Disney’s Imagineers Are Using Adobe’s Firefly AI to Dream Up Ride Designs

Attraction design at Disney’s theme parks could be getting a lot faster under a new partnership between Walt Disney Imagineering and Adobe announced Tuesday. Imagineers will use Firefly AI — an image and video creation and editing tool — to speed up the concept and design of rides, Adobe says.

Disney’s Imagineers design, develop and test the technology behind rides and experiences at Disney Parks, on Disney Cruise Line and beyond. 

Adobe Firefly Foundry, the business AI version of Firefly, allows companies like Disney to create “tailored generative AI models that are unique to their brand,” according to Adobe. The AI system draws on Imagineering designs and licensed and proprietary assets from Disney franchises.

Imagineers will “soon” begin using the AI within the Adobe tools they already use, the companies said.

This includes an image-generating model that creates “franchise-accurate” depictions of characters like Mickey Mouse, Moana, Lilo and Stitch, Elsa and Lightning McQueen; a sketch-to-image model that takes hand-drawn art and generates 2D concept art; and a 3D-modeling tool that takes those 2D renderings and turns them into 3D prototypes. 

“At Imagineering, we’ve always believed technology and human creativity can work together responsibly,” said Kyle Laughlin, SVP of R&D, Technology and Engineering at Walt Disney Imagineering. “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.”

Disney did not immediately respond to a request for comment on whether using this AI system would result in fewer Imagineering jobs.

It follows Disney’s platforming of an AI-driven animation tool last year, which helps generate character movements for cartoons, aiming to make the workflow less tedious while keeping animators in the driver’s seat and speeding up sketch-to-TV-series time.