Kung Fu Panda Lawsuit: Terence Dunn v. Dreamworks

[zen-bear]

To the Tao Bums Community:My name is Terry Dunn and as the most experienced and I believe the only active instructor in Flying Phoenix Heavenly Healing Chi Meditations ("Fei Feng Sunn Gung"), or "Flying Phoenix Qigong" for short (a sub-system of the Bok Fu Pai Kung Fu tradition), I have been regularly contributing my knowledge and experience in answering questions posted on the very successful and lively "Flying Phoenix Chi Kung" discussion thread started by Lloyd McClelland ("Fu_doggie") in Nov. of 2009, that has close to 309,000 views to date.

This posting is not about Flying Phoenix Chi Kung, Tai Chi, Chinese holistic health or meditative practice, or Kung Fu per se, but an explanation of--and CALL FOR HELP with--a most important legal matter that has affected my life and productivity for the past 12 years, and has almost completely consumed my energies over the past 3 full years: the best creative work of my life as an author, screenwriter and artist/animation designer that I made as a vehicle to teach the best of Chinese martial arts, philosophy, culture, spirituality and Taoist and Chan Buddhist spiritualism to the West--a children's animation franchise called "The Adventures of Zen-Bear"-- that I developed starting in 1993 but was unfortunately plundered in 2001 and 2002 by Dreamworks (as I testified to at trial) and turned into the first "Kung Fu Panda" movie and basis for five announced sequel films. A timeline summarizing all my work on "Zen-Bear" since 1992 is seen on my website,

I need all your help--by way of social networking and dissemination skills--and your prayers and positive energy to help make a
very comprehensive, evidence-filled TIMELINE EXHIBIT  go viral -- 

http://www.kungfupandalawsuit.com/Timeline_Hotspots_New.html

 

As well as my  Youtube channel that hosts the video recordings of the deposition testimony of Dreamworks Animation SKG's chief stooge who's carrying all their water for life--after testifying under oath in deposition and at trtial that he is/was the creator of the Kung Fu Panda movie idea.

 

https://www.youtube.com/@eatyourpanda7285

So I thought it most fitting to celebrate Dreamworks' alleged "independent creation" of their Kung Fu Panda idea by publishing the videotaped deposition testimony of their star witness and professed creator of Kung Fu Panda, a former Dreamworks executive named Michael Lachance, via a new Youtube Channel named: "EAT YOUR PANDA". Most interesting and watchable are the 12 short (2 to 5 minute) video clips (numbered on the channel) that highlight how the Dreamworks Animation development department consisting of Lachance and his boss, Lance Young, operated from 2000 through 2004.

For starters, please view this one 2-minute clip:
(1) https://www.youtube.com/

• Lachance answers question of whether he had told anyone that his Kung Fu Panda idea was to be made into a film.

 

(3)

•Lachance states that he had no special interest or expertise in China or Chinese culture and that his interest in martial arts was only limited to taking karate as a kid--admittedly something that he was “not very good at.”

(4)

•Lachance states that he had no personal interest in pandas.

(5)

• Lachance ties Beck's doc to his creation of KF Panda, but then says his creation preceded Beck's.

 

(6B)

• Michael Lachance says: "I don't know"-- to whether he created Kung Fu Panda when he saw Rafe Beck's September 11, 2000 treatment.

 

(6C)

• Lachance describes his Kung Fu Panda idea.

(6D) https://www.youtube.com/edit?o=U&video_id=jV-sBJ9Tn9s• Lachance revises "I don't know (my creation date of KF Panda)" to before seeing Beck's story.(7)

Lachance says he lobbied Katzenberg to make Kung Fu Panda but can't recall any of the statements he made.

(9)

• Michael Lachance can't estimate his % contribution to Dreamworks Kung Fu Panda film. At one point puts it at .25% or 1/400.

 

(15)

• Michael Lachance's reactions to lawyer's suggestion to use term,"Your Kung Fu Panda idea".

