Here's why the estate of late playwright Paul Zindel filed a lawsuit against Guillermo del Toro's The Shape Of Water, accusing it of plagiarising Zindel's play Let Me Hear You Whisper. Guillermo del Toro has long held a fascination with monsters. His work casts them in a sympathetic light, with humanity often being the right threat. He's explored this theme again and again, from The Devil's Backbone to his two Hellboy movies.
This was definitely apparent in The Shape Of Water where Elisa, a mute cleaning lady working in a government facility, befriends and falls in love with a sentient fish creature. This most unusual love story made for an unexpectedly emotional journey, with Elisa eventually rescuing her lover from the clutches of Michael Shannon's twisted Colonel. The movie was a surprise box-office smash, receiving praise for its excellent cast, art design, and direction. The movie received thirteen Academy Award nominations and won four, including Best Picture and Best Director for del Toro.
The Shape Of Water was partly inspired by del Toro's love for 1950's monster movie Creature From The Black Lagoon. That film featured an iconic moment where female lead Kay (Julie Adams) is swimming, and unknown to her the movie's titular creature is mimicking her movements underwater. Watching this as a child del Toro wanted them to end up together, so The Shape Of Water was partly wish fulfillment on his part. The acclaim that greeted the film was somewhat undermined by accusations of plagiarism made by Paul Zindel's estate, who accused the movie of blatantly stealing the concept and story elements from 1969 play Let Me Hear You Whisper.
Let Me Hear You Whisper follows a cleaner named Helen who befriends a sentient dolphin in a secret facility. This creature only talks to her and she learns it's being cruelly experimented on by scientists. The play ends with her trying to rescue the dolphin, but she's caught and the dolphin is ultimately killed. The play was also adapted into a TV movie in 1969 with Ruth White playing Helen. For his part, del Toro states he'd never read or heard of Let Me Hear You Whisper while developing The Shape Of Water, and he'd never discussed it with Daniel Kraus - who conceived of the movie with the director - or anyone else who worked on the project.
Deadline reported in July 2018 that the Let Me Hear You Whisper lawsuit was dismissed, and Fox's lawyers argued The Shape Of Water's general premise of a character saving a non-human creature from scientists had been explored in the likes of Free Willy and E.T: The Extra-Terrestrial before.