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Disney withdrew its bid for the trademark "Dia De Los Muertos," which was supposed to be the name of an upcoming Pixar film but also happened to be the name of a sacred Mexican holiday.
We're assuming all the muertos honored on November 1 and 2 were rolling over in their graves. But there was also a huge outcry among the living who were haunted by the specter of Disney trademarking the name of a sacred tradition with 10 applications that would have covered "chewing gum," "decorative magnets," "jewelry," "Christmas stockings" and "macaroni and cheese" (via Stitch Kingdom). Lalo Alcaraz's summed up the frustration and anger with his cartoon of "Muerto Mouse" with the tagline: "It's coming to trademark your cultura!"
Grace Sesma, a resident of Nederland, CO, put up a change.org petition that had over 21,000 signatures at last count. She writes:
Our spiritual traditions are for everyone, not for companies like Walt Disney to trademark and exploit. I am deeply offended and dismayed that a family-oriented company like Walt Disney would seek own the rights to something that is the rightful heritage of the people of Mexico.
Disney announced that it was dropping its bid yesterday and attributed it to the fact that Pixar was changing the name of the animated feature. In a statement, a studio spokesperson said:
"As we have previously announced, Disney-Pixar is developing an animated feature inspired by the Mexican holiday Día de los Muertos. Disney’s trademark filing was intended to protect any potential title for our film and related activities. It has since been determined that the title of the film will change and therefore we are withdrawing our trademark filing."
No word on whether Disney has plans to trademark Christmas, Hanukkah, Easter or Passover (wink).