This Youtube channel launch is in sync with and in support of my U.S. Supreme Court filing. For if the most questionable, brow-raising, and controversial--if not amusing--of these video clips go viral, the news of the Supreme Court filing and the story of my litigation might get coverage from network and cable TV news shows, and get print coverage by WSJ, NY Times, Huff Post, BBC, etc. --as well as get treated by TV tabloid shows like TMZ, Entertainment Tonight, Access Hollywood, etc. Thus, you can keep the torch of justice lit and champion this extreme underdog, yours truly, by visiting my EAT YOUR PANDA Channel on Youtube, viewing the short 2-4 minute clips (about 12 of them), clicking Like or Dislike for each, commenting on them as you see fit, and then sharing them with all your friends--and especially with web-savvy young folks and movie fans who you think might be outraged over the kind of testimony seen on these videos--and find it laughable.

Yes, Dreamworks and Dreamworks Animation have long maintained the facade of doing good business (Dreamworks (theatrical films) and DW Animation were one and the same company in 2001 and 2002 when Young and Lachance stole my well-documented Kung Fu Panda story (as I alleged in my and at trial), and I've enjoyed many Dreamworks films as much as most people. But now it's time for what I contend is the TRUTH about their theft of my Kung Fu Panda story to finally be put into the public light--that in my opinion is revealed by Lachance's choice of words, evasive answers, contradictory answers, body language, and rapidly changing countenances before and after giving so many of his answers to my lawyer's questions on these videos.

So please step up and spread some light and truth--lux and veritas--and help make this first clip of 14 go viral for starters:

https://www.youtube....h?v=nHzsc1IadL4

Thank you all very much, all you Tao Bums, for whatever help and support you can lend at this stage of my long and arduous battle.

Sincerely,

Sifu Terry Dunn

Edited September 21, 2023 by zen-bear

[gendao]

Fascinating and pathetically sad, yet not surprising... Hollywood has a long, plagiaracist history of Asian cultural piracy, in particular...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZDLrMLFbl2U

Inevitably, they swipe their cultural narratives and flip them all into their same old colonialist agenda...

Hollywood did not refuse; I did. The book was deemed to be un-cinematographic (in other words, of insufficient interest for the broad public); the scene that produced the most interest was the battle of Pai Lok Nen with Lim. As a consequence, they wanted to rewrite the whole thing, with scenes of me flying through the air à la Crouching Tiger and battling the evil Maoshanpai dudes who had come to prevent the white apprentice from ascending to the Jedi council halleluiah. - Kosta Danaos

A better idea would have been to go to a Chinese film company with this type of subject matter.

 

But, good luck in your case!

Edited November 26, 2013 by vortex

[silent thunder]

I've worked in entertainment for over 25 years, performing, writing, sculpting and building.

 

Hollywood doesn't 'bet' on things if there's any way to avoid it. The same way the big fish on Wall Street don't 'gamble' on stocks. They work with shoe-ins and sure things... You have to protect yourself every step of the way and then, you have to sleep with one eye open. I strive to occupy the place of water and go under the radar. It's not always possible but it's far preferable. Notice equals pain in the ass...

 

Serious good energy to you in your endeavor for justice. I believe you sir. Fight on.

Few things cannot remain hidden for long, Sun Moon and Truth.

Persevere...

[zen-bear]

Fascinating and pathetically sad, yet not surprising... Hollywood has a long, plagiaracist history of Asian cultural piracy, in particular...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZDLrMLFbl2U

Inevitably, they swipe their cultural narratives and flip them all into their same old colonialist agenda...

A better idea would have been to go to a Chinese film company with this type of subject matter.

 

But, good luck in your case!

Hi Vortex,

Thank you for your astute and accurate observation of the entertainment business and for your good wishes.

 

And thanks for posting Kevin Kataoka's Asian Evasion. Hilariously spot-on. I split a rib while LMFAO...especially the bit that Phillip Seymour Hoffman does yellowface in film after film these days!! Precious.

 

Yes, swiping the cultural narratives from all the former "colonies"and mangling them to fit Hollywood honkies' vapid, soul-less low-brow plots and base sensibilties is the name of the GAME. And i can now say 12 years after the theft of my I.P., that it was a racial thing too. Had I had a last name like Reiff or Voris, Abel or Bergman, i don't think I would have been in the county, state and federal courts for the past 3 years. Our discovery process determined that Dreamworks paid 19 sets of writers on the first KF Panda film. But of course, it wouldn't pay me for the original idea of a Kung Fu-fighting panda bear mentored by 5 animal friends of the forest--each one a Kung Fu master, and who saves a peaceful village from animal agressors (hyenas, rats, yellow monkeys led by a giant mutant praying mantis) whose destiny as a martial artshero and avatar is foretold by a sage tortoise. Is my voicing this fact playing the race card? Nope, just stating a simple matter of fact in Hollywood from 2001 through today.

