Will There Be Actual Seals in the Movie?

May 20, 2011 9:11 AM

Walt Disney Co. has filed an application to trademark the name "Seal Team 6", the Navy Seal team that killed OBL in Pakistan earlier in May.

Disney is rather heavy handed when defending its various trademarks, such as Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck (with the University of Oregon as an exception), other Disney characters that started out as non-Disney characters, and so on. And Mickey Mouse himself is known to be pretty fast to sue his friends as well. Meanwhile, in related news, a copyright firm "accidentally" claimed trademark protection on the copyright symbol.

Although the upcoming Disney "Seal Team 6" movie has not been announced yet, many hopeful actors are eagerly preparing for potential auditions.

posted by jeanmari (68 comments total)

Tom Clancy's ghostwriters will be devastated.
posted by 2bucksplus at 9:11 AM on May 20, 2011 [4 favorites]

cant wait till they add this new ride at Disneyland, next to Pirates of the Caribbean.
posted by taxpayer at 9:15 AM on May 20, 2011 [4 favorites]

Quick, someone trademark Seal Team 1-5 and 7-20...
posted by sodium lights the horizon at 9:15 AM on May 20, 2011 [1 favorite]

I saw jay Leno talk about this, I thought he was joking!
posted by Sammieboo at 9:16 AM on May 20, 2011

I saw jay Leno talk about this, I thought he was joking!

The apparent presence of actual 'satire' in a Leno monologue should have tipped you off.
posted by jaduncan at 9:17 AM on May 20, 2011 [4 favorites]

I saw jay Leno talk about this, I thought he was joking!

Strange, I've never had that thought about Jay Leno.
posted by found missing at 9:18 AM on May 20, 2011 [41 favorites]

I hope the military responds by firing a missile at the Pirates franchise.
posted by clockzero at 9:18 AM on May 20, 2011 [2 favorites]

I expect the porno version "Seal Team Sex" to be more respectful of our special forces.
posted by Horselover Phattie at 9:18 AM on May 20, 2011 [19 favorites]

They built an empire of mining and exploiting the collective narratives of many cultures. Why should we be surprised that they want to appropriate this? We should be more surprised that they didn't want to appropriate the images of the falling twin towers, too.
posted by crunchland at 9:18 AM on May 20, 2011 [2 favorites]

Given that this is Disney, can I assume they'll also be suing the Navy for infringement?
posted by mrgoat at 9:19 AM on May 20, 2011 [1 favorite]

cant wait till they add this new ride at Disneyland, next to Pirates of the Caribbean.

If you want a picture of the future of Disneyland, imagine a child shooting Osama bin Laden in the face — forever.
posted by Salvor Hardin at 9:20 AM on May 20, 2011 [8 favorites]

Seriously? This just seems like it's begging to be a rejected application. Right?
posted by stoneweaver at 9:21 AM on May 20, 2011

The feel-good event of the summer?
posted by Thorzdad at 9:22 AM on May 20, 2011

did anyone else immediately envision a bin laden compound snow globe?
posted by rude.boy at 9:22 AM on May 20, 2011

I would be curious to see how they would actually make a G-rated animated movie out of this....
posted by bonzo_dog55 at 9:22 AM on May 20, 2011

Maybe they'll be training seals at Disney's new behavioral sciences lab in Boston.now with extra creepy
posted by Cat Pie Hurts at 9:22 AM on May 20, 2011

I honestly don't get it -- how can you trademark a previously existing thing that you had no part whatsoever in creating or developing? Any IANALs want to help out with this one?
posted by saturday_morning at 9:23 AM on May 20, 2011

Since I can't possibly top it, I'll simply point to charred husk's comment in the Bin Laden thread.
posted by quin at 9:24 AM on May 20, 2011 [1 favorite]

cant wait till they add this new ride at Disneyland, next to Pirates of the Caribbean.

Damn you, taxpayer, how'd you get a fastpass to that joke?


man, that's even better with that username.
posted by eriko at 9:25 AM on May 20, 2011

This was up on Boing Boing a week or so back, something to keep in mind:

The USPTO database also shows that a company based in Calabasas called NovaLogic applied in 2002 and 2004 for a "Seal Team 6" mark for electronic games, and was denied.


