Does Disney licence regional-adapted versions of its characters?

Cafe Society
1

Today I bought a can of ‘Disney Soft Candies’ at a local asian supermarket in Portsmouth (UK) - I bought them just because the metal can they’re in is so damn pretty - it looks like this

It’s interesting that the tin bears a Disney copyright marking and (on the end, not visible in the photo) a very official-looking Disney button logo.

Except I really doubt this is official merchandise - it seems more likely it’s just another example of disregard for trademarks (especially Disney, which I understand to be quite protective of its own material)

So… does Disney ever licence stuff like this? The characters aren’t in the normal style.

2

Does the button logo say “Disney Enterprises” with a picture of Mickey Mouse on it?

3

Because that can’t be faked?

Joe

4

Sure, it can be faked. But I wasn’t stating that it was the mark of an authentic product. I was just asking if the logo in the OP’s tin can had that design.

5

Somewhat. For example, Jose Carioca is still huge in Brazil despite being almost forgotten in the U.S. And Disney has allowed his look to drift a bit over the years.

But, as far as I’m aware their major characters are standardized across all territories. There’s not a special version of Mickey Mouse for Peru, for example.

However, what you see on that tin is the “cutie” version of Micky Mouse. It’s an official variant. They sell stuff like that in official Disney stores.

6

No, it’s a blue oval one, the same as on this (unrelated) page.

7

Thanks - I had no idea those variants existed. It might even be a licensed product in that case - the quality of manufacture is quite high.

8

That looks like the bastard offspring of Micky and Hello Kitty.

9

I imagine that’s the market it’s targeting.

10

I worked in the Copyright & Trademark Department of a different movie studio, but I can tell you that Disney was notorious at being the most relentless and aggressive protectors of all of their marks. Nothing wrong with that - they have to be that way to protect their intellectual property. However, I can guarantee you very little flies under their radar and they have armies of lawyers around the world who will jump on any infringement.

The photo you showed doesn’t look all that “official” to me, but I don’t know all of their copyright & trademark logos in other countries. This can vary by country and they might license the rights to many local variations of the artwork that have achieved popularity over time, just like they still protect early versions of Micky Mouse drawings.