Disney Teams Up With Adobe To Build Its Own AI For Parks, Films And ESPN

Disney is teaming up with Adobe to build its own AI image models trained on its characters, worlds and art styles, giving its artists a private tool for designing theme park rides, cruise ships, films and ESPN content.

Key Takeaways

Adobe and The Walt Disney Company announced a multi-year alliance at Adobe MAX on Nov. 9
Disney will work with Adobe on custom AI models built with Adobe Firefly Foundry, which Adobe calls artist-led and safe for commercial use
The work spans Disney’s parks and cruise design teams, its StudioLAB film innovation unit and ESPN Edge
No financial terms or exact length were disclosed

Adobe announced the deal on stage at its MAX creative conference in Miami Beach. Disney will also get early access to new Adobe AI, creative and media tools, plus dedicated Adobe engineers and researchers.

Disney Gets AI That Knows Its Own Worlds

Firefly Foundry lets a company build a private version of Adobe’s Firefly image generator, trained on its own material. For Disney, that means models that understand what its characters look like, how its places are built and which visual styles belong to which franchise.

Disney’s theme park designers at Walt Disney Imagineering are already using two such models. One turns hand-drawn sketches into fully rendered concept art. The other produces images that stay true to each franchise’s look.

That matters for a company that guards its characters closely. A general AI tool trained on the open internet can produce off-brand or legally risky images. A model trained on Disney’s own approved material is built to avoid both.

Also Read: Tanium Lands Special OpenAI Deal To Help Big Firms Stop Hacks

Where Disney Will Use It

Disney Team	What Adobe Will Help With
Walt Disney World, Disneyland and Disney Cruise Line	Early concept work in park and cruise design pipelines
Walt Disney Imagineering	Sketch-to-art and franchise-accurate image models, already in use
StudioLAB at The Walt Disney Studios	Testing new creative workflows, with Adobe as an innovation partner
ESPN Edge	Fan engagement, content delivery and bringing ESPN’s archive to life

Based on Adobe’s Nov. 9 announcement

Work with StudioLAB and ESPN Edge is already underway, Adobe said, with more projects rolling out over the multi-year deal.

“Today’s announcement marks the next chapter of the relationship,” said Hannah Elsakr, Adobe’s vice president for generative AI new business ventures. Becca Vodnoy, Disney’s senior vice president of corporate alliances, said the deal gives Disney “an exciting opportunity to give our creative teams new ways to explore and develop their ideas.”

Why It Matters For Adobe

Adobe is racing to prove its AI can earn money from big brands while rival image and video generators grab attention. Landing the world’s best-known entertainment company as a Firefly Foundry customer gives it a powerful showcase.

The big unknowns are cost and scale. Adobe did not say how much Disney is paying or how widely its artists will use the models, so the real test will be how many of these tools make it from Disney’s labs into finished rides, films and broadcasts.