Noah Romsdal Hallundbæk Sørensen
A surprising accusation has rocked the Star Wars community, a fan filmmaker now claims Disney stole his choreography.
A brief Instagram clip has sparked debate across the Star Wars community, after a fan filmmaker alleged that a sequence he created was reproduced almost identically in an animated episode on Disney+.
The side-by-side comparison has prompted questions about creative ownership within a franchise long supported by grassroots artists.
Creative dispute
In a 12-second video posted to Instagram, fan creator Lorenz Hideyoshi placed footage from his 2019 short film Dark Jedi: A Star Wars Story next to a moment from Star Wars: Visions’ 2023 episode The Bandits of Golak.
Hideyoshi’s caption read: “When Disney blatantly steals your action design,” expressing frustration at what he considers a direct replication of his work.
Shot-for-shot claims
Hideyoshi argued that the resemblance goes beyond coincidence. “I mean they already had a different weapons setup, but still managed to brute force (push) my choreo onto that action,” he wrote, adding: “Didn’t even change the camera angles.”
He also questioned the motives behind what he sees as the studio’s reuse of fan-made material. “Why Disney?” he continued.
“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 a) pay your animators more or b) hire an action designer.”
Studio response sought
While Disney owns Lucasfilm, the outlet behind the Star Wars franchise, Visions is produced by studios around the world.
Despite the harsh alligations Disney have remained largly silent on the matter, and is yet to give a direct statement.
New season released
Disney+ debuted the third season of Star Wars: Visions last month, expanding the anthology with nine new standalone stories set across the saga’s universe.
The series is not considered part of official canon, but has been praised for inviting global studios to reinterpret Star Wars through distinct artistic styles.
In its review, IGN described Volume 3 as “the animated series’ most uneven outing to date,” giving it a score of 6/10.
Sources: Instagram/lorenzhideuoshi, IGN Nordic, youtube/Lorenz Hideyoshi Ruwwe
