The theme tune to that ’90s staple X-Men: The Animated Series is a stone-cold classic of the sort that can easily get a gaggle of geeks ‘der der der der der der-der’-ing in blissful harmony at the drop of a hat. So we’re sure you’ll join us in being shocked to discover that its creators have been accused of plagiarism.
First reported by TMZ (and confirmed by io9), a man has filed a lawsuit against a bevvy of companies including Marvel, Disney, Fox, Apple and Amazon – as well as employees of Saban Entertainment – claiming that the tune bears a suspicious resemblance to the theme from ’80s Hungarian crime drama Linda The Policewoman.
The man claims to manage the estate of Gyorgy Vukan, the composer who created the theme for the popular Hungarian National Television show, which ran from 1983-89 and has been credited with reshaping gender norms in the then-Soviet satelite state.
Here’s the familiar X-Men theme:
And here’s the (admittedly very similar) Linda The Policewoman:
The lawsuit claims that, although Linda The Policewoman was little-known in the Western world, there were strong connections in the film industry between East and West, and that defendants, including the two composers who have been credited with the X-Men theme tune, came into contact with their Hungarian counterparts.
The other companies included in the lawsuit produced, distributed or at some point syndicated the show. Disney is rumoured to be considering added the series to Disney+.
This isn’t the first song that has been compared to the X-Men theme. Fans have pointed out its similarity to Whitney Houston’s ‘I’m Your Baby Tonight’ (no really), although for our money that comparison is less compelling than our new pal Linda’s.
