''The Autobots'' () is a 2015 Chinese

computer-animated Computer animation is the process used for digitally generating animations. The more general term computer-generated imagery (CGI) encompasses both static scenes ( still images) and dynamic images (moving images), while computer animation refe ...

motorsports Motorsport, motorsports or motor sport is a global term used to encompass the group of competitive sporting events which primarily involve the use of motorized vehicles. The terminology can also be used to describe forms of competition of two ...

comedy film directed by Zhuo Jianrong. It was released on July 4, 2015. The film received heavy criticism for its plot, animation quality, characters, and being a direct

plagiarism Plagiarism is the fraudulent representation of another person's language, thoughts, ideas, or expressions as one's own original work.From the 1995 '' Random House Compact Unabridged Dictionary'': use or close imitation of the language and thought ...

and

knockoff Counterfeit consumer goods (or counterfeit and fraudulent, suspect items - CFSI) are goods, often of inferior quality, made or sold under another's brand name without the brand owner's authorization. Sellers of such goods may infringe on eith ...

of Pixar’s ''

Cars 2 ''Cars 2'' is a 2011 American computer-animated Spy film, spy comedy film produced by Pixar, Pixar Animation Studios for Walt Disney Pictures. It is the sequel to ''Cars (film), Cars'' (2006), the second film in the Cars (franchise), ''Cars'' f ...

''.

Production

The production company and filmmaker stated that it was an independently produced film, while several critics and people who watched the film accused it of being copied from Disney and Pixar's '' Cars'' franchise (with the characters looking like those from ''Cars''). Shen Lu, Katie Hunt, and Anna Hsieh of CNN stated that the Chinese title of the film was similar to the mainland Chinese title of ''Cars'' ().

Copyright infringement lawsuit

In July 2016, The Walt Disney Company filed a copyright case through the Shanghai Pudong New Area People's Court and on December 29, 2016, the court ruled in favor of Disney, fining Bluemtv and G-Point $190,000 and ordering them to cease copyright infringement.

Cancelled sequel

A sequel for the film, ''The Autobots 2'', was scheduled for release in summer 2017. However, the sequel was canceled due to The Walt Disney Company winning a copyright case. The latest information about the sequel announcement is from 2016.

References

External links

* 2015 animated films 2015 films 2015 computer-animated films Chinese animated films Chinese auto racing films Animated films about auto racing Animated films about automobiles Films involved in plagiarism controversies Cars (franchise) 2010s American films {{animation-film-stub