 

My story's 5 Animal mentors to the Kung Fu Panda were/are a tiger, leopard, dragon, snake, and crane. Sound familiar? They are the original Shaolin 5 Animals; since I have been a certified instructor in Southern Shaolin 5 Animals Kung Fu since 1983, I took the liberty of taking these animals that I mimic in Kung Fu forms practiced almost every day and making them into the animated pals of my Zen-Bear Kung Fu Panda star. But Dreamworks' high-priced lawyers tried to convince the jury that Dreamworks, employee, this Michael Lachance in the videos, independently invented Kung Fu Panda on Nov. 27, 2001--7 days after Ihad pitched Zen-Bear to Lachance's boss, an executive named Lance Young.

 

Will we see what Kevn K. yearns to see? I'm not betting that I will see it in my lifetime. I was a founding board member of C.A.P.E. (Coalition of Asian Americans in Entertainment) in the early 90's--that's going stronger than ever today. Our watch-phrase/complaint was that there are more aliens on TV shows and feature films than Asians. Nothing has really changed in past 20 years, as Kevin K. so humorously points out.

 

Yes, it's best to take stories and scripts about authentic eastern traditions and values to Chinese production companies (very carefully, of course.). For China, as a very experienced movie veteran just told me 2 weeks ago, is poised to become the movie production capital of the world. They have all the production facilities and technology in place. The only thing they do not have are the intellectual properties, which are over here. So the suggestion on your post that i should have taken my Zen-Bear property to a Chinese production co. is a valid one if I were pitching the it today. But I was pitching it in 2001, and China then didn't have a movie infrastructure in place yet--let alone the people-ware to run a film industry like it does today.

 

At any rate, as a meager way to get back at "Da Man" for ripping off and misappropriating my I.P., as I have alleged in the court system, please send that first 1 min. 17 sec. video clip of Mr. Lachance around to web-savvy friends.

 

The least we can do for the vaunted creator of Kung Fu Panda is to make him world famous after him spending so many years in the shadows-- 12 years to be exact. Why, the man was so modest and unassuming that he never got a promotion or a bonus for creating KF Panda, never got a corner office, but did receive a Special Thanks" credit on the first KF Panda film that he shared with 4 other persons where he wasn't even at the top of the list. And he was so modest about what would turn out to be a multi-billion dollar creation for Dreamworks that he didn't tell any friends that he could remember that the film idea that he had created was being turned into a movie with a huge budget (>$200 million). I guess it must have been Mr. Lachance's supreme modesty that caused him to leave the studio in 2004--the very year that the studio announced in the trades that it "had begun work"on the film. And Mr. Michael Lachance left Dreamworks not with a lateral or upward move to a better executive position in another Hollywood studio, but he left to become an independent writer and producer...until April of 2010 when he took another development job at Sony Animation Studios because he said he wanted a stable income (per his testimony). Somehow, this testimony Lachance gave just didn't seem (to me) to describe the career trajectory of the man who created the third most successful animation franchise in the word. Oh well.

 

At any rate, thanks for your observations and good wishes.

 

Terry Dunn

[zen-bear]

I've worked in entertainment for over 25 years, performing, writing, sculpting and building.

 

Hollywood doesn't 'bet' on things if there's any way to avoid it. The same way the big fish on Wall Street don't 'gamble' on stocks. They work with shoe-ins and sure things... You have to protect yourself every step of the way and then, you have to sleep with one eye open. I strive to occupy the place of water and go under the radar. It's not always possible but it's far preferable. Notice equals pain in the ass...

 

Serious good energy to you in your endeavor for justice. I believe you sir. Fight on.

Few things cannot remain hidden for long, Sun Moon and Truth.

Persevere...

Hello Silent Thunder,

 

Hollywood doesn't 'bet' on things if there's any way to avoid it. The same way the big fish on Wall Street don't 'gamble' on stocks. They work with shoe-ins and sure things...

--So very, very true. Sound observations. Hollywood these days doesn't "bet" on things if it doesn't have to--certainly not the way that they bet on the "auteur" directors of the late 70's.

