What Sora Can and Can’t Do with Disney Characters

The Walt Disney Company just announced a landmark agreement with OpenAI.

As part of this deal, OpenAI’s Sora gains access to 200 Disney characters.

Of course, there are strings attached, Pinocchio… also, Pinocchio isn’t part of this deal (yet).

That tells you the whole story right there.

For all the fanfare about this deal, it comes with plenty of dos and don’ts.

So, here’s what Sora can and can’t do with Disney characters.

What’s Sora?

Sigh. If you’re asking that question, we’re in for a long night.

Hello, person who was presumably born during the 20th century.

Sora is something that your kids or grandkids are using to entertain themselves.

You know how you use social media to disseminate information about your favorite subjects?

Well, the kids these days that you’re always complaining about just make stuff up.

Seriously, as much as many adults complain about AI and its many evolving usages, we all bitterly lament the fact that we didn’t have it when we were kids.

With a product like Sora, you can enter a couple of words and suddenly find yourself in a swordfight against yakuza or dunking on a giant center who looks suspiciously like Wemby.

That suspicion part is a lot of the problem as Victor Wembanyama most assuredly hasn’t given you permission to use his name and likeness to dunk on him.

AI apps like Sora just don’t care.

They take a text prompt and generate either an image or a brief video.

Currently, the complexity of the video generation limits your input to 30-second videos.

Realistically, that shortcoming won’t last for an extended period because Moore’s Law is a thing.

If you don’t know what that is, well, ask ChatGPT.

Also, just to be clear, I tend to blur the two terms, which is frankly sloppy and lazy of me, but ChatGPT and Sora are entirely different applications.

OpenAI created both, which means they share some infrastructure, but their purposes are different.

Sora is almost exclusively an entertainment app, a fun distraction when you’re bored.

The problem is that companies like OpenAI haven’t acquired the rights to these trademarked and copyrighted characters and brands.

So, the things you CAN do on Sora aren’t ones that you should legally be able to do.

Let’s Quickly Discuss Licensing

That’s where Disney comes into play, as it has just acquired a billion dollar stake in OpenAI, and the ability to buy more later in exchange for licensing 200 Disney characters.

Disney has become the most recognizable media company to license characters to AI.

Basically, Disney just opened the floodgates, but first it forced concessions.

So, let’s discuss what those are.

What Sora Can Do

Disney has gone on a media offensive as part of the OpenAI licensing agreement.

CEO Bob Iger appeared on CNBC to explain why Disney was doing this.

While content creators will decry Iger’s decision, he really didn’t have a choice.

The monorail had already left the station, and it was either going to be a nondescript one or one with a Disney logo.

Those two images are cosmetically almost identical, which circles back to the legal problem.

AI image creation software is generating Disney-esque images.

 

Iger recognized that he has a better chance to stop it if the company is a stakeholder in AI rather than someone suing the company.

So, he has authorized the use of Disney characters in short-form videos and images.

Sora can generate short videos starring popular Disney characters like Mickey Mouse and Stitch.

Here’s a list of every Disney character confirmed so far:

• Ariel
• Baymax
• Beast
• Belle
• Black Panther
• Captain America
• Cinderella
• Darth Vader
• Deadpool
• Groot
• Han Solo
• Iron Man
• Leia
• Lilo
• Loki
• Luke Skywalker
• The Mandalorian
• Mickey Mouse
• Minnie Mouse
• Mufasa
• Simba
• Stitch
• Stormtroopers
• Thanos
• Thor
• Yoda

Disney has also indicated that it has licensed characters from:

• Encanto
• Frozen
• Inside Out
• Moana
• Monsters, Inc.
• Toy Story
• Up
• Zootopia

On the one hand, you can imagine how much fun you’ll have playing in Sora’s sandbox using these Disney characters.

On the other hand, you’ll already notice how limited the options are at the start.

Disney has authorized these popular characters while protecting a treasure trove of valuable intellectual properties.

To me, this feels like Disney saying, “the first taste is free.” In fact, it’s the one paying OpenAI.

We all know that’s really an investment, though.

Disney can now add to its OpenAI stake if it determines it has hopped on the right AI bandwagon.

What Sora Can’t Do

Now we get to the strings, Pinocchio.

When Darth Vader appeared on Fortnite, it quickly turned into a swear fest.

You can check TikTok and YouTube videos if you don’t believe me,

I suspect that event was a driving force in Disney’s decision to license.

For its part, OpenAI made several concessions, most of which make perfect sense.

For starters, Disney characters cannot have sex.

You will NOT be recreating Anna and Kristoff’s wedding night, you sick, sick Sora users.

I say that, but let’s be honest. AI apps are poorly policed, mostly by design.

So, you can expect a few viral stories as soon as Baymax appears for the first time.

I’m trying really hard to keep this clean, but you know the deal.

Rule 34 applies, and again, if you don’t know what that is, ask ChatGPT.

Disney is trying to take control to protect the virtue of its characters.

Similarly, Sora cannot animate Disney characters using illicit drugs.

Yes, I know that Disney animators in the 1920s and 1930s did this themselves, but we live in a new era.

Disney keeps its characters clean and sober.

Speaking of which, Sora cannot create Disney characters drinking alcohol, either.

So, any of your attempts to get a Stormtrooper drunk are doomed to fail.

As incompetent as they are, alcohol would only accentuate the problem.

The Final Concession

Disney wouldn’t do the deal unless OpenAI conceded to one final essential point.

The Captain America whose videos you can generate on Sora will look nothing like Chris Evans or Anthony Mackie.

Similarly, none of the Disney princesses will feature the voices of the performers you automatically connect with the roles.

That means any speaking Anna does won’t sound like Kristen Bell.

The NCAA only recently accepted defeat in the ongoing NIL battle over image and likeness.

The AI front will be much bloodier.

Disney and OpenAI had zero interest in kicking that beehive right now.

So, you can play with a generic Captain America or Anna, not the ones who look or sound like famous actors.

This agreement is literally the only reason why Hollywood isn’t screaming bloody murder about the deal.

Don’t get me wrong. They’re not happy about it, but they accept it legally, as Disney has followed the letter of the law.

Well, I say this, but someone will probably file a lawsuit about five minutes after this article is published. This is going to be a big deal.

Disney fans shouldn’t worry about that yet, though.

What matters is that at some point in 2026, you can create TikTok-ready AI videos starring 200 Disney characters.

No, they cannot drink, snort, or smoke anything, and the clothes stay on, but those are modest concessions in the greater scheme.

You can have a lot of fun playing in the Sora sandbox, and Disney knows it.

That’s why the best Disney creations on Sora will also appear on Disney+.

If you’ve ever wanted to create content but thought it would be too much effort, it’s a whole new world… but Aladdin isn’t eligible yet.

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Photo: Disney