Disney has named Adobe an Official AI Innovation Partner of The Walt Disney Company, a multi-year alliance announced Monday at the Adobe MAX creativity conference in Miami Beach. The deal reaches Walt Disney World, Disneyland Resort, Disney Cruise Line, The Walt Disney Studios and ESPN, and Walt Disney Imagineering is already putting Adobe’s tools to work on new park concepts.
What Adobe Is Bringing
As part of the partnership, Disney gets early access to Adobe’s newest creative and AI technology, including Adobe Firefly, Adobe Firefly Foundry, Premiere and Photoshop. Adobe is also putting dedicated engineering and research resources behind Disney’s production pipeline.
The centerpiece is Firefly Foundry, which lets a company build custom generative AI models around its own properties. Disney’s versions will be trained on its characters, environments and visual styles, and Disney says they will be human-centered and artist-led, built to turn out commercially safe, production-ready work.
Imagineering Is Already Using It
For parks fans, the part that matters most is that this is not a future plan. Imagineering Research and Development has been working with Firefly Foundry since June, when Imagineering’s Kyle Laughlin said it allows months of work to be compressed into days and weeks. Two tools are already in use: a sketch-to-image model that turns hand-drawn designs into fully rendered 2D concept art, and a custom image model that generates on-brand, franchise-accurate assets.
The Adobe deal is not Disney’s only AI news for the parks this month. Disney was also granted a patent on November 3 for a system that would let costumed characters hold real conversations with guests.
StudioLAB And ESPN Edge
Beyond the parks, Adobe joins The Walt Disney Studios’ StudioLAB as an Innovation Partner, working with Disney creatives and technologists to prototype ideas and expand internal creative workflows. At ESPN Edge, Adobe and ESPN will explore how AI can improve sports storytelling, give fans new ways to engage with ESPN content and find new uses for the network’s extensive archive.
Projects with StudioLAB and ESPN Edge are already underway, and more are set to roll out over the multi-year term. Adobe will also expand its presence across Disney’s entertainment and sports platforms through marketing campaigns and special activations, and the relationship will be highlighted at events including Adobe MAX and Adobe Summit.
What Disney And Adobe Are Saying
Adobe’s Hannah Elsakr, vice president of GenAI New Business Ventures, called the alliance the next chapter of a decades-long relationship, one that uses AI to support artistic vision, creativity and guest engagement. Becca Vodnoy, Disney’s senior vice president of Corporate Alliances, said Disney has always embraced innovation and that the alliance gives its creative teams new ways to explore and develop their ideas and bring Disney stories to guests and fans.
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