The director of a new Chinese animated movie “The Autobots”, released in theaters across China on July 4, has vehemently denied accusations of plagiarism after netizens couldn’t help but compare it to the popular Disney-Pixar animated film “Cars”.
In the movie poster of “The Autobots,” the race car protagonist closely resembles that in the 2006 and 2011 “Cars” movies. The Chinese title of the movie is similar too to that used by “Cars.”
Critics and disappointed movie goers say a newly-released Chinese animation is a copy of Pixar’s hit film franchise. But Chinese filmmaker have denied the accusations, insisting it is “independently produced” and an “original” film.
“I know of the movie ‘Cars’, but I have never seen it. I don’t even know the names of its characters,” Zhuo Jianrong, director of the movie and executive director of the film production company, told reporters.
In Pixar’s computer animated movie “Cars” (2006) is set in a world populated with talking vehicles and centers on a hot-shot race car named Lightning McQueen, who finds friendship and love among the “simple” locals of a small town.
The Autobots revolves around a genius engineer who develops three cars with sentient AI for the ultimate in interaction with humans. In a world where people normally drive cars, three plucky autobots will go on an adventure and find that what truly drives us all is friendship. This is the plot line for The Autobots, as described by Rocket 24 News.
