What Disney and OpenAI's Sora deal means for Mickey Mouse and other characters

OpenAI's controversial video generation tool Sora has one less thing to worry about, thanks in part to an agreement reached with Disney.

According to the entertainment and theme park giant, users of OpenAI's Sora will soon be able to create videos featuring various Disney characters and other intellectual property.

Although details are sparse, users of Sora are expected to be able to create the content beginning in early 2006, according to Disney.

"As part of this new, three-year licensing agreement, Sora will be able to generate short, user-prompted social videos that can be viewed and shared by fans, drawing from a set of more than 200 animated, masked and creature characters from Disney, Marvel, Pixar and Star Wars, including costumes, props, vehicle and iconic environments," a statement from Disney said.

The characters of Mickey and Minnie Mouse, Lilo, Stitch, Ariel, Belle, Beast, Cinderella, Baymax, Simba and Mufasa are just some of the many from Disney-owned properties mentioned in the deal.

Currently, when users attempt to make videos with prompts mentioning Disney characters, Sora often refuses. "This content may violate our guardrails concerning similarity to third-party content," a dialogue box within the app says.

The dialogue box appears when trying to make a video using Mickey Mouse, for example. Some, however, have been able to finesse prompts to get around those guardrails.

As part of the OpenAI deal, Disney also indicated that it would make a $1 billion equity investment in OpenAI, giving the fast-rising technology company a much-needed vote of confidence and a potential influx of cash as it faces stiff competition from Google and Anthropic.

"This agreement shows how AI companies and creative leaders can work together responsibly to promote innovation that benefits society, respect the importance of creativity, and help works reach vast new audiences," OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman said.

First announced in 2024, OpenAI's Sora has risen to the top of mobile app download charts in the US, Canada, South Korea and Japan.