When you hear “Tomorrowland,” what do you think of first? Most of the global citizenry would say Walt Disney World (or EPCOT Center, if you know your Disney parks). But in some parts of the world, the first thing that comes to mind is actually “European electronic music festival.” And that kind of discrepancy means that the first thing that comes to mind for lawyers is “trademark issues.”
Brad Bird’s upcoming Tomorrowland is indeed based on the futuristic section of the iconic theme park, and in the United States, Disney holds the trademark for the word “Tomorrowland.” But in the Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg, the Tomorrowland music festival holds the trademark for the name. In those countries, the Tomorrowland movie will have to be called something different. Trademark attorney Sharon Daboul explained to the Belfast Telegraph:
“Disney has a trademark registration in the USA for the term Tomorrowland, dating back to 1970. With this registration, it was successfully able to prevent the music festival from calling itself Tomorrowland when it launched in the USA. However, the music festival has the rights to the term in Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg and has prevented Disney from using the name in these countries.”
As of now, a new title for Tomorrowland in the aforementioned countries hasn’t been confirmed. I have a couple of suggestions based on parts of Disney World that might work:
Ad-Futureland (instead of Adventureland, great opportunity for product placement)
Science Kingdom (instead of Magic Kingdom)
The Final Frontierland (legally unsound Star Trek joke)
Science Fiction/Fantasyland (for genre buffs and people who hate people who design posters)
EPCOT
Source: /Film
