A Lake Mary doctor
accuses the Walt Disney Co. of stealing from his book for the Pixar movie “Inside Out.”
A Lake Mary doctor is accusing Walt Disney Co. of stealing from his book to create some of the characters in and the concept of the Pixar movie “Inside Out,” according to a new federal lawsuit.
The lawsuit, which alleges copyright infringement among other complaints, is seeking more than $75,000, according to court records in the Middle District of Florida’s Orlando division.
The lawsuit names eight defendants, including Walt Disney Co., Disney Enterprises, iUniverse and Pixar. Disney did not respond to requests for comment.
In the lawsuit, George Malki said he wrote a book called “Daycare of Feelings” in 2002, before the acclaimed movie was released in 2015.
Malki said in lawsuit documents that iUniverse, a self-publishing company, edited the book in 2009. He alleged iUniverse gave information on the book’s summary to producers from Disney-Pixar.
In the book published online in 2016, the characters Joy, Fear, Anger, Sadness and Frustration can see through the eyes of an 84-year-old man, the lawsuit said.
“Each character can see what the 84-year-old man sees and look outside of the head/mind of the man through ‘windows’ to see and observe the outside world,” the lawsuit said.
The Lake Mary man’s book was copyrighted in 2016, according to the U.S. Copyright Office, which is a part of the Library of Congress and maintains records of copyright registration.
“Inside Out ” tells the story through an 11-year-old girl and her interactions with the characters: Joy, Fear, Anger, Sadness and Disgust.
“This is not a coincidence,” said his attorney Jonathan Warrick.
In lawsuit documents, Malki said he first learned of the similarities when he watched the 2016 Academy Awards on television and saw “Inside Out” won best animated feature film.
Malki described himself as a long-time physician practicing in Orange City “who has been fascinated with the psychological and philosophical questions of life,” according to the bio in his book. “Daycare of Feelings” was his first foray into novel-writing as a creative side project.
It’s not the first lawsuit to make similar allegations about “Inside Out.”
Last year, a child development expert sued Walt Disney Co., alleging the movie used her original idea for a cartoon for the movie, California federal court records show. Denise Daniels alleged she regularly pitched “The Moodsters” to high-level Disney executives from 2006 to 2009. A judge later dismissed the case, although Daniels is appealing, records show.
Last week, a Nevada woman also sued Walt Disney Co. for copyright infringement over her book, “What’s On the Other Side of the Rainbow? (A Book of Feelings),” which was included in gift bags during Emmy Award ceremonies in 2010 that Disney executives received, the lawsuit claimed.
Universal offers 2-for-1 deal
Florida residents can get two days of admission for the price of a one-day parkto-park ticket at Universal Orlando Resort, the company announced Tuesday.
The offer runs through July 31.
There are no blackout dates, and the two days can be used on nonconsecutive days at Universal Studios Florida and Universal’s Islands of Adventure.
The deal can be purchased online.
Orange hotel tax revenue falls flat
The tax revenue from Orange County’s bed tax fell flat in April compared to April 2017 because of the timing of the Easter holiday, according to the latest figures released Tuesday.
The 6 percent tax on short-term rentals generated about $24.4 million, the Orange Comptroller’s Office reported.
“We had a good run of increases with the [hotel tax] numbers but this month, not so much,” Comptroller Phil Diamond said in a statement. “Summer is just around the corner and I am hopeful that the numbers will go back up.”
The money is typically used to try to increase tourism, such as recruiting sporting events to the area or expanding the Orange County Convention Center to hold more events. However, some have argued the money would be better spent on infrastructure needs to handle the millions of tourists who visit every year.
OIA flights to Mexico City take off this month
New daily Interjet flights will take off from Orlando International Airport to Mexico City starting Thursday, the airline said.
Introductory rates start at $190 round-trip on the Airbus A320 planes.
Tourism is booming in Orlando.
“Orlando is a growing and significant market for travel to Mexico City,” said Julio Gamero, Interjet’s Chief Commercial Officer, in a news release.
About 72 million people — the most in any U.S. city — visited in 2017, according to Visit Orlando.