London, June 26: A children's author is suing Steven Spielberg's studio for millions of pounds in damages, saying the Hollywood director stole his story for the big-screen hit "Chicken Run." Alan Davidson argues that the animated film produced by Spielberg's Dreamworks studio and animators Peter Lord and Nick Park infringed copyright protecting "Escape From Cold Ditch," his children's tale of a hen that leads an escape from a chicken farm.
Davidson claims the movie, credited to Lord and Park, infringes his moral right to be identified as the author.
Davidson, who lives near Hartfield south of London, refused comment today, but a family spokesman said the suit "is a matter of principle and honesty."
Dreamworks and Peter Lord's Aardman Animations Company, based in Bristol, are named as the main defendants in papers filed at Lewes county court in southern England on Tuesday.
The papers point to a number of similarities between "Escape From Cold Itch" and "Chicken Run," which reportedly netted more than USD 160 million at cinemas and on video, DVD and merchandising.
Both stories star a rebellious hen who leads her clucking friends in a World War II-style breakout across fields and barbed wire.
Bureau Report