The Case of the Identical Idea?

If the staff of “Thundercats” sued the staff of “The Legends of Chima” on the grounds of infringement, do you believe they would win?

No

"Booshman, post: 118572, member: 25641" said:

No

Can you elaborate on that response?

Here are the reasons why I asked this question:
[CENTER]Exhibit A: The Main Protagonist[/CENTER]
The main protagonist of “ThunderCats” is a red-headed, sword-wielding lion whose name starts with L. The main protagonist of “The Legend of Chima” is a red-headed, sword-wielding lion whose name starts with L.



The question here is why would you want you main character to look similar to one that has one of the more unique looks?

[CENTER]Exhibit B: The Main Villains[/CENTER]

In “ThunderCats”, the main villains are lizards. In “Chima”, the main villains are crocodiles.

Now, they could claim that concept is different, but really is “different”. The only thing the staff of “Chima” seems to have done is changed the villains to a different type of reptile.

[CENTER]Exhibit C: The Storylines[/CENTER]

These series also have similar storylines. The main character is immature, headstrong and everybody else wanting him to start taking his responsibilities seriously. He also likes to challenges the rules. Another storyline is the animal tribes and the main character uniting them.

One thing to keep in mind is that when “Chima” premiered, “ThunderCats” was still in syndication on “Toonami”. So, why would the same network not only: A) air both series at the same time, and B) greenlight a series that is similar to a franchise that has existed since 1985? Wouldn’t an executive have said “Sorry, this idea has been taken?”

"Lion-O-hearted, post: 118585, member: 26114" said:

Can you elaborate on that response?

If there were any real case to be made I think it would have already been made. I agree that Chima is similar, but I would say it's different enough that they put it to market without worrying if WB would take them to court.

"Lion-O-hearted, post: 118564, member: 26114" said:

If the staff of “Thundercats” sued the staff of “The Legends of Chima” on the grounds of infringement, do you believe they would win?

No. All shows and toylines are similar to different things. Blackstar>He-Man, He-Man>Thundercats, Infaceables>Thundercats>Battle Beasts, Bravestarr>Galaxy Rangers, Gobots>Transformers, Voltron>Mighty Orbots>Super Serntai/Power Rangers>Dozens of various animes about people piloting giant robots.
Chima is vastly different than Thundercats 2011 and was vastly more successful.

I am not too familiar with "The Legends of Chima", but I do recall reading an article mentioning its similarity to the 2011 ThunderCats. And yes, while the similarities are undeniable, they are not enough to warrant a lawsuit. You'd be surprised at how much ripping-off people can get away with these days simply by changing a few things (and having a bevy of lawyers also helps!). :)

There are so many Disney and Pixar movies which obviously copied other movies (mostly French and Japanese ones). Some of these guys even tried to sue Disney but failed every single time. In the 80s Disney tried to sue Filmation when they were making "Pinocchio and the Emperor of the Night" and even they lost.

I can't believe 5 year later we still let Lego get away with this, and wb uses chima as a scapegoat for Finanicial purposes... and Thundercats will never get redemption

Because are they owned by the same company. I know it sucks, I hate that Lego Thundercats ripoff more then most shows ever created.