Anaheim, Calif.
The Walt Disney Co. vigorously protects its intellectual-property rights, except when they are infringed upon by a known terrorist organization.
Who’s the leader of the club?
Farfur, a black-and-white rodent with a squeaky voice, who goes on Palestinian television to teach Muslim kids about jihad.
“You and I are laying the foundation for a world led by Islamists,” Farfur has squeaked on a show called “Tomorrow’s Pioneers.” “We will return the Islamic community to its former greatness and liberate Jeru salem, God willing, liberate Iraq, God willing, and liberate all the countries of the Muslims invaded by the murderers.”
Disney has decided to do nothing about this radical Muslim Mickey Mouse, CEO Robert Iger said Monday at the annual meeting of the Society of American Business Editors and Writers at the Disneyland Hotel.
Everybody loves Mickey, even Hamas. It’s just one of the downsides to globalization, I suppose.
Walt Disney “came from a small-town upbringing, but he took the company in a global direction beginning many, many decades ago, bringing ‘Snow White’ to China over 50 years ago,” Iger said.
Rising anti-American sentiments have not slowed Disney’s global expansion – or darkened consumer perceptions of its entertainment products and 11 theme parks around the world.
Right now, Disneyland really is the happiest place on Earth. Disney’s profits were up 27 percent in the quarter ended March 31, to $931 million. And the media giant is looking forward to the Memorial Day weekend release of “Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End.”
This is Disney’s third film starring Johnny Depp as a supernatural pirate, and it’s expected to at least match the $423 million worldwide box-office sales of the second film.
“Our stories have universal appeal, whether it’s ‘Snow White’ or ‘Lion King,’ or ‘Toy Story’ or ‘Pirates of the Caribbean,”‘ Iger said. “With that comes a perception that we’re a company for everyone. And we have not seen any fallout or backlash because we are an American company.
“We haven’t seen any change at all in people’s perception of Disney. If anything, we’ve probably improved because the fact that we’re a family-entertainment brand in today’s world is actually quite a positive whether it’s in China or in parts of the Middle East.”
Like Gaza, where Hamas has created Mickey’s evil twin to teach children how to commit deadly acts for Allah.
Responding to international outrage, Palestinian Information Minister Mustafa Bar ghouti said May 9 the character would be cut, but Hamas Mouse was back on al-Aqsa television, also known as “Hamas TV,” on May 11.
Disney said nothing about Hamas Mouse until Monday.
Iger explained to a room of about 150 business writers and editors that his company didn’t want to prolong the issue or give it undue attention by addressing the subject publicly.
“I didn’t believe making a statement would … cause (Hamas) to do anything differently,” he said. “We’re the Walt Disney Co. We’re not a major government.”
But what about intellectual- property rights?
I am certain that if I dressed up in a mouse suit and got on 9News, I’d be getting a lot more calls and letters from Disney’s army of attorneys than from adoring children.
“We weren’t going to rail against the theft of our intellectual property,” Iger said. “That seemed a bit absurd in light of the messaging that was being distributed using that character.”
Perhaps it would have been absurd to serve members of Hamas with a cease-and-desist letter, considering the group’s stated agenda is the annihilation of Israel and the subjugation of the entire world to its radical interpretation of Islam. But I also think it’s possible that a team of implacable corporate lawyers could turn out to be America’s most effective counterterrorism weapon.
Nobody deserves to be buried alive in legal papers more than Hamas.
Indeed there are limits to international intellectual-property-rights claims, but shouldn’t Disney have at least said something about Hamas Mouse?
“It should have been obvious how the company felt about the subject,” Iger said. “We were appalled by the use of our character to disseminate that kind of message. Any time any group seeks to exploit children in that manner, it’s despicable.”
Now that’s tellin’ ’em. Although I think Iger borrowed that line from Daffy Duck.
Al Lewis’ column appears Sundays, Tuesdays and Fridays. Respond to him at denverpostbloghouse.com/lewis, 303-954-1967 or alewis@denverpost.com.
