Disney Sues Denmark Over "Happiest Place on Earth" Status
COPENHAGEN, Denmark (Ant Farmers Almanac Newswire) To be the happiest place on earth or not to be the happiest place on earth? That, apparently, is a question for the courts to decide.
Within hours of its being dubbed the "happiest place on earth" by a British sociological study that ranked various nations according to the overall contentment of their citizenry, Denmark faced the decidedly unhappy prospect of being sued by the Walt Disney Company.
Disney disputes Denmark's claim to "happiest place", insisting there can be one and only one happiest place on earth and that that happiest place is, and will always be, Disneyland.
"This is a violation of multiple trademark and copyright laws, and flies in the face of both conventional wisdom and common sense," said Disney spokesman Pete Black, "No SuperBowl winner ever answered the question, 'What are you gonna do now?' by saying 'I'm going to Denmark!' I mean, c'mon."
Most Danes were surprised and perplexed by Disney's reaction, although one expressed long-simmering resentment about Disney's movie version of The Little Mermaid, complaining that, although well-drawn, it "Turned Hans Christian Andersen's emotionally complex, bittersweet allegory about longing and loss into a feel-good musical with a tacked-on happy ending," adding, "If you want a decent movie about mermaids, rent Splash."
The Danish Parliament went into emergency session to debate legal defense strategies. One MP suggested that since the pending lawsuit had already made Denmark so demonstrably less happy the case would never get to court. Another proposed Denmark pre-emptively abdicate its "happiest" title and let runner-up Switzerland take the heat.
The Swiss, meanwhile, were in conference with their lawyers and could not be reached for comment.