Disney News

Tag: Petition

  • Petition Calls for Splash Mountain to be Re-themed to ‘Princess and the Frog’

    Petition Calls for Splash Mountain to be Re-themed to ‘Princess and the Frog’

    Fans are calling on Disney parks to re-theme its popular Splash Mountain ride based on a nearly 75-year-old movie that has long been criticized for racist themes.

    A petition posted on Change.org asks Disney to remove all references to its 1946 film “Song of the South” from Splash Mountain.

    The petition says the movie “steeped in extremely problematic and stereotypical racist tropes.” The petition suggests Disney should re-theme the ride around “Princess and the Frog.” Tiana, the main character in the film, is recognized for being Disney’s first African-American princess.

    The petition had more than 8,000 signatures as of Thursday morning. The petition’s current goal is set at 10,000 signatures.

    Disney has been distancing themselves from the movie for quite sometime now. The movie, set on a plantation after the Civil War, is not included on the new streaming service Disney Plus. And former Walt Disney CEO Bob Iger, now executive chairman, says it won’t ever be.

    “I’ve felt as long as I’ve been CEO that ‘Song of the South’ — even with a disclaimer — was just not appropriate in today’s world,” Iger said in March during a shareholder meeting. “It’s just hard, given the depictions in some of those films, to bring them out today without in some form or another offending people, so we’ve decided not to do that.”

    The call for change comes as the country continues to hold discussions surrounding racial injustice in the wake of George Floyd’s death in Minneapolis police custody.

  • Petition Calls for Disney to Drop ‘Hakuna Matata’ Trademark

    Petition Calls for Disney to Drop ‘Hakuna Matata’ Trademark

    A petition started online is calling for Disney to let go of its trademark of the Swahili phrase “Hakuna Matata.”

    The petition was started by Zimbabwean activist Shelton Mpala and states that “Disney can’t be allowed to trademark something that it didn’t invent.” It has already received more than 100,000 signatures.

    The phrase roughly translates to “no problems” or “no worries” and is a common expression in parts of eastern and southern Africa. It is best known as a song in Disney’s 1994 hit movie “The Lion King” and according to the United States Patent and Trademark Office, the company trademarked the expression the same year.

    In an interview withh CNN, Mpala says he started the petition “to draw attention to the appropriation of African culture and the importance of protecting our heritage, identity and culture from being exploited for financial gain by third parties.”

    “This plundered artwork serves to enrich or benefit these museums and corporations and not the creators or people it’s derived from,” Mpala said.

    Liz Lenjo, a Kenyan intellectual property and entertainment lawyer, disagrees with the petition. Lenjo said Disney “has not stolen anything” and the outrage over the trademark is misplaced. The blame should go to social media for “blowing things out of proportion” Lenjo said.

    “The use of ‘Hakuna Matata’ by Disney does not take away the value of the language,” Lenjo says. “East Africans or whoever speaks Swahili worldwide are not restricted from using the phrase.

    “She added: “The conversation on the internet has been blowing up because of a misconception and misunderstanding around intellectual property law, the ethos behind intellectual property law and the various regimes of protection.”

    Disney has not responded to the petition. A remake of the “The Lion King” is due for release in 2019.