Disney and OpenAI open Pandora's box of AI

Luca Fontana

12.12.2025

Translation: machine translated

Disney is allowing fans to create AI films - and in doing so is jeopardising the very creatives who made the company great. A deal that sounds like the future reeks of self-abolition.

Disney and OpenAI have signed a huge deal: A billion-dollar licensing agreement that allows the video AI Sora to generate short AI videos. It includes over 200 characters from Disney, Marvel, Pixar and Star Wars - from Mickey to Mufasa, from Elsa to Iron Man. This is officially confirmed by both Disney and OpenAI.

In concrete terms, this means that from 2026, fans will be able to generate their own short animated videos with Disney, Pixar, Marvel and Star Wars characters via Sora and even publish them on Disney+ - fully automatically, AI-supported and within seconds. This makes Disney+ the first major streaming service that not only allows AI content, but also actively curates and integrates it.

That sounds good and right. Like innovation and the future. It's a wonder that the press release omitted the recently popular phrase «democratisation of storytelling». Instead, Disney emphasises five times how important «respect for the creators» is. But whose work is really being respected here?

Creativity yes - but only in the fenced Disney garden

If you read through the press release, you will notice that Disney is talking about three completely different «Creator» groups without actually saying what they are.

Firstly, there are the professional creators - authors, animators, storyboard artists, directors and VFX teams. The people who have formed the backbone of Disney magic for decades. For them, AI is not an inspiration, but an existential threat. After all, if fans can use Sora to generate mini Pixar films for Disney+ in seconds, why do they need 2,000 people to spend months working on a single shot?

In the press release, Disney says to these people: «We're not jeopardising your work.» The reality is: Of course Disney is jeopardising their work. Massively, in fact.

Secondly, by «Creators», Disney means us, the users. In other words: the UGC masses (user-generated content) on TikTok, YouTube and, in future, Disney+ itself. The House of Mouse has long recognised that 15-year-old TikTokers often have more reach than Disney's own formats. With Sora, they are now voluntarily giving them new tools - but under their own control. The idea behind it is obvious: free content under supervision.

And then there is the third type of «Creators»: the brand itself. Mickey, Marvel, Pixar, Star Wars - brands that Disney treats as if they were sentient beings that need to be protected. So when Disney talks about «respect for creators», it also means «respect for our brands». After all, AI models such as Midjourney can already generate characters today that no one should legally use.

This brings us to the heart of the matter: this is not about ethics or art. And certainly not about protecting creatives. It's about brand sovereignty.

A brave new world - and who no longer has a place in it

A few weeks ago, Disney boss Bob Iger leaked that something was being planned in the direction of AI. Now the vision is being realised. Because Disney knows what is at stake: If AI can generate Elsa or Grogu uncontrollably, the company will lose control of its most valuable asset. So it is now building a bulwark of strictly controlled prompts and models and threatening all others with «massive» legal countermeasures - even Google.

Of course, Disney could have sued OpenAI into the ground. Instead, it is now even investing in the AI company. One billion dollars, to be precise. Disney simply cannot afford to make an enemy of everyone. What's more, Disney isn't just buying a few new AI toys, but also influencing rules, filters and whether and under what conditions its characters can be used in AI systems at all.

Why doesn't OpenAI pay for licences in return? This is part of the same logic: OpenAI is not the customer here, but the product.

Despite this, the question remains: isn't this the beginning of Disney's own self-abolition? Disney claims to be protecting creators. At the same time, the company is promoting tools that undermine the basis of these professions. Blockbusters will not simply disappear, but a new space is emerging between TikTok clips and 200 million dollar films. One that used to be filled by real artists and is now being automated by algorithms.

A brave new world.

So why are the people at Disney doing this? Because they believe they no longer have a choice. Because Disney is hoping not to abolish itself: they want to conquer a new form of power position in which AI-generated content becomes their property rather than their downfall. Only time will tell whether this is clever, visionary, stupid or all of the above. The losers, on the other hand - the real creatives who involuntarily helped train the AI - have long since been determined.

Luca Fontana

Senior Editor

Luca.Fontana@digitecgalaxus.ch

I write about technology as if it were cinema, and about films as if they were real life. Between bits and blockbusters, I’m after stories that move people, not just generate clicks. And yes – sometimes I listen to film scores louder than I probably should.

Follow

---

Movies and series

Follow topics and stay updated on your areas of interest

Follow topic

---

Opinion

This is a subjective opinion of the editorial team. It doesn't necessarily reflect the position of the company.

Show all

These articles might also interest you