Last week, France and Saudi Arabia made the surprise announcement that the Paris region of France will be getting a Dragon Ball theme park. This sparked varied reactions across the internet, with many comments in Japanese expressing concern regarding licensing rights and the lack of Japanese representation. This week, Dragon Ball anime producer Toei Animation released an official announcement denying involvement in the project. So what is happening with this proposed Dragon Ball theme park in France?
In case you missed it, Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman made a two-day state visit to France last month, attending the closing ceremony of the Esports World Cup in Paris alongside French president Emmanuel Macron (source: Arab News). This trip culminated in the surprise announcement of a new theme park project just outside Paris.
Posting on X in French on August 25, Macron said: “With Saudi Arabia, we are making an unprecedented announcement.” The French president went on to describe the proposal as three theme parks located in Cergy-Pontoise, northwest of Paris. He cited the 6 billion euro investment and predicted 22,000 jobs created by the project as something that hadn’t been seen “since Disneyland Paris.” It will be a “new global destination — here, in France.”
In the post, Macron mentioned his personal liking of Japanese comics (“You know of my interest in manga”), however he did not directly state what themes these three parks would have. However, a later official press release by the Île-de-France region on August 31 referred directly to one of the three being “a Dragon Ball park.”
News outlets worldwide, including Japanese ones like Mainichi Shimbun, swiftly picked up the story of a Dragon Ball theme park in France. However, this sparked backlash among some Japanese language commenters amid concerns that there was no visible Japanese representation or official announcement from license holders at the time.
Since then, Toei Animation, the studio behind the Dragon Ball anime, issued a statement regarding the park proposal, denying any prior knowledge or involvement.
“Recently, some media reports have suggested that ‘the decision has been made to build a Dragon Ball theme park in France,’ however our company (...) and relevant rights-holding companies have not granted any licences in relation to this matter, and we are not aware of any such plans,” stated Toei Animation.
Toei Animation is involved in the ongoing plan to build a Dragon Ball theme park in the Saudi Arabian capital of Riyadh, in a strategic partnership with Qiddiya Investment Company. In this case, Toei Animation directly announced the project on its website back in 2024, alongside concept images, a video and details of the project.
سەرچاوەی فەرمی بە زمانی ئینگلیزی: https://www.ign.com/articles/amid-concern-in-japan-dragon-ball-producer-toei-animation-denies-involvement-in-saudi-france-paris-theme-park