So based on past actions I wouldn't be shocked to see the disney application denied as well
posted by edgeways at 9:28 AM on May 20, 2011

Disney, that's where I'm a literal seal.

But seriously, they already made many bajillions again using this formula to transform Sundiata, the Lion King of Mali into a kidflick about actual lions, so why not?
posted by FelliniBlank at 9:28 AM on May 20, 2011

Interestingly the Air Force already has trademarks for their insignia. I couldn't find out if that was true for the US Navy.
posted by JJ86 at 9:29 AM on May 20, 2011

I would hope the military would keep that trademark.



I hate Disney.
posted by St. Alia of the Bunnies at 9:30 AM on May 20, 2011 [4 favorites]

Remember, Disney is a massive conglomerate with a lot of different labels for its products. It uses these labels for market segmentation. For feature films it uses Touchstone Pictures and Hollywood Pictures for a lot of its PG-13 and R films.

Anyway, Disney may well be able to register this trademark. "SEAL Team Six" hasn't been the official name since 1987.
posted by jedicus at 9:32 AM on May 20, 2011

Ideally, we should prevent this by ensuring that google always find some gay porn pretty quickly when searching for "SEAL Team 6" plus "Disney".

As a start, one might try posting the gay porn called The Warriors : SEAL Team 7 all over the torrent sites, claiming it's "Disney's new SEAL Team 6 Movie" and including some image of seals photoshoped with military gear. lol
posted by jeffburdges at 9:33 AM on May 20, 2011 [6 favorites]

I honestly don't get it -- how can you trademark a previously existing thing that you had no part whatsoever in creating or developing? Any IANALs want to help out with this one?

You can trademark a word or phrase for a specific application (e.g. film, book title, electronic game -- as per above). Example: Apple Co., Apple Records, Shabby Apple (clothing), Apple Bottoms (clothing), etc.).

As long as there is no chance for confusion as regards the product, category, and another trademark holder doesn't challenge your application and the USPTO doesn't deny your application you can use it.
posted by ericb at 9:34 AM on May 20, 2011

I talked to Zack Snyder about this, he said he would do it, but that raid is going to take a LOT longer in slow motion. But he did say he would throw a few running zombies into the mix for the fun of it (and to piss of Romero).
posted by tomswift at 9:34 AM on May 20, 2011 [2 favorites]

The USPTO database also shows that a company based in Calabasas called NovaLogic applied in 2002 and 2004 for a "Seal Team 6" mark for electronic games, and was denied.

Nope. That mark was issued on Mar 8, 2005. It was later abandoned because NovaLogic never used it in commerce and eventually stopped filing extensions of time to file a statement of use in commerce. The Trademark Office didn't fight the application at all, either. The prosecution history is very straightforward.
posted by jedicus at 9:36 AM on May 20, 2011 [1 favorite]

I would be curious to see how they would actually make a G-rated animated movie out of this....

I suspect the application is for a film from one of their "adult" studios: e.g. - Touchstone Pictures, Hollywood Pictures, ABC Television Network. It may also be for a television series focused on elite military -- ala CBS's 'The Unit.'

Personally, I doubt that it has anything to do with their children and family business(es).
posted by ericb at 9:41 AM on May 20, 2011 [2 favorites]

(The mark I linked above was the one filed in 2004, for toys. The one filed in 2002, for electronic games, has a similar history. The only wrinkle is that after it issued it was abandoned, then revived, then abandoned again).
posted by jedicus at 9:42 AM on May 20, 2011

Sony applied for a trademark for "Shock and Awe" back in 2003.

Entertainment's just another division of the military-industrial complex, I guess.
posted by fifteen schnitzengruben is my limit at 9:44 AM on May 20, 2011 [4 favorites]

Oh yeah. This is why I'm not applying for that neat iOS dev job at Pixar.
posted by schwa at 9:45 AM on May 20, 2011

Christian Science Monitor: Who owns 'SEAL Team 6?'

