A sculptor walks past sculptures based on characters from Disney movies
A sculptor walks past sculptures based on characters from Disney movies at the Snow and Ice Sculpture Festival in Bruges November 20, 2013. Some 28 artists from all over the world made 55 sculptures out of 250 tonnes of ice depicting Disney's newest movie "Frozen". The festival will open on November 22 and will end on January 5, 2014. Reuters

Disney has been sued for $250 million by a South American author for "stealing" her autobiography to make "Frozen."

Isabella Tanikumi's $250-million lawsuit against one of the biggest movie production companies in the world is based on her claim that Disney based the movie-plot on her 2010 autobiography "Yearnings of the Heart." While it is a more popular notion that the movie is based on "The Snow Queen," the iconic fairy-tale by Hans Christian Anderson, Tanikumi has a different opinion about it. On the other hand, Tanikumi's book was not about secret ice palaces, talking trolls or chattering snowmen. It was rather based on her real-life experience in the Andean mountains in Peru during her growing-up days, The Independent reported.

According to Tanikumi, Disney plagiarised the plot as well as characters of the movie from her book. Her three-page complaint says that Disney "stole" the general feel of the book as well. Demanding a jury trial, she gave 18 examples of plagiarism that include the sisterly relationship the movie circled around. The sisterly theme in "Frozen" was allegedly stolen from the relation Tanikumi shared with her sister, Laura. Tanikumi said that she had explored the reaches of her sister's intellect before she met an "untimely death."

According to Amazon, the 510-page paperback is a "heart wrenching" and "endearing" account of a romantic as well as spiritual journey. The book, which is available in both Spanish and English, is "the real-life drama of a young girl's struggle to create her destiny." There are adjectives like "poignant" and "must-read" to describe Tanikumi's autobiography. The description, which is apparently written by the Women's Literary Society of America, appreciates the author's efforts quite elaborately.

Wikipedia, on the other hand, describes the 2013 movie to be inspired by a fairy tale. It says that the movie is about a fearless princess who takes on "an epic journey" to find her sister with a "rugged iceman," his pet reindeer and a snowman. It is the "ice powers" of the sister that "trapped the kingdom in eternal winter."

"Frozen" was directed by Chris Buck and Jennifer Lee. It was made with a budget of $150 million, and it grossed $1.274 billion at the box office to become the highest grossing animated movie ever.

Contact the writer: s.mukhopadhyay@ibtimes.com.au