A petition, now signed by 120,000 people, is demandeing the multibillion dollar company scrap its trademark of the Swahili phrase used in The Lion King film 21 years ago. An online petition calling on The Walt Disney Company to scrap their ownership of the term that loosely translates to “no problem” in Swahili is gathering more momentum by the day having already gathered 120,000 signatures. The petition was started by Zimbabwean activist Shelton Mpala, who said: “Disney can’t be allowed to trademark something that it didn’t invent. “The decision to trademark ‘Hakuna Matata’ is predicated purely on greed and is an insult not only the spirit of the Swahili people but also, Africa as a whole.”
According to the US Patent and Trademark Office, Disney filed to trademark the term last year in the wake of plans for a live action version of the children’s favourite set for release next year.
A Disney spokesman said the trademark only applies to T-shirts, and the company will not prevent others from using the phrase.
He added: “Disney’s registration for ‘Hakuna Matata’ T-shirts, which was filed in 1994, has never and will not prevent individuals from using the phrase.
“Indeed, for many years, trademarks have been registered for popular words and phrases such as ‘Yahoo!’, ‘Vaya con Dios,’ ‘Merry Christmas’ and ‘Seasons Greetings’ without impeding the use of these phrases and words in any cultural way.
“In 2018 alone, 638,000 trademark applications were filed.”
Mr Mpala told the BBC that the Disney trademarking was another example of Africa being “exploited in some shape, fashion or form”.
In a tweet, his followers also dubbed it “intellectual robbery”.
One said: “Seriously @Disney, you CANNOT trade mark a phrase you found in existence. Stop stealing our heritage!
“Kenyans! Wake Up! First was “Kikoi”, now “Hakuna Matata”, STOP this intellectual robbery of our culture and heritage! Sign a petition to protest @Disney’s trademarking of the kiSwahili phrase #HakunaMatata.”
The song that goes with the Hakuna Mattata phrase in the film was written by Sir Elton John and Tim Rice.
In the new version of the 1997 film, Beyonce Knowles will sing one of the many songs, with the film also starring British actor Chiwetel Ejiofor.