Disney are being sued by a Hollywood screenwriter, who claims the studio stole his idea for Zootopia.

Gary L Goldman, whose script credits include Total Recall, Minority Report and Big Trouble in Little China has filed a federal lawsuit that accuses Disney of taking the animated film’s title, treatment, character designs and lines of dialogue from a project he began developing in 2000 and twice pitched to the studio.

The complaint, filed by Esplanade Productions Inc, also alleges that Disney have a culture of plagiarising ideas, including those for Monsters Inc., Inside Out and Up.

“In 2000 and 2009 — Goldman, on behalf of Esplanade, pitched Defendants his Zootopia franchise, which included a live-action component called Looney and an animated component called Zootopia,” states the complaint. “He provided a treatment, a synopsis, character descriptions, character illustrations and other materials. He even provided a title for the franchise: Zootopia.

“Instead of lawfully acquiring Goldman’s work, Defendants said they were not interested in producing it and sent him on his way. Thereafter, consistent with their culture of unauthorized copying, Defendants copied Goldman’s work. They copied Goldman’s themes, settings, plot, characters, and dialogue — some virtually verbatim.”

Zootopia was a worldwide success for Disney. Photograph: Disney/AP

The complaint identifies themes in Goldman’s original treatment that it alleges are similar to those advanced in Disney’s Zootopia. It also includes original character artwork submitted by Goldman for his project, alongside comparisons to the images of characters that appeared in the final film.

Disney has denied the claim. “Mr Goldman’s lawsuit is riddled with patently false allegations,” a spokesman for the company said. “It is an unprincipled attempt to lay claim to a successful film he didn’t create, and we will vigorously defend against it in court.”

Zootopia, which was renamed Zootropolis in the UK, featured the voices of Ginnifer Goodwin, Idris Elba and Jason Bateman, among others. The film was a box office success when it was released in 2016, becoming the fourth highest-grossing film worldwide that year.