Just two days after President Obama announced that the Navy group "SEAL Team 6" had killed Mr. bin Laden, Disney filed applications with the US Patent Office for the trademark of the group's name. Ten days after that, the Navy put in a trademark application for “SEAL Team." The Navy's application, along with the rights that it already has to the trademark “Navy SEALs,” could help block approval for Disney’s request.

If the Patent Office approves, Disney would have exclusive rights to capitalize on “SEAL Team 6” in the ways the company specified on its applications. The company filed three separate requests that cover different areas of how it might use the name, such as for entertainment and education, as well as for Christmas stockings, hand-held video games, footwear, and snow globes.

Disney may get approval, but what’s more likely to happen, says University of Minnesota Law professor William McGeveran, is that Disney and the Navy will reach some kind of mutually beneficial agreement. Law enforcement agencies, such as the New York City Police Department, make such arrangements, lending out their trademark or cars, in exchange for compensation or script approval, Mr. McGeveran says. He could imagine that Disney might want to make a movie or TV show based on SEAL Team 6 and would strike some kind of deal with the Navy.

It could also be problematic for Disney that so many other people have been using the term "SEAL Team 6" commercially since bin Laden's death, by selling T-shirts or other merchandise with the name. Disney has not used the group's name commercially yet, which is why it filed an application for its intent to use it.

“Disney might not be the first to commercially exploit this,” McGeveran says.

If they do get the rights, the Navy can't expand its commercial use of the name SEAL Team 6.

posted by ericb at 9:47 AM on May 20, 2011

Personally, I doubt that it has anything to do with their children and family business(es).

Well, from the CSM article it appears their application is for numerous categories that might indeed include those businesses.
posted by ericb at 9:49 AM on May 20, 2011

So NAVSPECWARDEVGRU not catchy enough for a movie title?
posted by Jahaza at 9:50 AM on May 20, 2011 [3 favorites]

Will there be a procedural seal team show? I think it would be great televison, assaults filmed part shakey reality cam style, part night vision and part drone. Reaction shots as the secdef watches in the situation room. Lots of shouting and military jargon thrown around. Please don't have a quirky but lovable cumputer wiz though, that guys sucks. Have the tech guy be some 21 year old seal who is always shouting stuff like "fire team actual, fire for effect" into some tempest hardened military gear.
posted by Ad hominem at 9:52 AM on May 20, 2011

G.I. Joe action figures will be so "old school" and "yesterday!"
posted by ericb at 9:52 AM on May 20, 2011

Will there be a procedural seal team show? I think it would be great television ...

It would. A fictional version of the many documentaries about the Navy Seals and other elite forces, such as Navy Seals: Buds Class 234, would be entertaining.
posted by ericb at 9:58 AM on May 20, 2011

I expect the porno version "Seal Team Sex" to be more respectful of our special forces.

I believe the working title is "Seal Team Sixty-Nine."
posted by nickmark at 10:19 AM on May 20, 2011

I believe the working title is "Seal Team Sixty-Nine."

or Squeal Team Six
posted by ian1977 at 10:23 AM on May 20, 2011

I saw jay Leno talk about this, I thought he was joking!

Come on, now. Nobody thinks there are jokes in a Leno monologue.
posted by mhoye at 10:28 AM on May 20, 2011

Ooh! Ooh! I get to be the sensitive smoldering pre-teen Marine who has a whimsical singing gun named Fredo.
posted by dances_with_sneetches at 10:42 AM on May 20, 2011

Well, at least they didn't patent the Slow Clap Generator, we still have that.

*CLAP*

*CLAP*

Great ethics, Disney, great job.
posted by Slackermagee at 10:43 AM on May 20, 2011

I am going to get the ball rolling for Disney, I don’t know anything about the military so I will leave it to the technical advisors to clean this up.

