According to this article on CNN, the owners of the classic song from Disney's Pinocchio, "When You Wish Upon a Star," are suing the creators of Family Guy for what is being called an "unseemly spoof". Apparently, someone from the music publishing company Bourne Co. saw a repeat of the episode "When You Wish Upon a Weinstein" in which Peter determines that Chris would be more successful if he becomes Jewish.
It's a pretty slow reaction time on behalf of the Bourne Co. considering the episode was made sometime in 2002 (although it wasn't broadcast on TV until after the Season 3 DVD release in 2003). The parody was called "I Need A Jew". Apparently, by associating it with such an offensive topic the owners are concerned about devaluing the song.
"When You Wish Upon A Star" is a classic and I've heard it parodied in other sources. One which comes to mind is a Ren and Stimpy parody called "When You Wish Upon a Side of Beef". Apparently, that one was okay. Family Guy must have crossed the line with the Jewish thing.
I am Jewish and really am not offended if a show like Family Guy mocks the Jews because the show tends to be an equal opportunity offender and would have easily written a song parody of any other denomination. If we start censoring one type of parody, we have to censor them all. In short, l doubt anyone is going to confuse Family Guy for Pinocchio and think Bourne Co. should reconsider its position.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
10-09-2007 @ 12:11PM
Gary said...
Wouldn't shows like SNL and Mad TV get sued all the time? They parody TV , Movies, Music & people all the time. Family Guy does the same thing and these frivolous cases won't go anywhwere.
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10-09-2007 @ 1:08PM
prefect46 said...
Is it still possible to sue, four years after broadcast? That seems way too long for something to be out there, and only now getting attention for.
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10-09-2007 @ 1:14PM
KMF said...
I agree with you. Sure the song is bad taste, but not malicious. It's Family Guy for cryin' out loud, they make fun of everybody. No one is going to get confused between the two songs or think the song was always written that way. We all know better. And parody and satire is covered under the freedom of speech.
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10-09-2007 @ 1:44PM
Oreo said...
Everything Family Guy does is in bad taste.
And this is insane.
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10-09-2007 @ 1:45PM
Jack said...
Wasn't Walt Disney anti-Semetic? The song has been associated with his company for decades!
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10-09-2007 @ 1:52PM
rick cokely said...
I for one will never purchase anything related to Disney or Bourne Co now because someone totally unrelated to said company spoofed a song in an episode of a television show that was broadcast 4 years ago, and may have offended someone I don't know.
Seriously.
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10-09-2007 @ 2:48PM
1iPete said...
It's satire, so I don't think a lawsuit will go very far. I remember seeing this when it first aired and in subsequent repeats on Adult Swim and always marveled that no Jewish group complained about it.
I personally think it's the funniest song the show has ever done.
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10-09-2007 @ 3:34PM
kevjohn said...
I'll agree that regardless of taste, it was the best Family Guy song ever. Of course... in all honesty they have some pretty crappy songs on what I consider to be a great show. That song about the prom night trash can babies? Stupid, way way way too long, and just bad. Wish Upon a Jew is a classic compared to that.
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10-09-2007 @ 4:49PM
Machine said...
Yeah... good luck Disney. The Supreme Court already settled this when they voted in favor of Larry Flynt in Flynt vs Falwell. Parody is protected under the first amendment no matter how offensive.
And wasn't Walt Disney a notorious anti-Semite anyway? Pot - Kettle - Black.
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10-09-2007 @ 5:52PM
iamhoff said...
Absurd. There should be a statute of limitations that prevents these sorts of wastes of taxpayers' time and money. Besides, as has been said, Family Guy runs in the rich vein of equal opportunity offenders...SNL, In Living Color, Beavis and Butthead, Ren and Stimpy, South Park, Drawn Together, even the Simpsons. A society of victims. That's what we're becoming.
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