Luxo Jr., the squeaky desk-lamp character created by animation guru John Lasseter 23 years ago, is in the spotlight again – under the glare of a transatlantic lawsuit.

The hopping swivel lamp has been a corporate mascot for Pixar Animation Studios since its founder created the character in 1986 for a short computer-animated movie that was nominated for an Academy Award. Lasseter was said to have based the character on his own Luxo lamp.

Norwegian lamp maker Luxo filed a lawsuit Thursday in federal court in New York accusing Pixar and parent Walt Disney Co. of infringing its copyright by selling a limited-edition Luxo Jr. lamp packaged with a Blu-ray version of the Disney/Pixar movie “Up.”

Luxo said in the suit that the sale of the Pixar lamps would “cause devastating damage to Luxo.”

A spokesman for Disney said the company hadn’t seen the complaint and couldn’t comment.

Source: Los Angeles Times