The Walt Disney Company and TikTok have struck a first-of-its-kind content-sharing agreement allowing creators to use characters and scenes from Disney films and television shows. Set to launch as a U.S. pilot program in the coming months, the partnership will feature curated short-form videos across TikTok and a new vertical video feed on Disney+.
A First-of-Its-Kind Content Partnership Between Disney and TikTok
Walt Disney and TikTok announced a wide-ranging content-sharing agreement that brings social media creator videos directly onto the Disney+ streaming service. Under the terms of the pact, a thoughtfully curated selection of videos created by TikTok users will stream on both TikTok and the Disney+ platform, according to joint statements released by the companies. The collaboration marks the first time short-form videos from the social media app will be hosted on another major streaming platform.
The agreement gives participating creators access to assets from hundreds of films and television series spanning Disney’s major brands, including Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, and FX. Fans will be able to utilize memorable scenes and moments from Disney movies and shows to produce original short-form content. While financial terms were not disclosed, both companies confirmed that a pilot program will begin in the United States in the coming months, with plans to expand the initiative to international markets later.
Capturing Younger Audiences Through Vertical Video on Disney+
The short-form clips produced through the partnership will appear on Disney+ under a dedicated vertical video feed known as Verts. Streaming services have increasingly embraced vertical video formats to capture younger demographics who primarily consume video content on mobile phones in portrait mode. The deal will turbocharge the Disney+ Verts offering, which the company teased when it launched in March. Similar vertical video features have been adopted across competing platforms, including Peacock, Paramount+, HBO Max, and Netflix, which features “Clips” as a way to integrate short-form video.
Disney executives emphasized the cultural role that fan communities already play in celebrating studio franchises online. Data provided by TikTok indicates that platform users shared an average of 6.5 million film- and television-related posts each day over the prior year, with nearly half of surveyed viewers reporting that they watched a movie or TV show after discovering related content on TikTok. This partnership recognizes that fans of characters and intellectual property—whether Marvel, Star Wars, or Moana—frequently utilize social video platforms to dissect, discuss, and celebrate these worlds.
“The best storytellers are fans first. That has always been true at Disney, and today, fans are celebrating our stories in entirely new ways. This collaboration creates a new bridge between the stories we tell and the creativity they inspire, giving creators a bigger stage to share what they’ve made, and audiences more to discover on Disney+ every day.”
Asad Ayaz, chief marketing and brand officer for The Walt Disney Company
The Disney Creator Ambassador Program and Fandom Economics
Beyond hosting user-generated clips, the partnership establishes the Disney Creator Ambassador Program. Through this joint initiative, Disney and TikTok aim to enable best-in-class creators to unlock special rewards, providing them with increased visibility, access to exclusive events, and career development pathways. The company described this tiered program as a reflection of Disney’s commitment to building relationships with the next generation of creative talent in partnership with TikTok, noting the platform’s unique attention and care for its creator community.
“Creators are at the heart of everything we do at TikTok. Their creativity extends the life of films and shows into conversations that fans discover and share. Together with Disney, we’re bringing the authentic creator expression of the TikTok community to Disney+, inviting audiences to experience the shared creativity that makes fandom so powerful.”
Dawn Yang, global head of entertainment for TikTok
The agreement shares structural similarities with a short-lived announcement made the previous year between Disney and OpenAI to feature videos from Sora on Disney+, though the new alliance is distinct in that it operates without an AI-generated angle. By involving creators who opt-in to the program, the companies intend to refresh content regularly to engage subscribers more deeply in timely fan conversations and help them engage with more story formats across the Disney+ platform.
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