Disney and Adobe partner to build AI tools trained on Disney’s characters and worlds

Disney is putting AI trained on its own characters, environments and visual styles into more of its creative work. A multi-year alliance with Adobe, announced November 9, 2026, at Adobe MAX, combines custom models with early software access and engineering support. Disney’s Imagineering research team is already using the technology for theme park concept development.

From hand-drawn sketches to franchise-specific images

The model-building work centers on Firefly Foundry, Adobe’s offering for proprietary AI models. Disney will work directly with Adobe to customize models around its properties. The training described in the announcement covers character attributes, environments and visual styles—the details that distinguish one Disney world from another.

Walt Disney Imagineering Research & Development provides the clearest example of what that means. Adobe says the team already uses a sketch-to-image model that turns hand-drawn concepts into fully rendered 2D concept art. A separate custom image model generates creative assets designed to match a franchise’s established look.

Those are two distinct jobs: developing a more finished image from an artist’s drawing, and generating imagery consistent with an existing property. Both sit within Imagineering’s theme park development pipeline. The wider alliance also covers concept exploration in Disney’s innovation labs and development work for its parks and cruise business.

Adobe describes the customized models as human-centered and artist-led, with outputs intended to be commercially safe and ready for production. Those assurances are Adobe’s characterization. Its stated goal is to help teams develop ideas faster and undertake more creative projects while protecting creators and their work.

By bringing together Disney’s world-class storytellers and beloved brands with Adobe’s technology, we have an exciting opportunity to give our creative teams new ways to explore and develop their ideas and bring Disney stories and experiences to life for guests and fans around the world.

Becca Vodnoy, senior vice president, Corporate Alliances, The Walt Disney Company

Software access comes with people

Adobe becomes an Official AI Innovation Partner of Disney under the agreement. Beyond the custom models, it will provide early access to Firefly, its generative AI tools; Premiere, its video editor; and Photoshop, its image-editing software. Firefly Foundry is also included in that early-access commitment.

The agreement includes dedicated Adobe engineering and research resources to support Disney’s production pipeline. That puts technical collaboration alongside software access: Disney teams will work directly with Adobe on the models, rather than receiving only access to a standard set of creative applications.

The companies have worked together for decades. Adobe’s tools already support Disney content creation, personalized marketing and digital experiences in its parks. The new commitment builds on that relationship with property-specific AI development and collaboration across Disney’s creative and technical teams.

Studio experiments, sports archives and a marketing alliance

Two other innovation groups have projects underway, with different roles in the agreement:

• StudioLAB: Adobe joins The Walt Disney Studios’ innovation hub as an Innovation Partner. It will work with Disney creatives and technologists on internal creative workflows. StudioLAB brings creative and technical staff together to prototype ideas and turn experiments into tools and storytelling opportunities.
• ESPN Edge: The sports innovation center and Adobe will explore AI for fan engagement and content delivery. Another focus is finding new ways to bring ESPN’s archive to life. The announcement presents these as areas for development, rather than naming a finished fan-facing product.

The partnership also has a commercial visibility component. Adobe will increase its presence across Disney media platforms, and the companies plan global marketing activities, customer storytelling and industry-event collaborations. The relationship is expected to feature at Adobe Summit, Adobe MAX and other major conferences, with additional experiences rolling out over its multi-year term.