Walt Disney Co. is experimenting with using artificial intelligence to test out different concepts for music videos showcasing the lyrics to its songs, starting with “Go the Distance” from its 1997 animated movie, “Hercules.”
The effort is part of a deal with Bay Area AI startup OpenArt, which makes AI generated videos. Disney can input its songs into OpenArt’s platform, which will create a storyboard preview of a lyric video based on the song’s words, mood and emotional tone. Disney can make any changes during the process and fine-tune the video.
“They are very excited to bring some of the older catalogs of the music and create visual lyrics videos for those songs,” said OpenArt CEO Coco Mao, adding it’s “early exploration” for Disney to see how AI could potentially help with their creative workflow.
By working with OpenArt, “creative teams can iterate more freely, generating and evaluating multiple concepts in hours rather than weeks, enabling new fan experiences around Disney music between major releases,” Disney said in a blog post.
The commercial deal was announced as part of the Disney Accelerator Demo Day on Tuesday in Burbank. OpenArt was one of five companies in this year’s Accelerator program, which provides participants with investment capital and the opportunity to explore future collaborations with Disney leaders. This year, the entire cohort is made up of AI companies.
“We’re looking at how we can fit these companies into our existing workflows and help expedite that,” said David Min, vice president of innovation at the Walt Disney Co.
The experiment comes as Disney has challenged other AI companies over the use of its intellectual property. Disney and other studios have sued AI companies Midjourney and MiniMax, and in February, Disney sent a cease-and-desist letter to Chinese tech company ByteDance over its AI video generator Seedance 2.0.
OpenArt offers a platform that works with many different AI models, including Kling, Google Veo and Seedream. Businesses can select which AI models they wish to use for their videos. OpenArt also has a tool that helps flag potential intellectual property infringement.
Videos featuring the lyrics to Disney songs can be popular on social media and video platforms. For example, a lyric video posted six years ago featuring “Go the Distance” sung in different languages with a scene from “Hercules” generated 280,000 views on YouTube.
In general, making music videos has been a popular way that creators are using AI, as it can be more economical and allow them to test bold ideas without blowing the budget or going to multiple locations. Rather than a static image with music, a lyric video with different imagery can also help increase views on social media platforms.
“Before joining Open Art, I was in a rock band, so I was one of the artists that know the pain of not having enough money or time or resource to make lyrics videos or any kind of videos to promote your song on social media, so being able to be a part of building a tool that helps musicians and songs from big to small is very monumental,” said OpenArt executive Chloe Fang, who oversees entertainment and enterprise partnerships.
OpenArt was founded in 2022 by former Google engineers Mao and John Qiao. The company said it has nearly 100 employees and 17 million monthly active users.
Disney is considering different ways to incorporate AI into the company. For example, Disney Accelerator participant Irvine-based FieldAI is working with Disney on exploring whether robots can support parking or other operations within theme parks and San Francisco-based Physical Intelligence is looking at whether robotic systems can help with the handling and arranging of 3D glasses for cleaning between shows at Disney theme parks.
In September, Disney named Character.AI’s then-Chief Executive Karandeep Anand as its new chief technology officer. Last month, Character.AI filed for bankruptcy, and Disney offered $20 million to license some of the startup’s intellectual property. Other bidders can still top Disney’s offer.
Not all of Disney’s AI partnerships have worked out. Last year Disney announced a $1-billion investment in OpenAI and a licensing deal to bring Disney characters to OpenAI’s AI video generator Sora, but it fell apart months later after OpenAI decided to shut down Sora to focus its resources on other aspects of its business. The deal was never completed and no money changed hands.
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