
Evel Knievel once said that he “would always rather be in the arena fighting than be a spectator.” The legendary stunt rider’s son is clearly taking those words to heart with a new lawsuit against Walt Disney Pictures and Pixar over the Duke Caboom character introduced in last year’s Toy Story 4.
“Defendants have used in commerce, and continue to use in commerce, the likeness, reputation, and image of Evel Knievel in the film Toy Story 4 through Defendants’ depiction of Duke Caboom, and has exploited the same connection through marketing, promotion, advertising, and sales of Toy Story 4, and in connection with the manufacturing, distribution, marketing, advertising, promotion, and sales of the Duke Caboom action figure, all without the consent or approval of K&k,” claims the trademark-infringement complaint filed this week in federal court in Las Vegas, the site of many of Evel’s most death-defying exploits.