This trailer for a movie called Beauty & the Beast, by Thai animation studio “GM Toons” — the castle-and-arc-of-light logo of which is certainly not inspired by Disney‘s — looks an awful lot like the 1991 Disney movie Beauty and the Beast. Coincidence?
Verily, what appears to be the shameless, shot-for-shot plagiarism of GM Toons’ work seems to have embarrassed many Thai viewers, who write in the YouTube comments that the film doesn’t reflect their attitudes or the quality of creative work in their country: One commenter writes “GM toons isn’t a Thai representation. It’s such an unprofessional studio in Thailand and deserves to get bashed. I dont think you’re too stupid to bashing the whole country!~ be honest.” But if anything, the weird, jerky gyrations and soulless expressions of these characters are about as good an advertisement for Disney’s craftsmanship as the animation giant could hope for.
See also: GM Toons’ Land Before Time and Winnie the Pooh ‘homages.’
