Loosely adapted from a Hans Christian Andersen story called "The Snow Queen," it tells the story of two sisters. Inhabiting the fictional kingdom of Arendelle, Elsa is next in line to become the queen, while her sister, Anna, is more of a fun-loving free spirit. Here's the twist. Elsa is what they call a cryokinetic, which means she's able to unleash icy blasts from her fingertips anytime she gets either nervous, anxious or angry. Due to this gift/curse, Elsa accidentally causes Arendelle to enter into an eternal state of winter. Whoops. Cryokinetics are so careless sometimes.
Not all lawsuits last longer than the ice age.
Case in point: Disney’s trademark lawsuit against Phase 4 Films, which allegedly changed the name of its movie The Legend of Sarila to Frozen Land so as to trade-off the success of Frozen, Disney’s Oscar-nominated animated feature.
Less than a month after the lawsuit was filed, Phase 4 Films has given in.
PHOTOS: Disney’s ‘Frozen’ and 19 Other Wintry Movies
The parties have settled the case with a stipulated judgment that requires that the movie go back to its original name, The Legend of Sarila.
The deal between the two companies also takes care of Disney’s allegations that the defendant redesigned its artwork, packaging, logo and other promotional materials so as to mimic Frozen. Phase 4 stipulates that it won’t promote its film with trademarks, logos or other designs confusingly similar. The film company also is required to make efforts to remove Frozen Land from stores and online distributors.
If that’s not enough, Disney also gets $100,000 from Phase 4.
The victor was represented by Steven Marenberg at Irell & Manella.
E-mail: Eriq.Gardner@thr.com
Twitter: @eriqgardner
