Let it go! Frozen sequel given the go-ahead after animator Kelly Wilson drops copyright lawsuit against Disney following out-of-court settlement

By Ross Mcdonagh For Dailymail.com

Published: 18:10 EST, 25 June 2015 | Updated: 08:42 EST, 26 June 2015

The animator who was suing Disney for copyright infringement has let it go.

Kelly Wilson had alleged a trailer for Frozen was a rip off of her short film, The Snowman.

After two attempts to have the lawsuit thrown out, Disney decided to settle out of court in undisclosed terms.

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Seeing double: Disney has settled out of court with animator Kelly Wilson who had accused it of ripping off her short film The Snowman for its Frozen teaser trailer
Seeing double: Disney has settled out of court with animator Kelly Wilson who had accused it of ripping off her short film The Snowman for its Frozen teaser trailer

Seeing double: Disney has settled out of court with animator Kelly Wilson who had accused it of ripping off her short film The Snowman for its Frozen teaser trailer

'The Court was advised on June 10, 2015 that the parties have resolved this case,' US District Judge Vince Chhabria wrote in his order.

'Therefore, it is ORDERED that this case is DISMISSED without prejudice.'

The case can be reopened if the settlement is not paid within 60 days, although there is no details on what that settlement might be. 

He nose they look similar: Disney had attempted to have the suit thrown out twice, but US District Judge Vince Chhabria could not overlook the similarities in the two stories, where both snowmen lose their carrot noses on a frozen pond
He nose they look similar: Disney had attempted to have the suit thrown out twice, but US District Judge Vince Chhabria could not overlook the similarities in the two stories, where both snowmen lose their carrot noses on a frozen pond

He nose they look similar: Disney had attempted to have the suit thrown out twice, but US District Judge Vince Chhabria could not overlook the similarities in the two stories, where both snowmen lose their carrot noses on a frozen pond

The dialogue-less teaser trailer in question shows Frozen's snowman character Olaf losing his carrot nose on the middle of a frozen pond, which the reindeer Sven then spots from the other side, and the two scramble desperately to the center in a race to reach it first.

In the humorous clip the pair struggle to gain traction on the slippery surface, employing various means to do so, until Sven ultimately succeeds, but returns the carrot to Olaf in the end.

In Wilson's 2D short film, published two years before Frozen, the same fate befalls her protagonist, who faces a similar race, this time against a group of rabbits. Her film ends with one of the rabbits returning the carrot to the snowman, in an uncannily familiar - and somewhat ironic - finale.

Slip up: Both clips show the snowmen racing against animals - rabbits in the 2D case and Sven the reindeer in Frozen's - to try retrieve the carrot from the centre of the pond

Slip up: Both clips show the snowmen racing against animals - rabbits in the 2D case and Sven the reindeer in Frozen's - to try retrieve the carrot from the centre of the pond

Grab it: Details of the settlement were not disclosed

Grab it: Details of the settlement were not disclosed

Even the judge Chhabria could not overlook the similarities when Disney first tried to have the case quashed.

'The sequence of events in both works, from start to finish, is too parallel to conclude that no reasonable juror could find the works substantially similar,' he wrote when he rejected the House of Mouse's request.

He pointed out that many Pixar employees had attended the 2011 San Francisco International Film Festival where The Snowman screened a number of times. 

Oh the irony: Both videos end the animals ultimately get the carrot, but return it to its rightful owner, in an ironically fitting moral

Oh the irony: Both videos end the animals ultimately get the carrot, but return it to its rightful owner, in an ironically fitting moral

De ja vu: In his earlier refusal to throw the case out, the judge pointed out that many Pixar animators had attended the 2011 San Francisco International Film Festival where The Snowman screened a number of times

De ja vu: In his earlier refusal to throw the case out, the judge pointed out that many Pixar animators had attended the 2011 San Francisco International Film Festival where The Snowman screened a number of times

'The connection between The Snowman and people involved in creating the Frozen trailer is fairly close,' he had concluded.

Now that the case is settled, Disney is free to go-ahead with the much anticipated Frozen sequel.

The first film, made on a budget of $150million, made almost nine times that in return, with a total of $1.274billion 

With the case settled Disney is no clear to go ahead with the sequel; the original made almost nine times its budget of $150million

With the case settled Disney is no clear to go ahead with the sequel; the original made almost nine times its budget of $150million

 

 

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