Toei Animation Denies Licensing a Dragon Ball Theme Park in France

Toei Animation has rejected reports that a licensed Dragon Ball theme park is set for France. In a statement published this week, the studio said neither it nor the franchise's other rights holders had authorized the reported project, and that it knew of no facts supporting claims that such a park had been decided.

What Toei Animation actually clarified

The statement addresses two parts of the story separately. First, Toei Animation said it and the other companies that hold rights connected to Dragon Ball have not granted a license for the reported French project. The company also said it is not aware of facts supporting reports that construction of a Dragon Ball park in France has been decided.

Second, Toei identified the origin of concept images and video that had circulated alongside those reports. The materials were created for the Dragon Ball theme park planned for Qiddiya City in Saudi Arabia, which Toei Animation and Qiddiya Investment Company jointly announced on March 22, 2024. Toei said those visuals have no connection to the reports about France.

That distinction matters because the existence of official Dragon Ball park art does not establish a second licensed project in another country. The Saudi development is a separate undertaking with its own public announcement. Reusing its presentation materials in connection with France made the newer claims look more advanced and more directly tied to the franchise than the rights holders say they are.

The denial also supports earlier independent reporting that the proposed French development had not secured authorization to use Dragon Ball characters or branding. Several people familiar with that proposal had described the license as missing before Toei issued its public statement. The company's response now supplies the rights holder's position directly and leaves no basis for treating the French park as an approved Dragon Ball attraction.

Dragon Ball's rights are shared across multiple companies with different interests in the property. The organizations identified in connection with the franchise include Toei Animation, publisher Shueisha, Akira Toriyama's Bird Studio, and Bandai Namco. That structure is important here: permission cannot be inferred merely because a developer or public official uses the franchise name. Toei's statement explicitly extends beyond its own approval, saying the other relevant rights-holder companies also issued no license for the reported French plan.

How the France reports developed

The confusion followed announcements on August 24 about a much broader theme park investment in the Paris region. French President Emmanuel Macron announced a Saudi-backed plan involving three theme parks in Cergy-Pontoise, northwest of Paris. Valérie Pécresse, president of the Île-de-France region, separately promoted the idea of Dragon Ball coming to the area and described a park centered on Son Goku near Paris.

However, the public statements from the Élysée and Qiddiya Investment Company did not specifically identify Dragon Ball among the themes for the three proposed parks. Reporting around the announcement went further, connecting the French plan to the franchise and, in some cases, presenting the attraction as settled. Toei Animation's clarification directly challenges that stronger version of events.

This does not amount to a denial that a broader theme park investment was announced for the region. It means the Dragon Ball identity attached to part of that plan lacks the required confirmation from the companies controlling the property. A general development proposal and permission to build an attraction around a protected franchise are separate claims, and only the former has been publicly presented by the French and Saudi parties involved.

Toei's statement does not outline negotiations, a timetable, or conditions under which a French Dragon Ball license might eventually be granted. It simply says no license has been given for the reported project and that the company knows of no supporting facts. That makes any release schedule, attraction lineup, or opening plan under the Dragon Ball name unconfirmed.

For now, the confirmed Dragon Ball theme park connected to the circulated concept material remains the separately announced Qiddiya City project in Saudi Arabia.