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Toei Animation issued a statement on its website Thursday rejecting reports that it had approved construction of a Dragon Ball theme park near Paris, declaring that the company and associated rights holders had granted no licenses for the project and possessed no information about it. The denial came days after French President Emmanuel Macron and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman announced plans during an August 24 meeting in Paris for three theme parks northwest of the capital with a combined investment of €6 billion that would create 22,000 jobs, according to the Elysee Palace. French media had identified one of the parks as inspired by the Dragon Ball franchise and located on the site of the former Mirapolis amusement park in Cergy-Pontoise.
The Japanese company stressed that concept images and videos appearing in coverage of the French proposal were produced for an entirely separate Dragon Ball theme park project in Saudi Arabia that it announced jointly with Qiddiya Investment Company in March 2024. That Saudi facility, part of the Qiddiya City development outside Riyadh, is planned to span more than 500,000 square metres with seven themed zones, more than 30 attractions and a giant Shenron structure housing a roller coaster, according to details released at the time by Qiddiya Investment Company. Toei Animation noted the Saudi park remains the only Dragon Ball theme park it has formally endorsed.
Reports in late August from Reuters and French newspaper Le Monde had initially presented the French project as moving forward with Saudi financing through Qiddiya Investment Company before subsequent coverage highlighted that approval from Japanese rights holders had not been secured. The Dragon Ball intellectual property is divided among multiple entities including Toei Animation for the anime adaptation, Bird Studio, Shueisha and the estate of creator Akira Toriyama, a distribution that several outlets said complicated licensing for any new park. A Polygon article published August 28 cited sources familiar with the discussions confirming the absence of rights-owner approval at the time of the Macron announcement.
Toei Animation’s statement, carried by Japanese outlets including Nikkan Sports and Yahoo News Japan on Thursday, explicitly stated that the company and rights holders “have not granted any license permission regarding the case in question, and there are no facts regarding this matter that we are aware of.” The clarification arrives as the proposed French development was positioned by officials as one of Europe’s largest theme-park investments since the opening of Disneyland Paris in 1992. No opening timeline had been released for the French parks, with construction expected to require several years.
The Saudi Dragon Ball project, by contrast, has progressed with visible support from Toei Animation since its 2024 unveiling at AnimeJapan. Falcon’s Creative Group, the firm designing the Riyadh park, described the venture in a subsequent interview as requiring deep respect for the franchise’s passionate global fan base and a commitment to immersive technology not previously seen in theme parks. Industry observers have pointed to the existing Saudi agreement as evidence that any additional Dragon Ball park would require separate negotiations with all rights holders.
Macron had promoted the overall theme-park agreement on social media as an unprecedented collaboration that would boost investment and employment in the Ile-de-France region. Saudi officials framed their participation as part of broader efforts to diversify the kingdom’s economy beyond oil through entertainment and leisure infrastructure. Toei Animation’s denial makes clear that the French element involving its flagship franchise has not received the necessary approvals to proceed on the terms reported in August.