 

Thank you for your good wishes for positive empowerment to win my long battle for justice. I shall fight on. You'll be hearing some things about my case not too long from now on a certain networks' news shows. The tide has actuallty been turning this week towards just and cathartically healing resolution of this conflict--one way or another.

 

And thank you for your last truism about things that cannot remain hidden for long. Quaint yet inspiring.

 

All Best,

 

Terry Dunn

 

P.S. btw, check out the "Flying Phoenix Chi Kung" thread. Now going on its 5th year and up to 168 pages of lively discussion from FP practitioners and the Qi-curious throughout the world. In it I've sewn over the past 4 years, a few little gems of esoteric knowledge pertaining to Chinese yogic, martial and healing arts.

Edited November 27, 2013 by zen-bear

[RiverSnake]

Will pray for justice in your affairs Zen-Bear. Best wishes.

 

My 2 cents, Peace

Edited November 27, 2013 by OldChi

[Somamech]

Sifu Terry!

 

I do not have any social media per se as I started using the web in it's infancy and we were taught to keep a low profile! If i did have facespook or what have you I would plug the plight you are in. I have however plugged you on a couple of forums in the past

 

Must say mate its pretty damn inspiring to see that you are a man of conviction!

 

Like anything on the Web this really won't help your plight legally, but I hope in another way it helps you when I compare you to Fugazi!

 

 

Although we all have the time to debate inane rubbish like where the real master come's from as I found out via posting here for awhile age's ago... Few people stand up for the truth and stand on their own coniviction like you have Terry.

 

Thanks for being who you are mate!

 

PS I am subbed to Garry's channel and saw Doo Wai's Coco Break on a Padded Chair whilst performing a angled strike.. WTF?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[thelerner]

This might be pie in the sky thinking but I wonder if you could use the injustice and court proceedings as leverage to write an episode(s) for the Kung Fu Panda TV series. That might leave a bad taste in your mouth, but would get your work, authenticity and originality to the public and be excuse for them to give you $$ and sooth there conscience(if they have one). Also the TV series sux and could use a good writer.

[Captain Mar-Vell]

...

I was horrified to learn of the details of this case.

 

I concur with the other posters and wish Mr Dunn the best of luck in all his future endeavours.

 

I enjoyed the movie, so my thanks go to the original author.

...

[zen-bear]

Sifu Terry!

 

I do not have any social media per se as I started using the web in it's infancy and we were taught to keep a low profile! If i did have facespook or what have you I would plug the plight you are in. I have however plugged you on a couple of forums in the past

 

Must say mate its pretty damn inspiring to see that you are a man of conviction!

 

Like anything on the Web this really won't help your plight legally, but I hope in another way it helps you when I compare you to Fugazi!

 

 

Although we all have the time to debate inane rubbish like where the real master come's from as I found out via posting here for awhile age's ago... Few people stand up for the truth and stand on their own coniviction like you have Terry.

 

Thanks for being who you are mate!

 

PS I am subbed to Garry's channel and saw Doo Wai's Coco Break on a Padded Chair whilst performing a angled strike.. WTF?

Hello Somamech,

Nice to hear from you again--and on this different thread. Sorry for taking long toi reply but I have been deeply embattled and this final last-ditch effort with the U.S. Supreme Court is a very long shot proposition.

 

And thank you for your good questions on the Flying Phoenix Chi Kung thread and for your kind compliment here. I hope everything is well with you and yours in Taiwan.

 

Thanks for posting the Fugazi video clip. And thanks for the comparison!

 

Standing up for truth with conviction is not that hard, actually...for the alternative is just far too grim on every level. FYI, being a lover of comparative east-west religions and scriptures that I am, I have recently been reading in "The Lost Books of the Bible" what Eusebius called "the Wonderful Epistle of St. Clement to the Corinthians". And the directness and simplicity of one passage I read yesterday I'll recite now to explain why standing up for Truth and never compromising with Evil is always the best path (as also seconded by author Stephen King as a constant theme throughout all his books):

 

11 For nothing is impossible with God but to lie.

I. CLEMENT, CHAP. XII, v.11

 

All Best,

 

Sifu Terry

 

_{www.taichimania.com/chikung_catalog.html}

Edited February 8, 2014 by zen-bear

[zen-bear]

...

I was horrified to learn of the details of this case.

 

I concur with the other posters and wish Mr Dunn the best of luck in all his future endeavours.

