Disney once tried to sue 3 daycares

Disney once threatened to sue three daycare centers because they painted murals of Disney characters on their walls. But what Universal did in response was so genius. Pierre’s 1989 and three daycare centers in Hlandale, Florida, decided to paint 5 foot high murals of Disney characters on their walls. Helenale, for context, is between Fort Lauderdale and Miami, about 3 hours and 20 minutes from Disney World in Orlando. When Disney found out about this, it demanded the murals come down and threatened legal action if the daycarees didn’t paint over them. But what Disney didn’t realize is it had just teed up its number one rival for a massive PR win. Disney and Universal were mortal enemies in the late 80s because Universal decided to open a movie themed amusement park just miles up the road from Disney World. So when Universal heard Disney was attacking three Florida daycarees, it swooped in and offered these daycarees the rights to the Hannah Barbara cartoon characters it would be featuring in its brand new theme park. The daycarees promptly painted over the Disney characters with the Hannah Barbara ones, avoiding a lawsuit with Disney. And then Universal, which now looked like the hero, held a special ceremony showcasing the redecorated daycare centers, which of course made for some great news stories on TV and in the newspapers.

Disney once threatened to sue 3 daycare centers (Sources: Snopes, NY Times) #disney #disneyworld #universal #universalstudiosorlando #themepark #florida

https://www.popculturebrain.com/p/links

Welcome to Pop Culture Brain, bringing you the movie news, TV news, and what-to-watch recommendations you need to know. We’ve got you covered with fun and informative pop culture updates and reflections.

Pop Culture Brain has been highlighting and curating the best and most important entertainment news for over a decade. It was named one of TIME’s Top 30 must-see Tumblr blogs and BuzzFeed’s Top 90 Tumblr blogs, and received a Lifetime Achievement Award from Tumblr itself.

30 comments

  5. I still remember a friend of mine who worked with specials needs kids requested to use Disney characters for a musical the kids were putting on and Disney refused the request. They wouldn't let a group of special needs kids use pictures of their characters 🤦

  12. Even from a greedy perspective, why doesn’t Disney realize its brand reputation is worth much more than “losses” from copyright infringement by very small businesses?

  14. Disney also didn't allow a father to put spider-man on the grave of his 4 year old son, who died of a rare genetic disease.

  15. I have always thought disney was hypocritical for being so strict about copyright, when much of their succes comes from them making movies about classic fairytales they most certainly didnt write

  16. Don't let Universal fool you. They are NOT the good guys, they just saw an opportunity they could benefit from. They're the same asshats that own UMG (Universal Music Group).

  17. Yep The REAL WALT would have given his blessing…hw far the mouse has fallen away from his own creator!…Dumb Jerks! but that aint new.

  19. This detail shop fucked me over once, "Sonic Carwash" with a recognizable Mascot. About 10 days after an email I sent they were painting over it.

  21. Some companies are so blindly greedy that they fail to see that when people are willing to paint your brand name on things it’s basically free publicity and out reach so there’s no need to be suing everyone using your image, specially if it’s not being used for bad things.

  30. Going after them makes zero sense. It's not like they were earning money off of that shit. It was literally just stuff for little kids to look at, and if anything would have made more kids like Disney, bringing Disney more revenue, and yet Disney still made a scummy move like that. Shit is wildly stupid.

Comments are closed.