Now Disney Is Facing a Lawsuit Over the Little Mermaid
There is a new lawsuit affecting Disney. This time it involves The Little Mermaid.
Disney Legal Troubles
By now, it is no secret that The Walt Disney Company is currently involved in a series of legal battles. The string of 3 lawsuits involving Ron DeSantis and/or the new Central Florida Tourism Oversite District is prevalent in the news. You can read about the federal case HERE, the CFTOD suit HERE, and the new countersuit HERE.
However, Disney is a large company, and there are a number of court cases going on that have nothing to do with Florida as well. Some of these involve film. For example, you can read about a case involving Avatar right HERE.
And, now the latest lawsuit involves Disney's live-action Little Mermaid movie. Let's get to the scuttlebutt.
Little Mermaid Lawsuit
Sandcastle Pictures is the Disney-owned company responsible for the production of The Little Mermaid (2023). The film sparked controversy among moviegoers. And, now it is at the center of a lawsuit. Special effects artist Christine Overs, who specializes in making beach sets among other things, is suing the film's producers.
The lawsuit involves an injury she sustained while she was sculpting a lagoon scene for the film at Pinewood Studios in October 2020. She fell off of a polystyrene step and broke her wrist on a concrete floor. The claim is that the injury occurred because the production company had failed "provide any adequate access to the set."
The injury reportedly required surgery and metal pins. Now, the 74-year-old artist and her legal team claim that she cannot perform the movements necessary to complete her work. Not only has the injury caused pain and suffering and hardship with everyday tasks such as buttoning and zipping clothes, but it has effectively ended her career in a very specialized field.
Sandcastle Pictures has accepted liability. However, a dispute remains. Overs is demanding £150,000, which is about the equivalent of $190.000. Since Sandcastle Pictures is disputing that figure, a legal trial is set to take place to determine the amount.
Overs has worked on high-profile projects throughout her career including Aliens, Dune, and GoldenEye. Her legal team ascertains she had planned to continue to work into her 80s.
Overs is suing Dinsey-Owned Sandcastle Pictures for $190,000.
What are your thoughts on this new lawsuit involving the Little Mermaid? Let us know in the comments. And, as always, feel free to pass the story along to others.
Lol spoken like a true blind Disneynerd.
I remember those days, it was back when I was defending Disney over the Kimba.. I mean Simba, and watching how they take and take and take and claim what they are making and have is original.
Wish is Disney's Newest idea and its original and nobody in the world ever thought of it until they did year and years ago and it was made into 2 books by Lisa M. Bishop.
Disney can tweek whatever they want to and call it original but rarely do they ever say what was inspired by or adapted from.
When it come to people Disney loves MONEY I mean them lol
This elderly artist needs compensation for her injuries sustained on the clock while pumping out this huge amazing blockbuster
Disney has become a heaping smelly pile of shit since 2020 and its not getting any better.
Someone got injured on the job and suffered physically and financially because of it, and your reply is who cares? Well, let's hope you find out first hand what that is like!
They admitted liability so I am not sure why they would dispute such a small amount (in terms of lawsuits).
I suspect they will settle and are using the threat of court as a future deterent.
Thanks for contributing your thoughts. This is my suspicion as well.
Sally Field would say she should have taken Boniva, calcium and Vitamin D. What is a polystyrene step, anyway?
I believe the courts will take how much money she is out for permanent disability. I actually think this is low considering, but you never know what's going to happen and laws change. She's also older so harder to snap back from these things.
Yep.... that makes it have to go by the laws of Great Britain.... but the concepts I discussed are usually universal.
Who cares! It is a great movie.
I am glad you enjoyed it. Hoping to watch it with my own little ones soon.
Of course, most of you wished it would.
The Plaintiff does not get a blank check when a defendant accepts liability.... or their liability is proven in court. The Plaintiff has to prove the damages they allege (current money and future money) so they can be made whole. That's how the legal system works.
For specifics you would need to know which court and jurisdiction the law suit is in. It's not clear because she alleged her damages in £s... so she could be filling as a citizen of Great Britain against a U.S Company. That means it's at likely not state court. It's probably federal or possibly Supreme Court because of foreign involvement..... but that's a rabbit hole you could get stuck in for hours!
Thank you so much for weighing in with useful information. It looks at if it was filed in the Central London county court. Pinewood Studios is UK-based. However, even with that information, I am sure there is still plenty of rabbit hole to venture down.
Disney has accepted responsibility therefore, as a result of this frivolous trial, any and all $$ damages will only increase in her favor.
If she acquired this injury while performing a service for Disney while she was onset. Pay her.
If the article is correct and she is (well, her lawyers are) only asking for 190k pounds, then just pay her out of petty cash. The lawyers for the initial filings will cost more than that!
Of course, since the movie barely covered its initial investment, I can see why the studios and Disney don't want to add to the expenses and cause the bottom line to turn red...
Thank you for your thoughts! I am curious about the decision to dispute the number. Perhaps they are hoping to settle before the hearing.
I knew this movie would backfire
I really ain't a fan of the new lil mermaid..so pay this lady off
She didn't break her wrist at home. Disney has accepted liability - this means they admit that it's their fault her wrist got broken. The lawsuit is only taking place because Disney wants to pay her less than the amount she's asking.
This is spot on. Thank you for your comments and for offering clarity to others.
The fact that she broke her wrist on set is not in question - Disney has already admitted liability. Its just a question of how much she is entitled to.
"Sandcastle Pictures has accepted liability." If that's the case, it's not a question of whether Disney is liable but for how much. Simple calculation of the present value of her future probable earnings after considering mortality, disability, and retirement.
How mich are they spending on the lawyers to get out of 50k? Like me taking someone to court to get out of paying 50 bucks
Sounds like she is working way past retirement age if she’s in her 70’s.
I think that the disgusting lawyers are leeches on society and this is just an example of disgusting human beings I would make the lawyers pay Disney for harassment
People just be looking for way to get money. That lil old lady needs to go sit down somewhere!!
I think she broke her wrist at home and trying to blame disney