Back in September, OpenAI announced Sora 2, its most advanced video and audio generation model to date. Sora 2 is able to generate richly detailed, dynamic video clips with audio from natural language or images. It also has a deep understanding of 3D space, motion, and scene continuity.
Along with the model, OpenAI also released the Sora mobile app to expand the reach of Sora 2. With the Sora app, users can create a cinematic scene, anime short, or a remix of a friend"s video with a single prompt. However, the Sora app did not allow users to create videos based on popular movie characters due to licensing issues.
Today, OpenAI announced a major partnership with The Walt Disney Company. The partnership involves several key components. The main component is the three-year licensing agreement under which Sora users can generate videos based on more than 200 Disney, Marvel, Pixar, and Star Wars characters including the following:
Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Lilo, Stitch, Ariel, Belle, Beast, Cinderella, Baymax, Simba, Mufasa, as well as characters from the worlds of Encanto, Frozen, Inside Out, Moana, Monsters Inc., Toy Story, Up, Zootopia, and many more; plus iconic animated or illustrated versions of Marvel and Lucasfilm characters like Black Panther, Captain America, Deadpool, Groot, Iron Man, Loki, Thor, Thanos, Darth Vader, Han Solo, Luke Skywalker, Leia, the Mandalorian, Stormtroopers, Yoda, and more.
As part of the agreement, a curated selection of Sora-generated videos will be made available on Disney+. Additionally, Disney will be using OpenAI’s models to bring new experiences for Disney+ subscribers.
In addition to Sora, ChatGPT users will be able to create images based on the above-mentioned Disney characters. Disney characters in Sora and ChatGPT Images will be available in early 2026. OpenAI specifically highlighted that this agreement does not include any human talent likenesses or voices.
Apart from the content licensing agreement, Disney will start using OpenAI"s APIs to build new products, tools, and experiences and will be deploying ChatGPT Enterprise for its thousands of employees. Finally, Disney is making a $1 billion equity investment in OpenAI and will also have warrants to purchase additional equity in the future.