Disney has entered the artificial intelligence race in a new partnership with OpenAI, giving fans the ability to generate their own short clips featuring familiar characters from across its empire. The collaboration will connect OpenAI’s video tool, Sora, with the Disney library, unlocking more than 200 characters from the Disney, Marvel, Pixar, and Star Wars franchises.
Users will be able to type any prompt and instantly create short scenes that include Mickey Mouse, Ariel, Simba, Baymax, Black Panther, Loki, Darth Vader, and even entire digital sets such as castles, spaceships, and planets. The company says real actors’ faces and voices will not be included, limiting the system to “animated, masked and creature characters.” Still, versions of figures like Captain America, Thor, Han Solo, and Luke Skywalker will be available in this new AI-generated sandbox.
Disney is investing about $1 billion in OpenAI, marking the first time a major Hollywood studio has tied itself this closely to generative video technology. The company also plans to use ChatGPT across its operations, including Disney+ and internal tools for employees. Viewers are told they will soon see AI-generated shorts on Disney+, and OpenAI and Disney are still exploring more interactive applications.
Both companies insist that the partnership will remain “responsible,” with safeguards intended to block offensive material and measures to protect artists whose work built these brands in the first place. Disney CEO Bob Iger released a familiar-sounding statement claiming that “technological innovation has continually shaped the evolution of entertainment.” He said the company would move “thoughtfully and responsibly” in using AI to “extend the reach of our storytelling.” OpenAI’s Sam Altman called Disney “the gold standard of global entertainment.”
Critics are not convinced. Breitbart’s John Nolte questions whether this might backfire on the studio, asking, “What if Disney+ subscribers enjoy the AI content more than the shit Disney’s been producing over the last decade? That could easily happen. But who loses in those scenarios? Not Disney; they own part of the company and have exclusive access to the product. No, no, no, no, the losers are the oh-so precious creators: the writers, directors, producers, FX artists, and of course, the actors.”
It’s very plausible, based on the output Disney has produced while ignoring normal audiences.
Nolte also points out how YouTube’s user-created videos now dominate online viewership. “Now imagine what could happen when Normal People grab hold of these iconic characters and franchises?” he said. If Disney hands out its legacy to every internet user with a prompt bar, the lines between professional and fan creations may blur quickly—and Disney’s existing creative guilds could find themselves sidelined.
The partnership will still need regulatory clearances and internal sign-offs, but the message seems clear. Disney wants AI not only as a tool but as another corporate property. Nolte sums it up with advice for Hollywood’s stars: “Cash in now before AI replaces you with a countless number of more appealing and cooperative illegal aliens AI characters — and before Cary Grant, John Wayne, Bette Davis, and Olivia de Havilland make their inevitable pixel comebacks.” He adds that if he were a modern celebrity, “I’d cash out now. Take the $50 million from OpenAI now and run.”
Whether this latest AI deal saves Disney’s content slump or replaces another wave of human talent with AI generated content slop, one thing is certain; for a company that built its kingdom on imagination, it now seems eager to let the machines do all the imagineering.
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English (US) · 