Channel 4 News: The fight for Winnie the Pooh's hunny
The billion-dollar battle for Winnie the Pooh's hunny
(Produced by David Rowan, reported by Nicholas Glass)
(Excludes interview clips)
Presenter, Krishnan Guru-Murthy: Who would have thought a bear would become the subject of a potential billion dollar law suit? Winnie the Pooh, one of Disney's biggest stars, is in that position. Slesinger versus Disney is a battle about royalties. The world's most lucrative bear earns the corporation a billion dollars a year, according to Disney. But the Slesingers, who sold some Pooh rights to Disney, argue he actually brings in a lot more - possibly as much as six billion a year.
On a spring morning, the Ashdown Forest in Sussex is still recognisably the Hundred Acre Wood, habitat of Winnie the Pooh and Piglet. The Pooh Bridge is a recent replacement. Although it's in exactly the right spot, and the gentlest of watersports is still played here - poohsticks. Follow those sticks - to the sparkling fountains of Los Angeles - and you're plunged into bitter legal fight.
Two feisty women are suing the mighty Disney company for massive damages. Here's an American story - of alleged corporate and personal greed; of punitively expensive lawyers. And all about a bear, now worth amazing sums of money.
Winnie the Pooh first appeared as a whimsical and very English bear in Punch magazine in 1924. AA Milne dreamt him up. EH Shepherd illustrated him. Since 1966, Pooh has also been a Disney cartoon character - and has become an increasingly valuable global brandname. Out of a clear blue sky - twelve years ago - Pooh and co tumbled into a legal dispute.
Disney is accused of vastly underpaying royalties on things like toys. And of failing to include new sources of revenue - such as video and theme parks - indeed, anywhere Pooh shows his friendly face.
There's something unreal about the wealth in Beverly Hills. Mansion after mansion and palm trees, so uniform they might have come from a props department. The Slesinger family - mother and daughter - currently get twelve million dollars a year in royalties from Pooh. But they claim Disney has cheated them out of hundreds of millions of dollars over the last 20 years.
Once a vaudeville dancer on Broadway, Shirley Slesinger Lasswell is now 80. She became attached to Pooh after marrying into the franchise. Her first husband, Stephen Slesinger bought the American merchandising rights to Pooh for a thousand dollars in 1930. His future bride was impressed.
Who would have thought it then that this bear would go on to make Disney more money than Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck and Goofy combined? Stephen Slesinger died suddenly in 1953, leaving a young widow, and one-year-old Pati. And Shirley took over the Pooh business.
Shirley marketed Pooh herself, called herself the Pooh Lady. There was a company range, from Stephen Slesinger Inc. But by the early 1960s, Walt Disney sought Shirley out. He had the film rights - he wanted the merchandising rights too. So Shirley gave Walt the rights but in exchange for a share in future revenues worldwide.
Pooh has since become Disney's most bankable character. The deal was renegotiated in 1983 - but Shirley still wasn't happy. She found merchandise she claims Disney hadn't accounted for. She also claims she should have been paid video royalties. In 1991, she sued.
Disney admits that Pooh brings in a whopping one billion dollars a year. But the Slesingers argue that the pot is much, much bigger - four, five, or six billion a year - one fifth, in fact, of everything Disney earns.
The Slesinger place in Beverly Hills looks down on Century City. Its towers have risen on the sky-high legal fees charged by entertainment lawyers. And here Bert Fields is a legend. Elegant, erudite and 73, he's represented them all - from Brando to the Beatles. He's already won a big case against Disney. Hiring Fields and his team is now costing the Slesingers seven hundred thousand dollars a month.
Just across The Avenue of the Stars - from one tower to another - and here we have Disney's new star lawyer. Young, smooth and more recently famous, Daniel Petrocelli won the civil case against OJ Simpson. Other Hollywood lawyers estimate his team is costing Disney over one million dollars a month.
Daniel Petrocelli accuses the Slesingers of stealing Disney documents. The court has penalised Disney for destroying some. A trial date has finally been set for September at the Los Angeles Superior Court, but that may well be delayed. And as the paperwork mounts, the two sides have been airing their case in the media. The star witness isn't getting any younger and wants her day in court.
