Oh no he didn't!

One Chinese filmmaker stood firm with his statement that his "The Autobots" did not plagiarize Disney Pixar's "Cars" or any of its franchise. Zhuo Jianrong, director of the movie in question, strongly denied allegations that he copied anything from the 2006 animated film.

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On July 4, Zhuo's movie made its debut in the mainland and earned infamy soon enough. Chinese social media users noted that the resemblance of his work with the characters of Cars were uncanny, from the movie poster down to the story. Netizens went as far as calling Zhuo a "shameful copycat."

"The leading character in 'The Autobots' looks exactly like that in 'Cars'; how shameless the director is," China Daily quoted Douban user Yaqing.

Zhuo was quick in his defense and said that his team just "learned" from the American animation studio. In an attempt to make a point that stands, Zhou emphasized on the presence of human characters in his movie as the redeeming factor of its originality. In an interview with CNN, the director even made a bold claim of having never seen nor known of Cars and its characters.

"The main storyline of our movie is different than Disney's. Our goal is to teach children about thinking and innovation," Zhuo told CNN.

According to an excerpt quoted by Shanghaiist, The Autobots' plot focuses on a genius engineer who integrated sentience and intelligence in three cars, allowing them to interact with humans. Their abilities take them on different adventures and help them foster friendship.

Netizens further pointed out that the Chinese characters used in the title of The Autobots on poster are closely similar to that of the Chinese title of Cars. This apparent faux pas even caused some viewers to see the movie thinking that it was an installment of Pixar's film.

To which The Autobots director responded, "Why can't we have the same Chinese name? It was not illegal after all. And the look only means that we've got a superstar appearance."

It should also be noted that "Autobots" is the collective name of the protagonist robots led by Optimus Prime in "The Transformers."

Zhuo ultimately retaliated against his accusers, calling them "cynical losers" and "new-age traitors to China."

TagsChinese filmmaker, Zhuo Jianrong, Disney Pixar, Cars movie, Cars copycat, The Autobots