Children’s author accuses John Lewis of copying her dragon design for Excitable Edgar Christmas advert

A CHILDREN'S book author is accusing John Lewis of copying her dragon design for this year's Excitable Edgar Christmas advert.

Danielle Smurthwaite, 36, who self-published Popcorn The Unicorn on Amazon in 2017, claims the advert's storyline and theme is very similar to her book.

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The mum-of-two wrote her book about a mythical creature who detached itself from others by their behaviour before managing to control it.

Danielle, who is a full time graphic designer and illustrator, also claims Edgar’s features resemble the dragons she had drawn in her book.

'IT ALL LOOKS VERY SIMILAR'

She told : "In my case the lead character was a unicorn who goes and sees some dragons and gets very excitable when he sees they're blowing bubbles – but then he ruins the fun by popping them.

"The same happens with the pixies and the dwarves. Then he realises he was good at popping so he makes popcorn. So the story line is very similar.

"The John Lewis dragon also had similar qualities to my dragon. Tiny wings, goofy teeth, same structures - it looks very similar."

The John Lewis dragon also had similar qualities to my dragon. Tiny wings, goofy teeth, same structures - it looks very similar

Danielle Smurthwaite

John Lewis's advert, the first joint-effort with its sister retailer Waitrose, follows young girl Ava and her friendship with cute young dragon as his accidental fire-breathing nearly ruins Christmas.

Edgar loves Christmas but every time he gets excited he uncontrollably breathes fire into the medieval-style village causing comical catastrophes.

The two and a half minute John Lewis Christmas advert follows the pair as they join in with seasonal activities.

But after a series of unfortunate events in which Edgar's fire skill seems more like a curse, the girl from the advert hands him a Christmas pudding so he can play a unique role in the village feast - lighting it in his own special way.

RETAILER DENIED CLAIMS

Danielle, from Sutton on Sea in Lincolnshire, said her book has sold 400 copies on Amazon, and claimed that some of her customers had reached out to her to point out its similarities with the ad.

Her claims were strongly shut down by John Lewis, who told Sun Online: "There are lots and lots of stories about dragons but Edgar is an original character developed by our creative agency, as is our story."

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The writer also pointed out that John Lewis was accused of plagiarism for its Christmas advert from 2017.

Award-winning author Chris Riddell claimed its character of Moz the Monster was taken from his books.

That allegation was also flatly denied by the retailer at the time.

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