Disney Lawsuit Information

Disney Overview

The Walt Disney Company (founded 1924) is the largest media and entertainment corporation in the world. Walt and Roy launched it as an animation studio and watched it grow over the years. Its holdings now include 11 theme parks and several TV networks (e.g. ABC and ESPN).

Walt landed in sunny Cal in 1923 with lots of high hopes, and not much else except a film "short" called Alice's Wonderland. A New York distributor picked it up October 16, 1923. This is the official start date of the Walt Disney Company, once called Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio.

Walt lost his first best selling character to the New York distributor, and had to come up with a new one. Enter Mickey Mouse and the first sound cartoon, Steamboat Willie debuting November 18, 1928. Mickey still reins supreme today. Walt's animators grew from there producing a series called Silly Symphonies and picking up Oscars along the way. There were no Disney lawsuits then.

Along came Mickey Mouse products as an offshoot, followed by books and a newspaper comic strip. Then came a radical move, an animated feature film, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs released in 1937 - the highest grossing hit film of all time until Gone With the Wind knocked it out of first place. Other successful animated films followed.

In 1950 there were three significant achievements - the first live action film (Treasure Island), the return of animated movies (Cinderella) and a TV show at Christmas. His first theme park (Disneyland) debuted in 1955. The success train kept on going until Walt died in 1966.

Brother Roy took over and continued the non-stop success of Walt's creations. At times, historical facts like this are used in Disney lawsuits.

Disney World, opened in 1971 was one of Walt's last dreams to be realized thanks to brother Roy. Roy died two months after it opened and the company was taken over by three Disney trained animators. Another of Walt's dreams had been something he called the experimental prototype community of tomorrow (EPCOT). This dream was realized at Disney World and opened in 1982.

More changes were in the works as the company entered the 90s and dabbled in everything from home entertainment products to animal parks.

Disney Problems & Legal Issues

Over the years Disney has faced its fair share of criticism in many areas. They have been known to stand up and lobby for more stringent enforcement of intellectual property and continued copyright term extensions. This may pose a threat to the concept of public domain. It certainly is a topic that generates Disney lawsuits.

Disney has been accused of human rights violations with relation to conditions in factories used to make their merchandise. They've also been roundly criticized by animal welfare groups for using purebred Dalmatians in the filming of 101 Dalmatians.

There has been controversy over a dredging operation on Great Guana Cay supposedly responsible for environmental problems. Other interesting contentious issues have been the supposed presence of subliminal messages in their films. In 1995 a woman made allegations that the letters SEX were written in the dust in the Lion King.

An anti-abortion group stated this was not clean, wholesome nor fun. They led a protest against Disney demanding the film be taken off the shelves and fixed to remove any messages in them.

The actual letters in the sand were SFX originally intended to be a signature from the animation department. This was not a good cause of action for a Disney lawsuit.

Disney Lawsuits

In 2001, the Disney Company settled a lawsuit with a woman who said she suffered a brain hemorrhage on the Indiana Jones Adventure ride in Disneyland. The plaintiff suffered a headache shortly after her ride and passed out twice. She was diagnosed with a hemorrhage and had surgery. Further allegations indicated she suffered cognitive problems and could not concentrate or carry out multiple tasks.

This is the second Disney lawsuit of this nature. The first one was in 1996 when a woman alleged she suffered a brain hemorrhage from the same ride.

Another 2001 wrongful death lawsuit was filed against Disney alleging a young woman died of a brain hemorrhage two months after riding the Indian Jones attraction. The suit claimed Disney knew the Indiana Jones ride was dangerous based on already settling two previous lawsuits for the same cause of action. It was further alleged Disney should have warned people of the dangers of the ride.

In 2006 a 4-year boy died after riding Mission Space at Epcot and his parents filed a wrongful death suit. The suit alleged there weren't enough warnings about the ride and that Disney failed to train their employees in how to properly use an automated external defibrillator.

In 2008 a man performing on the Little Mermaid fell through a trapdoor in a boat and suffered a broken back, shattered pelvis, fractured sternum, broken ribs, fractured foot and broken wrists. He is suing Disney for negligence and the right to preserve the boat scenery for his Disney lawsuit.

If you have been injured after riding a Disneyland attraction, consider contacting a lawyer to discuss your case and find out about filing a Disney lawsuit.




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