Disney and OpenAI have struck a major deal that will let fans generate short videos featuring more than 200 Disney, Marvel, Pixar and Star Wars characters using Sora, OpenAI’s AI video tool.
The agreement runs for three years and makes Disney the first big studio to officially license its characters for Sora, the OpenAI video tool that is easy to use like ChatGPT.
The plan is simple: fans type a prompt, and Sora can spit out short videos using familiar characters, settings and props. Some of these fan-made clips will later show up on Disney+. ChatGPT Images will also be able to generate Disney-themed visuals from text prompts. The deal doesn’t include actor likenesses or voices.
Disney is also becoming a major OpenAI customer, using the company’s APIs to build new tools for Disney+ and internal workflows. The media giant will invest a cool $1 billion USD into OpenAI as part of the partnership, along with receiving warrants for more equity.
Both companies say they’re trying to set responsible standards around AI, promising content controls, protections for creators, and guardrails to avoid harmful or illegal outputs.
“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, giving them richer and more personal ways to connect with the Disney characters and stories they love,” said Bob Iger, Disney CEO, in a statement on Thursday.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman added, “Disney is the global gold standard for storytelling, and we’re excited to partner to allow Sora and ChatGPT Images to expand the way people create and experience great content.”
Sora’s Disney-powered video generation is expected to roll out in early 2026, giving fans access to characters like Mickey Mouse, Groot, Moana, Darth Vader, Yoda and tons more. Sora works incredibly well (it’s kind of scary how good it is) and this is going to result in some fun and crazy videos on the web.
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