Disney has agreed to license 200 of its most beloved characters for use in Sora’s generative AI videos, alongside a $1 billion investment in OpenAI.
The three-year deal will allow users to generate short-form videos featuring Disney icons such as Mickey Mouse, Pixar favorites such as Woody, Marvel heroes like Black Panther and Captain America, as well as Star Wars characters like Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia.
Disney and OpenAI’s agreement includes mention of a “shared commitment to the responsible use of AI that protects user safety and the rights of creators,” and notably, Disney has said that all of its licensed characters will be animated, masked or creatures, with no “talent likeness or voices.” There will also be “age-appropriate policies and other reasonable controls.”
After Sora and ChatGPT both gain the ability to generate AI content based on Disney characters in early 2026, curated selections of this AI-generated content will begin rolling out via Disney+. There’s mention of other “new experiences for Disney+ subscribers” generated by AI too, without any further detail — other than that they will provide “innovative and creative ways to connect with Disney’s stories and characters.”
The addition of user-generated content on Disney+ was previously mentioned last month by Disney boss Bob Iger, who dubbed its rollout as the “biggest and the most significant change” to Disney’s streaming service since its launch.
“Technological innovation has continually shaped the evolution of entertainment, bringing with it new ways to create and share great stories with the world,” Iger said in a statement today. “The rapid advancement of artificial intelligence marks an important moment for our industry, and through this collaboration with OpenAI we will thoughtfully and responsibly extend the reach of our storytelling through generative AI, while respecting and protecting creators and their works.
“Bringing together Disney’s iconic stories and characters with OpenAI’s groundbreaking technology puts imagination and creativity directly into the hands of Disney fans in ways we’ve never seen before,” Iger continued, “giving them richer and more personal ways to connect with the Disney characters and stories they love.”
Back in October, the launch of OpenAI’s Sora 2 saw it flooded with AI versions of Disney characters, as well as Pokémon and other licensed properties — until the platform belatedly began clamping down on copyright-infringing material. Popular videos included examples of pop culture characters in X-Wings or holding lightsabers — something it seems we’re now about to see a lot more of, with Disney’s seal of approval.
Licensed characters set to be thrown into the generative AI algorithm include Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Lilo, Stitch, Ariel, Belle, Beast, Cinderella, Baymax, Simba, Mufasa, plus more from Encanto, Frozen, Inside Out, Moana, Monsters Inc., Toy Story, Up, and Zootopia. Marvel and Lucasfilm characters are also included, such as Black Panther, Captain America, Deadpool, Groot, Iron Man, Loki, Thor, Thanos, Darth Vader, Han Solo, Luke Skywalker, Leia, the Mandalorian, Stormtroopers and Yoda.
Beyond Disney+, the deal will see Disney overall “become a major customer of OpenAI”, today’s announcement from the two companies revealed, with the ChatGPT and Sora maker’s capabilties deployed to help create “new products, tools, and experiences.”
In related news, Disney has today accused Google of infringing its copyright “on a massive scale” by using its works to train its own generative AI models. In a cease-and-desist letter revealed by Variety, Disney said it believes Google is allowing its own algorithm to create content featuring many of the same characters it has now licensed to OpenAI, without its permission.
And of course, all of this comes amid the ongoing backdrop of Hollywood’s other huge industry development — the $82.7 billion sale of Warner Bros. to Netflix (which Paramount is now trying to disrupt with its own hostile takeover bid). One recent report suggested that Netflix valued Warner Bros. so highly because it wanted to use the century-old company’s intellectual properties within its own generative AI content in future.
Tom Phillips is IGN’s News Editor. You can reach Tom at [email protected] or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social
