Disney strikes a massive deal with OpenAI that will allow users to make AI-generated videos featuring Disney's IP.

[Celerity]

https://www.semafor.com/article/12/11/2025/disney-openai-strike-licensing-deal



The three-year licensing agreement, in which Disney will also invest $1 billion in OpenAI, will cover more than 200 familiar faces from Pixar, Marvel, and Star Wars movies. Media and entertainment firms spanning film, music, and news have struggled to balance embracing new technologies with protecting their copyrights.

Disney in particular has seen its in-house AI ambitions stall, and earlier this year sued AI firm Midjourney over its image generator. A patchwork of global regulations could pose another challenge: India this week proposed a mandatory blanket license for AI training, requiring companies to pay royalties for using copyrighted material.

[underpants]

1. That's going to be some weird ass porn

There are three industries that always seize first on new technology:
Religion
Wrestling (violence)
Porn

[Haggard Celine]

5. That was the first place my mind went as well.

I'd like to see if AI could put me into my favorite movies, like my image would be in place of one of the actors. Maybe it could put my voice saying the lines as well. Maybe I could put my family and friends in the movie as well. They're going to do all sorts of movie remakes. I guess if they can sample music, remaking existing movies is inevitable. Should be okay as long as you pay a fee to the creators.

[highplainsdem]

9. This deal is only for using animated characters, masked characters and creatures from Disney films.

Not human actors including voice actors. See my other reply here.

[Haggard Celine]

13. I see. I guess that would open a legal can of worms

to do that with human actors.

[underpants]

10. Disney have been zealots about content and "brand".

They (Xerox too) scoured publications and media for mentions of them and then were very strong handed about it.

Disney sends people to high school productions of let’s say “Beauty and the Beasts ” to make sure it follows the script. Nothing added or subtracted.

Michael Moore had a hilarious story about there being Nazis clandestinely portrayed in a mural somewhere in Disney World. Of course, the story about the cover of early “Little Mermaid” DVDs. Disney was tough on artists.

[Haggard Celine]

11. I've been told by people who have worked at Disney World,

that a lot of the employees call it Mauschwitz. What can you expect from a place that calls itself the happiest place on Earth?

[underpants]

14. Mauschwitz

I was very impressed. As I heard another Dad say, “I’ve never been more exhausted…or happy”.

Way less walking than I expected having spent much of my youth at Busch Gardens Williamsburg.

[canetoad]

2. Yep, I can see

A thousand and one extremely useful applications for this.

[haele]

3. Porn, porn, porn. Porn...

That's pretty much what it's going to be used for.

[highplainsdem]

12. See reply 8. The only Disney characters in this deal are animated, masked or creatures.

[haele]

15. Cartoon has always been a popular genre. What this allows can be "fair use" public productions.

While I might sound glib, I'm serious now. There will be porn.
When I was in the military, and from what I've noted at various universities, porn cartoons, even using what would now be considered IP, was commonplace and at the time, was considered more acceptable than a magazine or raunchy movie. Because no person was involved, it might be distasteful, but it could also be "art".
Cartoon porn "art" often substitutes torture or child pornography that might otherwise have gotten someone publicly shamed or arrested.

Will the AI have blocks on using certain prompts that can be used to make distasteful (and illegal if using an actual living being) pornography with Disney animated IP -and letting it out in the wild?

[highplainsdem]

16. I have no idea. But genAI companies are infamous for their inadequate guardrails.

[sakabatou]

4. The internet is for-!

Well, you know.

[Jerry2144]

7. Cute kitten videos

I should clarify. Feline videos

[Volaris]

6. As long as were all in agreement lol

[highplainsdem]

8. This deal does NOT include actors in Disney productions - their images or voices.

It covers only "animated, masked & creature characters from Disney, Marvel, Pixar & Star Wars."

Link to tweet

So it will have to use AI voices to replace the voice actors - and may be required to use AI voices that aren't too close to the voice actors'.