If the dead could speak, they probably wouldn't have been heard over the burst of virtual shouting and howling Walt Disney Co. drew for attempting to trademark "Dia de los Muertos" -- a bid it has since dropped. 
 
 The company filed 10 applications with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for “Dia de los Muertos,” including applications pertaining to toys, cereals and jewelry. The May 1 filings came in anticipation of an untitled movie about the Mexican holiday, known in English as Day of the Dead. 
 
 “As we have previously announced, Disney-Pixar is developing an animated feature inspired by the Mexican holiday Día de los Muertos,” a studio spokesperson said in a statement. 
 
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 “Disney’s trademark filing was intended to protect any potential title for our film and related activities. It has since been determined that the title of the film will change and therefore we are withdrawing our trademark filing.” 
 
 The centuries-old holiday, with roots in indigenous Aztec culture, honors the dead by building altars, decorating gravesites and holding processions. The Day of the Dead is not just observed in Mexico, but other parts of Latin America, Europe and the United States. 
 
 A petition to stop Walt Disney Co. from trademarking “Dia de los Muertos” went up on change.org Tuesday, a day after Stitch Kingdom reported the filings. As of Wednesday morning it had 19,500 signatures. 
 
 “Our spiritual traditions are for everyone, not for companies like Walt Disney to trademark and exploit,” wrote Grace Sesma, the petition’s creator. “I am deeply offended and dismayed that a family-oriented company like Walt Disney would seek to own the rights to something that is the rightful heritage of the people of Mexico.” 
 
 “This is a sacred tradition. It's NOT FOR SALE,” wrote Consuelo Alba, of Watsonville, Calif. 
 
 The trademark application was "odd" to Evonne Gallardo, executive director of the Boyle Heights art center Self Help Graphics. The center puts on one of the largest Day of the Dead celebrations in Los Angeles and has been sponsored by the Walt Disney Co. 
 
 "The right thing to do is not to attempt to trademark a cultural and spiritual celebration," Gallardo said. "I have yet to see a trademark on Christmas or Hanukkah." 
 
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 It's not the first time Walt Disney Co. drew criticism for a trademark application. In 2011 it withdrew its application to trademark "Seal Team 6," the name of the military unit that tracked and killed Osama bin Laden. Less than a week after the Navy SEAL team's successful mission, Disney moved to patent with plans to produce toys and entertainment. 
 
 After the Navy filed its own trademark claim, Disney bailed out. 
 
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 adolfo.flores@latimes.com 
 
 Follow Adolfo Flores on Twitter. ||||| Not everyone may have Charlie Sheen's "Adonis DNA" but people may soon be able to wear it, chew on it, drink it and experience it in a videogame. 
 
 Charlie Sheen waves to fans as he leaves the Chicago Theatre, Sunday, April 3, 2011, in Chicago. Promising "the real story," the 45-year-old former "Two and a Half Men" star continued his month-long,... (Associated Press) 
 
 Within two weeks of Sheen's firing from television's top-rated comedy, a company with ties to the actor applied to trademark 22 of his catchphrases, including "Duh, Winning," "Vatican Assassin," "Tiger Blood" and "Rock Star From Mars." 
 
 The former "Two and a Half Men" star introduced the world to many of the phrases during a media blitz in February and early March that Sheen dubbed a "Media Tsunami." That trademark is still up-for-grabs, but the applications point to a possible merchandising blitz. 
 
 The phrase, "I'm not bi-polar, I am bi-winning," could end up on cell phones, in comic books, on wallets, purses, stickers and pens and pencils. Other potential items where the phrases may be emblazoned include bras, pens and pencils, pet foods and even alcoholic drinks. 
 
 There may even be something for gamblers _ "Winning" could end up on slot machines. 
 
 Sheen's spokesman, Larry Solters, said Tuesday that how the trademarks are used if they are approved will be determined later. 
 
 Records show Hyro-gliff, a California company formed last month, filed trademark applications between March 19 and 22. In filings, the company lists its address as the offices of Sheen's attorney, Marty Singer, who is pursuing a $100 million lawsuit against Warner Bros. and "Men" creator Chuck Lorre. 
 
 The company also applied to trademark Sheen's name and signature, as well as his nicknames for his home (Sober Valley Lodge) and his girlfriends (Sheen's Goddesses.) 
 
 A pair of applications cover the title of the actor's current stage show, seeking protection for the phrases "Violent Torpedo of Truth" and "Defeat is Not an Option." 
 
 The filings do not guarantee that any of the products will ever be made, but if approved they will protect Sheen's name and interests from others who try to make merchandise from his sound bites. 
 
 There's already plenty of competition for Sheen-isms. Two other people sought to trademark "Adonis DNA" before Sheen, listing potential uses on clothing and as a nutritional supplement. Thirteen others, including Jimmy Buffett's company, have sought to trademark "Tiger Blood" for use on nutritional and alcoholic drinks. 
 
 If Sheen gets the trademarks, it could help fill some of the financial void left by his firing from "Men," which reportedly paid him $1.8 million per episode. 
 
 The actor has already been selling T-shirts and other merchandise on his website using some of the phrases. That would give him an advantage in claiming trademark rights, said attorney Aaron Moss, a partner with the firm Greenberg Glusker, which specializes in intellectual property cases. 
 
 Sheen's distinctive use of some of the phrases will also fend off competitors. "He has become solely identifiable as the source of these catchphrases," Moss said. 
 