 

I enjoyed the movie, so my thanks go to the original author.

...

Captain Mar-Veil,

 

Thank you for your support and sympathy.

If you would like to help keep the torch of Truth lit around my plight, my battle against Dreamworks, and what I consider to be the irrefutable fact of Dreamworks idea theft, please view these first few short video clips on this Youtube site, appropriately named "Eat Your Panda", that show, I believe, Dreamworks star witness, the alleged creator of "their" Kung Fu Panda, transparently lying:

 

 

 

 

 

 

***And all 15 short video clips are posted here along with the entire 4-hour transcript (in eleven sections):

 

 

Please view these short 2-4 minute videos of Dreamworks' star witness who claims he is the creator of the Kung Fu Panda idea, post a comment on each page if you care to9, and then forward the links to your friends and family. In the end, it will bring fame to all the key witnesses at Dreamworks who testified that they never heard of me and that this person, Michael Lachance, created "his" Kung Fu Panda idea before I pitched my Zen-Bear, the Kung Fu Panda project to his boss on Nov. 20, 2001. Lachance's testimony under oath is quite remarkable and in some places highly entertaining (what i call "disgustingly hilarious"), and I also believe that these clips will have educational value, because they can comprise a case study that I hope will be taught in primary, secondary, and even college levels to teach students how to recognize certain types of lies.

 

Thank you very kindly for your support and help.

 

Sifu Terry Dunn

 

P.S. --and may Primordial Energy of Air with its twenty- two rayed diadem of light, which is the Magical manifestation of Chokmah, Wisdom and the Logos, and the 9th Trump, and the 8th Trump bless you and keep you.

 

_{www.taichimania.com/chikung_catalog.html}

[zen-bear]

Will pray for justice in your affairs Zen-Bear. Best wishes.

 

My 2 cents, Peace

Thank you very much for your support, concern, and your prayers.

 

Most sincerely,

 

Terry Dunn

 

P.S. If you care to spread the word of Truth and preserve its Light, please view the video clips that I posted in reply to Captain Mar-Vell's posting. Many thanks. And please tune into my customized, 3-part sealer: Primordial Energy of Air with its twenty- two rayed diadem of light, the 9th Trump, and the 8th Trump.

[Bubbles]

Hello Sifu Dunn,

 

I am sincerely joining the people who pray for your case.

 

 

Please allow me to add here Psalm 5

 

Psalm 5

Give ear to my words, O Lord,
Consider my meditation.
² Give heed to the voice of my cry,
My King and my God,
For to You I will pray.
³ My voice You shall hear in the morning, O Lord;
In the morning I will direct it to You,
And I will look up.

⁴ For You are not a God who takes pleasure in wickedness,
Nor shall evil dwell with You.
⁵ The boastful shall not stand in Your sight;
You hate all workers of iniquity.
⁶ You shall destroy those who speak falsehood;
The Lord abhors the bloodthirsty and deceitful man.

⁷ But as for me, I will come into Your house in the multitude of Your mercy;
In fear of You I will worship toward Your holy temple.
⁸ Lead me, O Lord, in Your righteousness because of my enemies;
Make Your way straight before my face.

⁹ For there is no faithfulness in their mouth;
Their inward part is destruction;
Their throat is an open tomb;
They flatter with their tongue.
¹⁰ Pronounce them guilty, O God!
Let them fall by their own counsels;
Cast them out in the multitude of their transgressions,
For they have rebelled against You.

¹¹ But let all those rejoice who put their trust in You;
Let them ever shout for joy, because You defend them;
Let those also who love Your name
Be joyful in You.
¹² For You, O Lord, will bless the righteous;
With favor You will surround him as with a shield.

 

(King James version)

 

 

Take care,

 

[zen-bear]

 

Hello Sifu Dunn,

 

I am sincerely joining the people who pray for your case.

 

 

Please allow me to add here Psalm 5

 

Psalm 5

Give ear to my words, O Lord,

Consider my meditation.

² Give heed to the voice of my cry,

My King and my God,

For to You I will pray.

³ My voice You shall hear in the morning, O Lord;

In the morning I will direct it to You,

And I will look up.

⁴ For You are not a God who takes pleasure in wickedness,

Nor shall evil dwell with You.

⁵ The boastful shall not stand in Your sight;

You hate all workers of iniquity.

