Stunt Performer Acccuses Disney of Stealing Her Work For STAR WARS: VISIONS and the Evidence Looks Damning
The anthology series Star Wars: Visions has been a refreshing playground for animation studios to reinterpret Jedi and Sith mythology through wildly different artistic lenses.
But a new controversy is casting a shadow over the project. Stunt performer and action designer Lorenz Hideyoshi claims that Disney used her choreography from a fan film in one of the episodes, and she has shared direct comparisons.
Hideyoshi posted a comparison video on Instagram showing scenes from the episode Star Wars: Visions: The Bandits of Golak and her 2019 fan short Dark Jedi. The similarities are striking, and she did not hold back her frustration in the caption, writing:
“I mean they already had a different weapons setup, but still managed to brute force (push) my choreo onto that action. Didn’t even change the camera angles. Why Disney? Is it because we made a non-profit tribute fan film of one of your IPs, and now you feel justified in stealing from this pool of creative output? Maybe either pay your animators more or hire an action designer.”
Her résumé includes major franchises like John Wick, The Matrix, and Dune, so she knows her way around action design. Seeing her choreography appear almost shot for shot in a Disney funded production understandably struck a nerve.
While Disney oversaw the overall creation of Visions, the episode in question came from the animation studio 88 Pictures. Before stepping into the lightsaber filled universe, 88 Pictures worked on projects such as Trollhunters, The Bad Guys: Breaking In, Megamind vs. The Doom Syndicate, Spirit Untamed, and Fast and Furious Spy Racers.
After three seasons, there is still no confirmation of a fourth. The series has been an exciting space for experimental Star Wars storytelling, revisiting earlier characters and collaborating with both Japanese and Western animation studios.
But controversies like this can complicate that creative freedom, especially when the conversations center on the ethics of borrowing from fan creators.