(Channel 4 News, April 22 2003)
(Produced by David Rowan, reported by Nicholas Glass)
(Excludes interview clips)
Presenter, Krishnan Guru-Murthy: Who would have thought a bear would become the subject of a potential billion dollar law suit? Winnie the Pooh, one of Disney's biggest stars, is in that position. Slesinger versus Disney is a battle about royalties. The world's most lucrative bear earns the corporation a billion dollars a year, according to Disney. But the Slesingers, who sold some Pooh rights to Disney, argue he actually brings in a lot more - possibly as much as six billion a year.
On a spring morning, the Ashdown Forest in Sussex is still recognisably the Hundred Acre Wood, habitat of Winnie the Pooh and Piglet. The Pooh Bridge is a recent replacement. Although it's in exactly the right spot, and the gentlest of watersports is still played here - poohsticks. Follow those sticks - to the sparkling fountains of Los Angeles - and you're plunged into bitter legal fight.
Two feisty women are suing the mighty Disney company for massive damages. Here's an American story - of alleged corporate and personal greed; of punitively expensive lawyers. And all about a bear, now worth amazing sums of money.
Winnie the Pooh first appeared as a whimsical and very English bear in Punch magazine in 1924. AA Milne dreamt him up. EH Shepherd illustrated him. Since 1966, Pooh has also been a Disney cartoon character - and has become an increasingly valuable global brandname. Out of a clear blue sky - twelve years ago - Pooh and co tumbled into a legal dispute.
Disney is accused of vastly underpaying royalties on things like toys. And of failing to include new sources of revenue - such as video and theme parks - indeed, anywhere Pooh shows his friendly face.
There's something unreal about the wealth in Beverly Hills. Mansion after mansion and palm trees, so uniform they might have come from a props department. The Slesinger family - mother and daughter - currently get twelve million dollars a year in royalties from Pooh. But they claim Disney has cheated them out of hundreds of millions of dollars over the last 20 years.
Once a vaudeville dancer on Broadway, Shirley Slesinger Lasswell is now 80. She became attached to Pooh after marrying into the franchise. Her first husband, Stephen Slesinger bought the American merchandising rights to Pooh for a thousand dollars in 1930. His future bride was impressed.
Who would have thought it then that this bear would go on to make Disney more money than Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck and Goofy combined? Stephen Slesinger died suddenly in 1953, leaving a young widow, and one-year-old Pati. And Shirley took over the Pooh business.
Shirley marketed Pooh herself, called herself the Pooh Lady. There was a company range, from Stephen Slesinger Inc. But by the early 1960s, Walt Disney sought Shirley out. He had the film rights - he wanted the merchandising rights too. So Shirley gave Walt the rights but in exchange for a share in future revenues worldwide.
Pooh has since become Disney's most bankable character. The deal was renegotiated in 1983 - but Shirley still wasn't happy. She found merchandise she claims Disney hadn't accounted for. She also claims she should have been paid video royalties. In 1991, she sued.
Disney admits that Pooh brings in a whopping one billion dollars a year. But the Slesingers argue that the pot is much, much bigger - four, five, or six billion a year - one fifth, in fact, of everything Disney earns.
The Slesinger place in Beverly Hills looks down on Century City. Its towers have risen on the sky-high legal fees charged by entertainment lawyers. And here Bert Fields is a legend. Elegant, erudite and 73, he's represented them all - from Brando to the Beatles. He's already won a big case against Disney. Hiring Fields and his team is now costing the Slesingers seven hundred thousand dollars a month.
Just across The Avenue of the Stars - from one tower to another - and here we have Disney's new star lawyer. Young, smooth and more recently famous, Daniel Petrocelli won the civil case against OJ Simpson. Other Hollywood lawyers estimate his team is costing Disney over one million dollars a month.
Daniel Petrocelli accuses the Slesingers of stealing Disney documents. The court has penalised Disney for destroying some. A trial date has finally been set for September at the Los Angeles Superior Court, but that may well be delayed. And as the paperwork mounts, the two sides have been airing their case in the media. The star witness isn't getting any younger and wants her day in court.
(Channel 4 News, April 22 2003)
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