Seal Team 6

Cast of characters:

• POTUS: Unseen. Sometimes SECDEF is shown striding purposefully up to the door of the Oval Office to get sign off.
• SECDEF: Grizzled cold warrior type. Made a fortune from Bauxite mines. Often seen at The Palm eating steaks, or in meetings pounding on tables berating feckless politicians for risking American lives.
• Special Assistant to SECDEF: Hotshot young grad, female. Everyone thinks she is a lightweight but she has dirt on everyone. Often seen twisting arms to get approval for dangerous missions. Has backdoor connections to the CIA and can wrangle special favors. Becomes involved with Seal Team 6 member after he is injured and comes back to the states for intensive rehabilitation.
• General: Warrior poet in the classic sense. Rhodes scholar, graduate of Annapolis and several other impressive military training facilities. Always quoting Von Clausewitz, Sun Tsu as well as poets such as Shelly. Sometimes seen ruminating on the nature of war or in Jazz clubs where he plays the alto sax to unwind.

Seal Team 6: ( obviously there has to be 6 of them)

• Colonel: Absent minded and lovable, fiercely loyal to his boys. Often goes head to head with higher-ups to get equipment or air cover. Sometimes seen fly fishing.
• Lieutenant: Blowhard, also graduate of Annapolis because his family has political connections. Always angling for promotion sometimes tries to curry favor with Special Assistant to SECDEF.
• Sergeant: Pragmatic redneck type. Never graduated high-school despite massive hidden intellect. The real brains of the unit, he will find a way around any obstacle including the Lieutenant.
• PFC 1: High energy, sometimes clowns around and cracks jokes in tense situations. Sometimes seen playing Call of Duty with the guys.
• PFC 2: Inner City Youth with a past. Despite, or maybe because of, his past gang affiliations, the most sensitive of the bunch. Often seen cradling wounded soldiers in his arms and telling them they will be ok. Refuses to play Call of Duty and sometimes has strangely dark moods. Becomes involved with Special Assistant to SECDEF.
• PFC 3: Tech Wiz, wears glasses, fixes or re-purposes broken or enemy equipment. When not deployed with Seal Team 6 he plays EVE Online.

Disney, when you are serious hit me up. We can work something out for a producer credit and a few points off the back-end.
posted by Ad hominem at 10:47 AM on May 20, 2011 [5 favorites]

I'm looking forward to Disney trademarking the name "Force Recon" and then having all their IP lawyers mysteriously vanish.

Fuck Disney.
posted by BitterOldPunk at 10:54 AM on May 20, 2011 [3 favorites]

Is this like how Superman helped beat the KKK? Disney seeks to destroy Seal Team 6 by infantilizing it, making it so no well trained sailor would want to join because their nieces and nephews, sons and daughters spend their summer days shouting Seal Team tactics and codewords while at play?

WAKE UP SHEEP-PEOPLE.
I MEAN SHEEPLE.
OMG DISNEY GOT TO ME TOO
posted by robocop is bleeding at 11:03 AM on May 20, 2011

Has backdoor connections to the CIA and can wrangle special favors.

Go on..
posted by c13 at 11:05 AM on May 20, 2011

Has backdoor connections to the CIA and can wrangle special favors.

This character would also work well in the porn version.
posted by VTX at 11:10 AM on May 20, 2011 [2 favorites]

Has backdoor connections to the CIA and can wrangle special favors.

This character would also work well in the porn version.

This is a family show, I assure you there is only missionary after a few white wine spritzers.
posted by Ad hominem at 11:11 AM on May 20, 2011

It's a small world after all, it's a small small small terribly uncomfortable small world...
posted by samsara at 11:15 AM on May 20, 2011 [1 favorite]

I want Tarantino to make this movie, for no other reason than the inevitable SEAL Team Six - Fox Force Five teamup.
posted by Pants McCracky at 11:26 AM on May 20, 2011 [1 favorite]

Walt Disney presents Firey Death from Above
posted by joelf at 1:13 PM on May 20, 2011

America: Your now a mere toy, buddy.
posted by clavdivs at 1:57 PM on May 20, 2011

Man, A Peter Graves like character doll needs to be added, though, not an oscar goldman like offical desk and monitor, a warehouse HQ would be cool...little drones, in series...sell them as add ons.

what about a Bin laden series, run a IPO through...
posted by clavdivs at 2:02 PM on May 20, 2011

All Disney threads should be overrun by discussions of porn.
posted by jeffburdges at 2:21 PM on May 20, 2011

It appears that Disney has arrived late to market in this case, but surely we don't yet have Osama bin Laden porn star action figures.
posted by jeffburdges at 2:27 PM on May 20, 2011

All Disney threads should be overrun by discussions of porn.

