Disney Puts Company On Notice Over Their Fantasy Fairy Tale 'Braver'

Editor's Note: The initial version of this story said that Disney was "suing" Brightspark, which is not yet the case. They have actually only taken the first legal step of contacting the company to stop selling their film. Those changes have been made in the headline and body below.

Who hasn't been in a supermarket, walked past the discount DVD rack and done a double take? Is that really the latest Hollywood blockbuster? No, it's some cheap, imitation knockoff meant to fool consumers who don't know better. Most of us think, "How can they get away with that?" The answer, we're finding out, is they can't. A few months ago, Universal sued Asylum over their obvious Battleship knockoff and now Disney could possibly sue Brightspark Production Ltd. over Braver, a film that's in no way related to Disney/Pixar's hit film Brave. It just has an oddly similar title and eerily similar poster.

Which is likely the case, too, for Brightspark's other titles Tangled Up (nothing to do with Tangled), The Frog Princess (obviously different from The Princess and the Frog) or Little Cars (it's not Cars, it's smaller). Read more after the jump.

Disney released the following statement in regards to the UK based company:

People place great trust in the quality and creativity of Disney, and when it appears that another company is causing confusion among Disney consumers we will act to protect ourselves and the consumer. Disney believes Brightspark has demonstrated a pattern of misleading consumers with numerous releases that confuse and undermine the trust those consumers have in Disney.

To which Brightspark responded:

Braver is an item for families on a budget and I very much doubt that anyone would confuse our production with the wonderful work of Disney. We are currently talking to Disney to find a mutually acceptable resolution.

Disney hasn't decided to sue Brightspark just yet, they've simply taken the official legal step of sending them a letter asking them to stop selling their misleading DVDs. If they don't do that, though, suing would be the next step.

What scariest about this, though, isn't that Brightspark is ripping off Disney, it's that they're (allegedly) flat out fooling people. According to Bleeding Cool, Braver was originally called Fairy Tale Christmas and was released in 2005. It wasn't until recently that the title and box art – not the film – changed. That means the company is using good old fashioned schlock sales tactics that have been employed in the movie business for decades.

Read more about this case at the source articles listed below. Have you ever been fooled by something like this? Does it make you cringe to think of a young family buying one of these movies thinking it's Disney only to find out they've been duped?

Sources: The Guardian and Bleeding Cool