Previously, I wrote a provocative essay about how franchise holders like Disney might lose control of their key franchises. That post served as a warning for studios and IP holders about the risks of ignoring AI. However, it didn't highlight the potential positives, which I might illustrate with my own recent experience.
A Toddler’s Tale
I have a little girl, 21 months at the time of writing, and she’s obsessed with Disney’s Encanto. We’ve watched the film about 20-30 times, we bought her an Encanto storybook and a little outfit so she could dress up like the lead character, Mirabel.
As an AI-obsessed storyteller, I wondered:
What if I could make my own Encanto storybooks using the characters from the film?
I tried using Dall-E 3, via ChatGPT, and it seems that OpenAI will let you play with some IP, but knows not to cross the mouse house.
So, instead, I had it give an approximation, as you see above.
For now, the story ends here – with an IP licensing roadblock.
An IP licensing fairytale ending
Instead of dwelling on that unfulfilled story, let's imagine a future where Disney and other IP holders embrace generative AI.
Would I pay $10/month to freely access Disney IP for personal use? Of course I would!
Just imagine what I could create:
Original storybooks
Coloring-in books
Teaching & learning materials – reskinned in my child’s favorite characters
Halloween costumes
And further down the line – original animations. Encanto is not one of the bigger hits like Frozen, where we can expect to see lots of spin-off stories to fuel my kid’s endless desire to see more from the world of Encanto.
But again, imagine if I had the tools to make my own stories, or to ‘re-cast’ various fairytales using the characters from Encanto.