Disney once tried to sue 3 daycares

Disney once threatened to sue three daycare centers because they painted murals of Disney characters on their walls. But what Universal did in response was so genius. The years 1989 and three daycare centers in Hallandale, Florida, decided to paint five-foot-high murals of Disney characters on their walls. Hallandale, for context, is between Fort Lauderdale and Miami, about three hours and 20 minutes from Disney World in Orlando.

When Disney found out about this, it demanded the murals come down and threatened legal action if the daycares didn't paint over them. But what Disney didn't realize is that it just teed up its number one rival for a massive PR win. Disney and Universal were mortal enemies in the late 80s, because Universal decided to open a movie-themed amusement park just miles up the road from Disney World. So when Universal heard Disney was attacking three Florida daycares, it swooped in and offered these daycares the rights to the Hanna-Barbera cartoon characters it would be featuring in its brand new theme park. The daycares promptly painted over the Disney characters with the Hanna-Barbera ones, avoiding a lawsuit with Disney, and then Universal, which now looked like the hero, held a special ceremony showcasing the redecorated daycare

which now looked like the hero, held a special ceremony showcasing the redecorated daycare centers. Which of course made for some great news stories on TV and in the newspapers.