It’s Time to Talk About Disney and AI
I’ve been dreading this day for a while, but here we are.
It’s time to talk about Disney and AI. I’m truly sorry. I waited as long as I could.
Why Is Disney AI Topical?
Computer World
Look, I know that you don’t want to hear about it, as AI is currently the ragebait topic of choice.
That’s doubly true if you lived through the nonsense of the metaverse era.
Photo: Amazon
We’re still waiting for Ready Player One to happen. So far, all we have to show for the metaverse is nausea-inducing headsets.
Well, I guess we could talk about Meta’s $4.5 billion in metaverse losses last quarter.
Photo: Getty
This is supposed to be a Disney technology article, though…and you get the point.
The next big thing in technology rarely makes a dent in the long run. This time is probably different, though.
Photo: Getty
As we speak, Disney is trying to make The Rock look like Maui again, even though Dwayne Johnson is in his 50s.
How is Disney doing it? You guessed it! The company’s trying to use AI to anti-age and mega-buff The Rock.
(Photo by Frazer Harrison/WireImage)
I’m dead serious about this, as The Wall Street Journal just posted an article about it.
The gist is simple. Moana the animated movie from 2014 is being turned into a live-action remake.
Since Disney and Dwayne Johnson are tight, the studio brought him back to play the real-life version of the character.
Only the Good Die Young
The problem is that Father Time remains undefeated, and The Rock has lost more than a few pebbles over the years.
In case you didn’t know it, he was a decent defensive tackle who played at the University of Miami.
Photo: OC Register
The actor jokes that NFL Hall of Famer Warren Sapp took his starting spot and forced him into pro wrestling.
As for The Rock’s WWE tenure, he’s quite possibly the most successful performer of his generation.
All these things take a toll on the body, leaving the 53-year-old actor a shell of his former self.
Don’t get me wrong. The dude’s a physical marvel for someone his or any other age. He’s just not Maui.
Image: Disney
Disney needs Maui. So, they decided to pull a magic trick by giving The Rock a few days off. I’ll just quote the article:
“Under the plan they devised, Johnson’s similarly buff cousin Tanoai Reed—who is 6-foot-3 and 250 pounds—would fill in as a body double for a small number of shots.
Photo:Rappler
Disney would work with AI company Metaphysic to create deepfakes of Johnson’s face that could be layered on top of Reed’s performance in the footage—a “digital double” that effectively allowed Johnson to be in two places at once.”
This seems like a good time to mention that Johnson has drawn recent criticism for his lazy efforts on set.
Photo: Computer Hope
So, this isn’t the best possible look for him that he’s not even showing up for work some days.
From Disney’s perspective, they really just need The Rock’s charismatic voice and humorous inflection.
The AI can do everything else…in theory.
We’re Not There Yet
Photo:seoclerk.com
As the article notes, despite Disney spending 18 months on the effort, it didn’t work.
When the film comes out, The Rock’s deepfake won’t appear in the movie because it’s just not good enough.
Image Credit: Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic/Getty
Herein lies the dilemma for businesses like Disney. The accountants recognize the benefits of AI.
Getting someone for a fraction of the cost of human labor sounds ideal in theory. In execution, it’s…inconsistent.
Slapping The Rock’s face on his cousin’s body created a creepy amalgam that would frighten small children.
Meanwhile, their parents would worry that Dwayne Johnson had suffered some sort of medical condition.
Getty
Major corporations are testing AI a lot as they’re acutely aware that it’ll be an invaluable tool one day.
The problem is that the day in question isn’t anywhere near now, but businesses have made big promises.
Photo: Vecteezy
Now, their shareholders expect them to cut costs by using AI when the reverse is actually true.
Businesses like Disney invest lots of money in AI projects, only to realize the work isn’t up to snuff.
Photo: Getty
So, AI becomes a waste of time and resources more often than anyone on Wall Street cares to admit.
From Disney’s perspective, that’s not even the worrisome part of this story.
Photo:NYpost.com
The company’s infamous legal team had a hand in nixing Deepfake Rock for a hysterical reason.
They worried that Disney couldn’t trademark the sequences created by AI. That’s a legal gray area right now.
Photo: History.com
For Disney, this particular consideration is a dealbreaker. If it cannot protect its IP legally, it’s screwed.
So, Robo Rock was felled not by Te Fiti or Tamatoa but rather Disney’s attorney armada.
Photo: Pexel.com
Why didn’t “Stone Cold” Steve Austin ever think of that?
Disney and AI
As we speak, Disney CEO Bob Iger and other top executives are trying to plan for a future that includes AI.
This path is inevitable, as any 20-year-old you know trusts ChatGPT and/or Grok with their life.
Photo: Getty
Right or wrong, that’s where we are, and if you don’t believe me, just look around for stories like this one.
The 1950s sci-fi staple, the robot girlfriend, came around a lot more quickly than anybody realized.
I’m admittedly naïve about this stuff, but I don’t think this was even a thing until the past two or three years.
Large Language Models (LLMs) have already made a lot of seemingly impossible things viable.
(Photo by Arturo Holmes/Getty Images )
They just cannot allow Disney to trademark The Rock’s face on his cousin’s body. Yet.
This entire story is nonsensical, yet that’s where we are at an inflection point in history.
(Photo by Aldara Zarraoa/WireImage)
Disney, THE storytelling company of the past century, suddenly faces an uncertain future.
That’s why we need to start talking about this nonsense. It’s impactful to the company’s bottom line and long-term viability.
I’ll discuss additional specifics in a couple of future articles, but it’s important that you understand the basics first.
AI Is Here to Stay, Like It Or Not
Image: The Healthy Mouse
Disney has already used AI to create the (widely derided) opening credits for Secret Invasion.
That was the company’s attempt to break the (seventh?) seal and breach new digital ground.
Photo: Also Marvel
We are just getting started with this, even though, if you’re anything like me, you’re already tired of hearing about AI.
This particular buzzword isn’t going away anytime soon, which means there’s still hope for The Rock to be buff at 80.
Photo: Marvel
All he needs is for Disney to put his face on some other member of The Bloodline’s body.
The future’s gonna be so weird, isn’t it?
Photo: MickeyBlog
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Feature Photo: Getty
