There is a very very similar story to Life of Pi published before!
The New York Times reported in 2002 on the similarities between the book by Yann Martel on which the movie is based and "Max and the Cats", by Brazilian writer Moacyr Scliar, published in 1981. The book tells the tale of "a Jewish youth who survives a shipwreck and ends up sharing a lifeboat with a panther".
