Disney accused of stealing fan film choreography for Star Wars Visions

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As a gamer, it’s something I see all the time – games inspiring other games. Whenever I talk to developers, they always mention the titles that influenced their work. Usually, it’s subtle, but recently it’s been really obvious. Remember that climbing game, Peak? Someone basically rebuilt the whole thing in Roblox! And Megabonk, which pulled out of the Game Awards, had a copycat version show up on Switch. That feels wrong, right? But then I saw people calling out a Netflix movie, Mahavatar Narsimha, for straight-up copying a fight scene from God of War. It’s one thing when a small Roblox game or an unknown dev does something similar – it’s easy to overlook. But when big companies like Netflix and now Disney get involved, reaching millions of people, it feels like a much bigger deal and a real problem.

Disney is accused of stealing fight choreography for Star Wars from a fan film

A clip from the animated series Star Wars Visions (Season 2, Episode 7), which aired in 2023, is currently circulating on social media. The post highlights striking similarities between a scene from that episode and a clip from a 2019 fan film called Dark Jedi. The creator of the fan film pointed out these similarities on social media, questioning why Disney might have taken inspiration from their non-profit tribute without offering compensation or employment to the original animators and action designers. Many are criticizing Disney for potentially taking creative work from independent creators, especially given the company’s resources and influence. It’s generally seen as a negative look for any company to borrow from others, but particularly damaging when done by a large, wealthy corporation.

Reactions to the fan film on X (formerly Twitter) were surprisingly divided. While some people felt bad for the filmmakers, others thought Disney was right to take action, echoing the idea that “If you use our creative work without permission, we can do the same to yours.” This suggests the fan film shouldn’t have been made in the first place and that Disney is justified in reclaiming it. However, the core issue isn’t the Star Wars franchise itself, but the specific fight choreography used in the film.

The film was created purely as a fan project, with the creator making no money from it and offering it for free on YouTube. However, Disney and Star Wars have used the original choreography from the fan film in a TV show that requires a paid Disney+ subscription. While the fan film drew inspiration from Star Wars elements like Jedi, Sith, and lightsabers, the fight choreography itself was entirely original. Without the lightsabers, the fight could easily be seen as a stunning, original fantasy sword battle, and Disney doesn’t have the rights to the general idea of a magical swordfight.

I don’t have legal expertise, so I can’t comment on the legality of the situation. However, even if what they did is technically allowed, it still feels wrong for a large company to profit from a fan’s creative work without acknowledging them. They could have easily asked for permission or even collaborated with the creator on the project. It’s clear this designer is skilled, given that the team behind Star Wars Visions wanted to use their ideas – it would have been the right thing to do.

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2025-11-21 05:02