⁶ You shall destroy those who speak falsehood;

The Lord abhors the bloodthirsty and deceitful man.

⁷ But as for me, I will come into Your house in the multitude of Your mercy;

In fear of You I will worship toward Your holy temple.

⁸ Lead me, O Lord, in Your righteousness because of my enemies;

Make Your way straight before my face.

⁹ For there is no faithfulness in their mouth;

Their inward part is destruction;

Their throat is an open tomb;

They flatter with their tongue.

¹⁰ Pronounce them guilty, O God!

Let them fall by their own counsels;

Cast them out in the multitude of their transgressions,

For they have rebelled against You.

¹¹ But let all those rejoice who put their trust in You;

Let them ever shout for joy, because You defend them;

Let those also who love Your name

Be joyful in You.

¹² For You, O Lord, will bless the righteous;

With favor You will surround him as with a shield.

 

(King James version)

 

 

Take care,

 

Bubbles,

 

Thank you so very much for your concern and support with this lovely Psalm.  I know it well...and know how to use it--along with the rest of the Book of Psalms!  

 

Best,

 

Sifu Terry Dunn

Edited January 12, 2016 by zen-bear

[Harmonious Emptiness]

Wow, just saw this now. Crazy.

 

I don't know how I can help you Sifu Dunn, but I think it's all pretty transparent. That guy obviously has no idea how to write something like that, and he looks like he's trying to pretend he didn't just poop himself.

 

I think the reason they found other writers is because that way they can claim all the merchandizing etc. for the character. If they accepted your story they would have to say that you created the character and they wouldn't be able to collect the royalties on the "lovable kung-fu panda character" that sells toys and t-shirts and video games, not to mention the other characters.

[Harmonious Emptiness]

the hotspot website link doesn't work by the way. Definitely need a website.

[thamosh]

Go Public with it.

 

Write a professional press release about this and call your local news. Submit your story to various gossip blogs and sites.

 

Make calls to setup interviews about how they stole from you.

[Harmonious Emptiness]

http://jasonskywalker5.wordpress.com/2010/02/18/black-author-wins-matrix/

 

 

Stewart, a New Yorker who has resided in Salt Lake City for the past five years, will recover damages from the films, The Matrix I, II and III, as well as The Terminator and its sequels. She will soon receive one of the biggest payoffs in the history of Hollywood , as the gross receipts of both films and their sequels total over 2.5 billion dollars.

Stewart filed her case in 1999, after viewing the Matrix, which she felt had been based on her manuscript, ‘The Third Eye,’ copyrighted in 1981. In the mid-eighties Stewart had submitted her manuscript to an ad placed by the Wachowski Brothers, requesting new sci-fi works..

According to court documentation, a FBI investigation discovered that more than thirty minutes had been edited from the original film, in an attempt to avoid penalties for copyright infringement. The investigation also stated that ‘credible witnesses employed at Warner Brothers came forward, claiming that the executives and lawyers had full knowledge that the work in question did not belong to the Wachowski Brothers.’ These witnesses claimed to have seen Stewart’s original work and that it had been ‘often used during preparation of the motion pictures.’ The defendants tried, on several occasions, to have Stewart’s case dismissed, without success.

[idiot_stimpy]

Amazing

[thamosh]

I looked a little more closely into this. An i noticed that even though kungfupandalawsuit.com is a great domain name it has an alexa ranking of 11 million and that it has no meta data or h1 tags.

 

If this website was to get

 

a meta tag

a site map

and some h1 tags

 

Then this site will grow in google and thus the awareness of it will grow as well.

 

If this is done right anytime someone would google kung fu panda the first thing they would see is kungfupandalawsuit.com

[thelerner]

http://jasonskywalker5.wordpress.com/2010/02/18/black-author-wins-matrix/

 

 

Stewart, a New Yorker who has resided in Salt Lake City for the past five years, will recover damages from the films, The Matrix I, II and III, as well as The Terminator and its sequels. She will soon receive one of the biggest payoffs in the history of Hollywood , as the gross receipts of both films and their sequels total over 2.5 billion dollars.

Sadly.. nope. looks like this is an internet rumor. later edit> Going through the internet its a fascinating study in internet rumor-ology. Its easy to check out, yet you see it championed on a dozen sites (like David Icke's) when even a cursory look would prove it wrong. On the other hand she did sue her lawyers for $150 million and while there may have been a judgement against them, I can't find if it was monetary or not. Which I find highly doubtful since the only person confirming it is herself, while she hawks her book.