If you're a furry, that's actually not that uncommon.
posted by hippybear at 2:29 PM on May 20, 2011 [1 favorite]

Oh, this has to be one of those CGI animal movies where "Seal Team 6" is comprised of actual seals and they dispose of their nefarious penguin enemies by toppling remote-controlled fruit bins upon them and giving them atomic wedgies with rocket devices.

I am not sure I can think of a more future-world-appropriate headstone for Osama Bin Laden come to think of it.
posted by furiousthought at 2:37 PM on May 20, 2011

The article which suggests the Navy and Disney will work out a deal is right; most likely the Navy will chiefly be interested in script approval. Disney's not going to pass up on the cash cow opportunity here and the Navy's not going to pass up on the opportunity for free propaganda/recruitment/advertising done for them by a company with the awesome marketing power of Disney.

That said, I kinda hope it does involve actual seals, preferably with jetpacks.
posted by mstokes650 at 2:57 PM on May 20, 2011

Hasn't Richard Marchinko, the guy who founded SEAL Team Six, already exploited it with his line of Rogue Warrior books and games?
The porno version is that creepy John Ringo book about the ex-SEAL killing bin Laden and then forming a harem. There's a huge recap on Something Awful's gun forum.
posted by Lovecraft In Brooklyn at 3:15 PM on May 20, 2011 [1 favorite]

I, uh, found a poster.
posted by poq at 3:26 PM on May 20, 2011 [5 favorites]

That poster is way better than anything was imagining.
posted by bonobothegreat at 4:53 PM on May 20, 2011

We need Flipper in on this.
posted by clavdivs at 5:14 PM on May 20, 2011

"Ariel insertion"? Is this The Tempest porn or Little Mermaid porn?
posted by hattifattener at 11:31 PM on May 20, 2011

I find this unbelievably creepy, even for Disney. It just seems so inappropriate, especially in relation to the men who were part of this operation. And the irony! OBL spent is life excoriating the US for their exploitation of the 3rd world and for our focus on money, he blew up the World Trade Center, etc. and here comes Disney looking to profit directly from his death. Corporate America just does not get it. Or maybe they do and just don't get it. Or maybe the whole psychopath thing is right.
posted by Belle O'Cosity at 11:51 AM on May 23, 2011

... here comes Disney looking to profit directly from his death.

I doubt it'll have anything to do with Osama. They're taking advantage of the sudden public interest in the Navy Seals.

Navy Seal Mania Grips Nation

"Ever since they hit the Bin Laden compound in Pakistan, a lot of people have wanted to know more about the elite Navy Seals. Recruitment may not be up, but other things having to do with Seal Team 6 are generating a lot of buzz."

posted by ericb at 1:11 PM on May 23, 2011

I find this unbelievably creepy, even for Disney. It just seems so inappropriate, especially in relation to the men who were part of this operation. And the irony! OBL spent is life excoriating the US for their exploitation of the 3rd world and for our focus on money, he blew up the World Trade Center, etc. and here comes Disney looking to profit directly from his death. Corporate America just does not get it. Or maybe they do and just don't get it. Or maybe the whole psychopath thing is right.

Oh come on. There were books and movies about the SEALs before this. One of my first reactions to the news of the raid was 'man, this would make an awesome videogame'.
posted by Lovecraft In Brooklyn at 4:57 PM on May 23, 2011

Hahahahaha: U.S. Navy countertrademarks "Seal Team Six," Disney backs down "out of deference."
posted by Rhaomi at 5:11 PM on May 25, 2011 [1 favorite]