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Adobe and Walt Disney Imagineering have collaborated to build a custom generative AI solution using Adobe Firefly Foundry, trained on Disney’s own intellectual property, to accelerate the design and pre-production pipeline for Disney Parks and Experiences.
The partnership addresses a specific challenge for a brand like Disney: off-the-shelf generative AI models trained on scraped internet data offer no guarantees around IP fidelity, brand consistency or the provenance of their outputs. For a company where every character, colour and creative decision carries the weight of decades of storytelling, that presents a significant risk.
Adobe Firefly Foundry allows businesses to work directly with Adobe to create tailored generative AI models unique to their brand. In this case, the models have been built on Walt Disney Imagineering’s own design catalogue using licensed and proprietary assets.
Three Initial Workflows
The collaboration centres on three workflows that Imagineers will use across the design process for parks and attractions.
The first is a sketch-to-image model that transforms rough hand-drawn concepts into fully rendered 2D concept art, allowing designers to iterate and explore multiple creative directions from early-stage drawings.
The second is a custom image model developed on Imagineering assets that generates franchise-accurate creative assets across properties including Mickey & Friends, Frozen, Moana, Lilo & Stitch and Cars. The aim is to speed up the concept and design phase for future attractions while maintaining visual consistency with established franchises.
The third is a 3D modelling capability that takes 2D renderings and design concepts and transforms them into detailed 3D prototypes. This gives designers tools to plan builds, estimate materials and coordinate with engineering teams before physical construction begins.
IP Control At The Centre
The use of Adobe Firefly Foundry is significant because the models are built on commercially responsible foundations. Rather than relying on models trained on broad internet data, the Disney-specific models are tuned to understand the precise visual language of each franchise.
This means Imagineers can generate outputs that are consistent with Disney’s creative standards and IP requirements, working within the Adobe tools and workflows they already use.
Hannah Elsakr, Vice President of GenAI New Business Ventures at Adobe, positioned the collaboration as a natural extension of Adobe’s relationship with creative teams.
“Storytelling is in Disney’s DNA. Empowering creators with AI innovations is in ours,” Elsakr noted. “As the teams at Imagineering build new experiences for fans around the world, our tools and workflows will provide a creative foundation to explore bolder ideas and make the best ones a reality.”
Imagineering’s View On AI And Creativity
Kyle Laughlin, SVP of R&D, Technology and Engineering at Walt Disney Imagineering, framed the collaboration as consistent with how Imagineering has historically approached new technology.
“At Imagineering, we’ve always believed technology and human creativity can work together responsibly,” Laughlin explained. “Our work with Adobe lets us bring Disney stories and characters to life in our Parks faster, and with the emotional quality our guests expect.”
Walt Disney Imagineering was founded by Walt Disney in 1952 and has a history of adopting new technologies to support theme park design. The division has operated for more than 70 years, combining artistry with engineering to develop park experiences.
Scaling Across Disney’s Expanding Footprint
As Disney continues to expand across parks, hotels, cruises and other experiences, the collaboration with Adobe is intended to let Imagineering iterate with greater speed across the end-to-end creative process – from hand-drawn sketches and concept art through to detailed 3D renderings and construction-quality CAD models.
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The goal is to allow teams to scale the development of Disney Parks experiences while maintaining the creative standards that the brand requires.
Adobe has a long history in the media and entertainment industry, with technology innovations that have earned multiple Academy Awards for scientific and technical achievement. Firefly Foundry represents the company’s push into custom enterprise AI models that sit within existing creative workflows rather than operating as standalone tools.
Last Updated on June 17, 2026 by Nick Ross
