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There's been a minor controversy brewing lately over the t-shirt that James Franco wears in the entire duration of Pineapple Express—the one depicting a kitten being carried by a shark in its mouth. Brooklyn-based t-shirt company WOWCH designed a nearly identical t-shirt that was sold at Urban Outfitters in 2005. It would seem that the one James Franco wears in the movie is a redrawn version, and thus WOWCH didn't receive any credit or compensation. Franco even credited the shirt to be director David Gordon Green's own design, which crossed WOWCH.

Normally, this would sound like a non-issue; but some members of the media seem to think that this is going to be a disastrous scandal because the t-shirt is prominently displayed on every single marketing ad for the film, including the posters, website, etc. Nevermind the fact that WOWCH had already stated that they don't want to take any legal actions:

Does a JUDD APATOW production think they can rip us off? Well according to some lawyers we chatted with, yeah kinda. Regardless, WOWCH is above financial demands and outrageous court costs. Cosmic retribution is heading your way ya funny movie guys and we've only got ONE DEMAND.

GIVE US FREE PASSES AND POPCORN. AND MAYBE A LARGE SODA THAT WE WILL PUT 2 STRAWS IN.

Here's the original shirt in question:

New York Daily News caught up with Franco at an after-party for the film in New York and asked about the brewing brouhaha, in which Franco denied any ripping-offing took place.

"What? That's ridiculous," Franco exclaimed. "We completely created that shirt and that shark. [Director] David [Gordon Green] wanted me to wear a purple Monterey Bay T-shirt with a whale on it. I said I wasn't into the whale shirt, so he came up with his own design, which was the shark."

Call me an apologist, but I honestly doubt a movie production would deliberately try to skirt around such a simple copyright instead of just asking WOWCH for a couple of shirts to use in exchange for a mention in the credits. The hipster community loves nothing more than to wear t-shirts shown being worn in movies they like, so it'd be a big boost of sale for the WOWCH folks. Then again, the conspiracy seems to be that they changed it solely so they can license their own version out to stores like Hot Topic... which is, I mean, come on.

Here's my theory: either a) this is a big cosmic f-cking coincidence, which is bizarre but not impossible, or b) David Gordon Green saw the WOWCH t-shirt years ago for two seconds on someone's torso and the image stuck to his head, thinking he came up with it on his own come production time. I can attest to many times thinking I came up with a funny slogan, only to realize later that I saw it on some guy's shirt on a bus. Is it wrong that I find the Pineapple Express version better-looking anyway?

By the way, Franco likes to think that both the shark and the kitty are smiling because the shark is carrying the kitty to safety in his mouth. WOWCH insists that the kitten in dead. Maybe that'll help someone to decide which shirt is cooler.

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August 08, 2008, scarebaby said:

Sorry, dude, but being in the t-shirt biz myself, I can tell you that ripping off designs is part of the business. It happens all the time and mostly not much can be done about it. What tips the balance -- in favor of this being a knockoff (intentionally or not) is the circular backdrop of the image. My guess is the same as yours - the director saw the original t-shirt but has forgotten that he did. Happens all the time.

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November 15, 2008, Rachael Sav. said:

That t-shirt is ripped off by the Maui and Sons logo. Maui and Sons is an international brand based out of California who founded that logo of the shark back in the 1980's. I am an employee there and this shark design is a complete rip off from their original logo. This whole time while i watched the movie I thought it was really cool that he was wearing a Maui and Sons t-shirt. And now i know its a rip off. Bad move peeps!

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