ITVX and studied Journalism at the University of Sheffield.