Story highlights Director says he plans sequel to movie slammed as "Cars" ripoff

Zhuo Jianrong says new film would be released next year

Disney says it has ongoing legal proceedings against filmmaker

Beijing (CNN) The director of a Chinese animated movie slammed for allegedly knocking off Pixar's "Cars" says he will have a sequel out next year.

Zhuo Jianrong, the director of "The Autobots," a controversial cartoon movie released last year widely criticized online for copying "Cars", told CNN the sequel will be released in the summer of 2017.

Critics and disappointed moviegoers last year deemed Zhuo's animation a copy of Pixar's hit film franchise, but the filmmaker and production company denied the accusations, insisting it was "independently produced" and an "original" film.

Zhuo said Disney had sued his company over copyright infringement last year, but refused to reveal more details about the case.

Disney, which owns Pixar, said it had ongoing legal proceedings against the filmmaker and couldn't comment further.

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