Walt Disney Imagineering, the design and engineering division behind Disney’s theme parks and cruise lines, has developed a proprietary AI model in partnership with Adobe. The tool is built on Adobe’s Firefly Foundry, a boutique AI service that trains on a brand’s intellectual property and catalog. Its purpose is to speed up the creation of attractions, storefronts, and architectural elements.
For Imagineering, the custom model ingested decades of data — including artist drawings, architectural diagrams, and concept art. Kyle Laughlin, senior vice president of R&D technology and engineering at Walt Disney Imagineering, told Fast Company that the data was scattered across “dozens of disparate systems” that AI now helps unify for the first time. The model is based on billions of parameters and can generate on-brand Disney assets.
The system includes a sketch-to-image model that turns hand-drawn concepts into 2D concept art, and a custom image model that produces franchise-accurate creative assets for characters and environments. This marks a significant leap in how the company approaches physical design, traditionally a slow, manual process involving hundreds of artists and engineers.
While the technology promises faster iteration and lower costs, it raises questions about the role of human artists in the design pipeline. Disney has long prided itself on the craftsmanship of its Imagineers, and automating parts of that process could shift the creative balance toward algorithm-assisted production rather than hand-crafted artistry.
Disney did not disclose the financial terms of the partnership with Adobe or the projected time savings. The initiative reflects a broader trend of entertainment giants embedding generative AI into their production workflows, from film to physical experiences.