Mickey Mouse could soon be performing the next big TikTok dance trend as Disney looks to embrace the creator community. The Walt Disney Company and TikTok announced Wednesday a partnership that would let social media creators make short-form videos based on the entertainment conglomerate’s brands, including Star Wars, Marvel and Pixar. In a press release, it’s being billed as a “first-of-its-kind” deal that will offer TikTok users Disney assets that can be uploaded and shared on both TikTok and Disney+. The feature will roll out in the United States in the “coming months” and then expand to other countries. Financial details weren’t revealed. The deal marks one of the biggest moves for Disney’s new CEO, Josh D’Amaro, who assumed the role in March and is tasked with future-proofing the company. The companies said that content “will be refreshed regularly to engage subscribers more deeply in timely fan conversations, building stronger communities, and ultimately, helping them engage with more story formats across Disney+.” While TikTok has billions of users, the deal could help boost usage of Disney+, which has around 130 million global subscribers. In the United States, the streaming platform is the third-most watched service, capturing about five per cent of watch time in May, according to the most recent data from Nielsen. The deal comes a few months after a partnership between Disney and OpenAI was scrapped. In addition to a $1 billion investment in OpenAI, that partnership would have allowed people to use Sora, a generative-video platform, to make AI videos using Disney content. But Sora was shut down in March following criticism. Vertical video has become a priority for major media companies as people shift their attention to TikTok and YouTube. Netflix, Paramount, HBO Max (owned by CNN’s parent company, Warner Bros. Discovery) and NBC Universal’s Peacock all have introduced vertical video content features to its respective apps in recent months.