 

 

http://www.snopes.com/politics/business/matrix.asp

Snopes rates this story as FALSE

here is an excerpt:

 

...

The Matrix in 1999 she was struck by how closely it resembled her story. She filed suit against the makers of the film, seeking over $1 billion in damages. (This page provides links to a number of files and articles about her lawsuit.)

 

Stewart's case was dismissed in June 2005 when she failed to show up for a preliminary hearing of her case. In a 53-page ruling, Judge Margaret Morrow of the Central District Court of California dismissed the suit, saying Stewart and her attorneys had not entered any evidence to bolster its key claims or demonstrated any striking similarity between her work and the accused directors' films. As of this writing, Stewart's case is no longer before the courts. She has announced that she does not plan to let the matter drop, so possibly this case could someday be re-filed and heard, but for now it is over.

 

A less than accurate newspaper article about Stewart and her case (quoted in the Example box above) caused many to believe the woman claiming authorship had won her copyright infringement suit and was about to receive a multi-billion dollar settlement. That 28 October 2004 article, penned by a second-year communications student for the Salt Lake Community College Globe, erred in mistaking Stewart's 4 October 2004 successful counter to a dismissal motion for her having prevailed in her suit. The article asserted Stewart "will recover damages from the films, The Matrix I, II and III, as well as The Terminator and its sequels" and would "soon receive one of the biggest payoffs in the history of Hollywood." What Stewart had won was the right to proceed with her case, but nothing more.

 

The Globe subsequently posted the following correction:

In reference to the recent article entitled "Mother of the Matrix Victorious," some information has been deemed misleading. Ms. Sophia Stewart has not yet won her case against Joel Silver, Time Warner and the Wachowski Bros. The decision on October 4th enabled Ms. Stewart to proceed with her case, as all attempts to have it dismissed were unsuccessful. Ms. Stewart's case will proceed through the Central District Court of California.

 

Thanks,

The Globe Staff

A number of web-based news sites (such as Thaindian News and African Globe) have continued to create confusion over the case by republishing the Salt Lake Community College Globe's outdated and inaccurate article from 2004 which erroneously claimed that Sophia Stewart had won her case.

 

Barbara "case closed" Mikkelson

 

Last updated: 20 November 2013

Another good article on it: http://www.examiner.com/article/debunked-sophia-stewart-vs-the-matrix-story-still-circulates-web from Examiner.com

 

excerpt

..

Winning a copyright infringement case against a studio is nearly impossible. While humorist Art Buchwald sued Paramount over Eddie Murphy's Coming to America and won, it's rare to triumph over Hollywood studios because of the high number of people who claim studios stole their ideas but have no real proof. After awhile, cries that "Hollywood stole my idea" start to sound like shouts of "I'm innocent" behind prison bars. A few people have a righteous cause. Most, however, are lying to themselves...

Edited February 24, 2014 by thelerner

[Harmonious Emptiness]

thanks for the correction thelerner

[zen-bear]

the hotspot website link doesn't work by the way. Definitely need a website.

Try www.kungfupandalawsuit.com

and to find the Lachance videos, go to Youtube, and just search for "eat your panda, michael lachance, dream works"...and you should get to this link:

 

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=eat+your+panda+lachance+dreamworks

which displays all the testimony of this fellow made under oath.

Edited July 18, 2014 by zen-bear

[Bubbles]

I have watched by chance Kung Fu Panda 2 last saturday (didn't watch the first 'opus' so far).

The similarity between the movie characters ( the Panda and its crew, even with very minor changes) and the characters created by Terry Dunn is obvious to me.

 

Moreover, there is the 'inner peace' Taichi like dance we can see in the movie:

1.

(Panda's sifu)

2.

(I am Po)

3.

(last battle)

First, I can see an obvious similarity with the

but more than that,the last scene is also very similar to the energy ball seen in the Zen-Bear animation.

 

Since I have not watched the first Kung-Fu Panda movie, I can't say more, but I can suppose that the similarities are even more evident.

 

It is sad to see how many obstacles Terry Dunn is facing in seeking redress.

[GrandmasterP]

Any outcome yet?