 It could take a year or more for the government to register the trademarks, but the fact Sheen is selling merchandise with the phrases protects his interests, Moss said. "He's going to have a much stronger claim to those trademark rights than any third party," he said. ||||| If there's one thing you can count on Disney for, it's creating strong leading female characters in its movies – and then reducing them to wide-eyed idiots in their merchandising. The Belle who obsessed on books and the Tiana who scrimped and saved for her own restaurant, the warrior Mulan and the wise Pocahontas – they've all been reduced to flowing hair and off-the-shoulder dresses and coy looks in their post-cinematic incarnations. But when the mouse tried to give its "Brave" heroine Merida a "Stepford Wives" makeover, it finally went too far. 
 
 Last week, Disney announced that it was adding the headstrong, flame-haired heroine to its "Princess" collection. But it was the revamped image of Merida -- her waist nipped, her eyes elongated, her messy tangle of hair a sexy tumble, her plain dress a shimmer of bling and her trademark bow and arrow nowhere to be seen – that set parents' jaws dropping. Disney blandly told Yahoo Shine that "Merida exemplifies what it means to be a Disney Princess through being brave, passionate, and confident and she remains the same strong and determined Merida from the movie whose inner qualities have inspired moms and daughters around the world." But it didn't quell the disgust. 
 
 Fans quickly launched a Change.org petition against the "skinnier, sexier and more mature in appearance" Merida, asking Disney to "Keep Our Hero Brave!" And in an email to the Marin Independent Journal, "Brave's" Oscar-winning co-writer and co-director Brenda Chapman -- who originally envisioned Merida as "a different kind of princess," said, "There is an irresponsibility to this decision that is appalling for women and young girls. Disney marketing and the powers that be that allow them to do such things should be ashamed of themselves ... I think it's atrocious what they have done to Merida. When little girls say they like it because it's more sparkly, that's all fine and good but, subconsciously, they are soaking in the sexy 'come hither' look and the skinny aspect of the new version. It's horrible! Merida was created to break that mold — to give young girls a better, stronger role model, a more attainable role model, something of substance, not just a pretty face that waits around for romance." 
 
 And so, while not acknowledging anything weird about its clumsy attempt at restyling, Disney quietly put the original messy, freckly, slightly overbitey, "strong, fearless, adventurous" Merida on its Princess page. She's definitely the "one of these things that's not like the others" among her sultry cohorts, but it's a difference that's beautiful. Of all the princesses, Merida is now the one who most looks like a normal teenage girl, with an open smile and a gaze that's bright and direct – a far cry from the creepily "Hello sailor" action the other ladies are working. 
 
 But this isn't quite a victory for substance over sexualization. Think Disney's going to stop rolling out the Merida merchandise, including the shiny, glossy action figure, now? Doubtful. More than the Merida issue, though, there's the whole bizarre, absurdly lucrative, damn near inescapable Princess Industrial Complex itself. 
 
 I have two daughters who have spent many happy years playing dress-up and skipping off to school in tutus. I am a girly girl myself; a woman who owns her own tiara, and who recently had lunch with someone who said, "You know, I don't think I've ever seen you in pants." But there's something deeply disturbing and wrongheaded about the Disney princessization of American girlhood. The princesses, in their merchandise state, aren't heroines. They're just strange, sparkly happy endings. Not to be a buzzkill, but you do know that Belle, in her poufy yellow dress, is a prisoner, right? And that the pink-clad Ariel lining the toy aisle has recently sacrificed her power of speech? I'm just saying, context. 
 
 And if the chipper image of these pretty, happy princesses is a little out of whack, even odder is the more recent deluge of baby and toddler merch, known, freakily enough, as "My First Disney Princess" toys. Yep, skilled, smart characters are being shrunk down to helpless infants. Now baby Cinderella is getting married. And Baby Ariel has legs. Legs. I don't even understand that. Your inconsistency is vexing, baby princesses! 
 
 The message – one that is now rammed down our daughters' throats from birth, literally -- is not one of effort or even action. Princesses don't become princesses; they simply are princesses, even as babies. That Disney has left Merida relatively alone in one small corner of its brand doesn’t change that. There's no narrative, no adventure, in the Disney princess world -- just the simpering image of pretty girls with crowns on their heads. I just hope that no matter what Disney tries to pull, we as parents and consumers don't forget the stories behind those princesses. Because in the movie, when they try to cram Merida into that lovely blue gown that her doll counterpart now smilingly sports, she grouses, "Curse this dress." And she stretches herself right out of it.
– Disney isn't winning points for cultural sensitivity this month after trying to trademark the phrase "Dia de los Muertos," reports the Arizona Republic. The company is working on a film inspired by the centuries-old Mexican holiday, which translates to "Day of the Dead" and celebrates the spirits of ancestors. Disney filed for the trademark on May 1, standard practice ahead of a movie to protect merchandising rights, but pulled the bid this week amid the ensuing outcry. (Exhibit A: This Change.org petition.) “How can you trademark a cultural tradition?” asks one Phoenix artist, her question summing up the common reaction. In its explanation for why it is pulling the trademark bid, Disney didn't exactly acknowledge the criticism: "It has since been determined that the title of the film will change, and therefore we are withdrawing our trademark filing.” Disney also once tried to trademark the phrase "Seal Team 6," but pulled the application after the military raised objections, notes the LA Times.