Disney’s ‘Hakuna Matata’ Trademark Issue Leads To An Online Petition

The Walt Disney Company’s act of trademarking the Swahili phrase “Hakuna Matata,” the title of a song from its massively popular animated film, The Lion King (1994), has drawn a controversy in Africa on cultural appropriation where people are now demanding to surrender its trademark rights. The Lion King film grossed a whopping $968m at the worldwide box office.

Zimbabwean activist Shelton Mpala has started an online Change.org petition calling out the entertainment studio to remove the trademark claim. The petition claims that Disney cannot trademark something that it has not created.

The phrase “Hakuna Matata” which means “no problems” or “no worries” in English, has its origin in Swahili, a Bantu language which is spoken in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, the Democratic Republic of Congo and pockets of Mozambique and South Africa.

“The term ‘Hakuna Matata’ is not a Disney creation, hence not an infringement on intellectual or creative property, but an assault on the Swahili people and Africa as a whole,” the petition reads.

Mr. Mpala likened Disney’s “Hakuna Matata,” trademark to “colonialism and robbery, the appropriation of something you have no right over,” reported AllAfrica.com.

The online petition calling out Disney to abandon its “Hakuna Matata” trademark has already collected nearly 150,500 signatures by Friday.

According to the United States Patent and Trademark Office, the company was granted a trademark for the expression “Hakuna Matata” back in 2003. Now more than a decade later, the controversy has gained force as Disney has announced a live-action remake of The Lion King. Directed by Jon Favreau, the film will feature the voices of a number of global icons including pop star Beyonce, Donald Grover, Seth Rogan, Jon Oliver, Keegan-Michael Key, and Chiwetel Ejiofor. The film is set to release next year.

Disney is yet to comment on the issue.