Walt Disney Pictures logoImage via Walt Disney Pictures
By
Ryan O'Rourke
Published Feb 3, 2026, 8:32 PM EST
Ryan O'Rourke is a Senior News Writer at Collider with a specific interest in all things adult animation, video game adaptations, and the work of Mike Flanagan. He is also an experienced baseball writer with over six years of articles between multiple outlets, most notably FanSided's CubbiesCrib. Whether it's taking in a baseball game, a new season of Futurama or Castlevania: Nocturne, or playing the latest From Software title, he is always finding ways to show his fandom. When it comes to gaming and anything that takes inspiration from it, he is deeply opinionated on what's going on. Outside of entertainment, he's a graduate of Eureka College with a Bachelor's in Communication where he honed his craft as a writer. Between The IV Leader at Illinois Valley Community College and The Pegasus at Eureka, he spent the majority of his college career publishing articles on everything from politics to campus happenings and, of course, entertainment for the student body. Those principles he learned covering the 2020 election, Palestine, and so much more are brought here to Collider, where he has gleefully written on everything from the SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes to Nathan Lane baby-birding sewer boys.
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Earlier today, Disney CEO Bob Iger officially announced he'd be stepping down in March, naming Josh D'Amaro as the man who would get the keys to the Magic Kingdom. March 18, 2026, will mark the beginning of a new era for the House of Mouse, finally ending Iger's tenure after a bit of a winding swan song that initially saw him step down in favor of Bob Chapek in 2020. He retook the reins in 2022 when the perception of Chapek's tenure quickly soured, and he aimed to be a short-term, steady hand to guide the company through a tumultuous period marked by the rise of AI, political tension, and labor strife. Though most of the day for D'Amaro was spent receiving congratulations, he stepped out of the shadows on Tuesday night to start laying the groundwork for what to expect from his reign.
Iger joined D'Amaro on the latest broadcast of World News Tonight with David Muir on ABC to talk a bit about the new CEO in the context of Disney's towering legacy. Much of the conversation was about how D'Amaro planned to maintain the magic and creativity that has kept the company a creative force since the days of Walt Disney himself. For the new boss, part of the strategy involves AI. While Disney has had a touchy relationship with the technology, its $1 billion equity investment in OpenAI and three-year agreement last year to allow over 200 of its iconic characters to be used in Sora for video generation showed an acceptance of AI's growing place in the industry. According to Iger, that acceptance was also crucial to D'Amaro's ascendance as CEO:
"I'm glad you raised that because one of the reasons Josh was chosen for this position is... I have observed him over the years that we've worked together as someone who views technology as an opportunity and not a threat. And I believe that is critical because when you look at the history of human beings, no generation of human being has ever been able to stand in the way of technological advance. It happens."
Josh D'Amaro Wants AI to Be Another Tool in Disney Creatives' Toolbelt
Any embrace of AI in creativity is, understandably, met with concern. The 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes made regulating AI use a key sticking point in hopes of protecting creatives from being replaced over time by technology. When Muir raised those concerns about what leaning into AI could mean for the future of the company and Hollywood as a whole, D'Amaro largely showed why Iger thought of him as a willing adopter of innovation. The new CEO does not believe it will hurt the artists and traditional methods that have made Disney so great, but will instead be used to supplement their abilities. Citing the ever-evolving nature of Disney as a company, from making animated classics like Snow White and the Seven Dwarves and Beauty and the Beast to becoming a multi-faceted entertainment giant, he insisted that the focus would be on how to best use AI with the people responsible for the studio's creative work:
"The reason this company is so special is because of how creative we are and human beings that are generating that creativity. In my mind, that never gets replaced. And in fact, this isn’t even theory anymore. This is real, it’s something that we’re embracing. If you ever walk over to studios today and see [artists] using AI, harnessing 70 years of history, this is when the Walt Disney Company thrives, when technology intersects with brilliant people and creativity, and we’re in that moment right now."
D'Amauro will take the helm after a strong year for the Mouse House. Zootopia 2 soared to become the highest-grossing animated film in U.S. history, while the live-action Lilo & Stitch remake joined it in earning over $1 billion at the box office. This year, the MCU has already enjoyed a big win with critics and audiences thanks to Wonder Man and has two gargantuan films on the way in Spider-Man: Brand New Day this summer and the big team-up event, Avengers: Doomsday, around Christmas. On the Star Wars front, The Mandalorian & Grogu will finally bring its space-faring franchise back to the big screen too. Not to mention, Disney has finally found a way to get its streaming situation in check to finally start turning profits.
Implementing AI into the company's workflow, however, will be an imposing challenge. Though Iger got the ball rolling with the Sora deal, which notably included extensive protections, including against the use of actors' likenesses and voices, there is much to be done with using the tech to support creativity, productivity, and connectivity, as he hoped. D'Amaro sees newly-promoted Chief Creative Officer Dana Walden as instrumental to entering that new frontier. They hope to get Disney caught up and on the cutting edge of where the industry is going, but what that process will ultimately look like remains to be seen.
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