According to Entertainment Weekly, a Massachusetts artist is suing Dreamworks Animation for allegedly stealing his idea for “Kung-Fu Panda”.

The artist, Jayme Gordon, alleges in papers filed yesterday and obtained by the entertainment magazine/site that the animation company stole the concept for the movie after he pitched his copyrighted idea, “Kung-Fu Panda Power” to Dreamworks in the late 1990s (he also submitted the idea to Disney during this same time period). Gordon claims that he came up with the idea for a Kung-Fu fighting panda and subsequent characters during the late 1980s and early 1990s.

Gordon is seeking damages and lost profits, which, according to the lawsuit, “cannot yet be fully ascertained, but which shall be assessed at the time of trial.”

Entertainment Weekly has posted a picture of Gordon’s proposed idea and characters next to a promotional image of “Kung-Fu Panda”.

This is the second lawsuit Dreamworks has weathered pertaining to “Kung-Fu Panda”. A writer Terrence Dunn, first sued the company over the creative aspects of the film, claiming that he pitched the idea to Dreamworks execs in 2001.

Dreamworks Animation