NFTs, the Metaverse, and Disney: See What Bob Iger Has to Say About the "Extraordinary" Possibilities and Dangers

The world is changing in lots of ways — from impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic to things like NFTs and the metaverse.

Magic Kingdom

Recently, Former Disney CEO and Former Disney Chairman Bob Iger sat down and discussed some of these topics with the New York Times. Where could Disney seize opportunity in these arenas and what might the future hold for the Company? Here’s what Iger had to say.

As we mentioned above, Former Disney CEO and Former Disney Executive Chairman Bob Iger was recently interviewed by Kara Swisher at the New York Times. During the interview, Swisher asked Iger about the metaverse, NFTs, and other emerging technologies and how they might impact the entertainment media.

©Alberto E. Rodriguez / Getty Images

Before we dive into his answer, let’s take a look at just what some of these things mean. According to CNN, NFT stands for non-fungible tokens. Essentially “NFTs transform digital works of art and other collectibles into one-of-a-kind, verifiable assets that are easy to trade on the blockchain.” NFTs are unique and no 2 are the same.

Still doesn’t make sense? Yeah, you’re not alone. CNN says to think of things like Pokemon cards or a rare coin. NFTs create “scarcity among otherwise infinitely available assets” and you’ll even get a certificate of authenticity to prove that. Typically, NFTs are used to buy and sell digital artwork.

©Disney ©VeVe

When it comes to the metaverse, USA Today says the “metaverse” is “a combination of multiple elements of technology, including virtual reality, augmented reality and video where users ‘live’ within a digital universe.” We’ve already shared how Disney is working on a Disney Theme Park metaverse which would mix visually enhanced physical reality and virtual space.

So just what did Iger have to say about these things? Iger shared that “internet 3.0, which will definitely be more compelling in experience, certainly more immersive, more dimensional — I think there’ll be a lot to that, in terms of a future.” Iger said it’s something that could be referred to as a metaverse, but he said he doesn’t think there will be just one metaverse.

Bob Iger ©Bloomberg

He said that he thinks things will be dispersed — like a person might have an avatar but they’ll be able to go all over the place. And he said that he thinks it’s something that’ll likely be developed into “something real as an experience.”

Iger warned, however, that toxic behavior can be an issue. He shared that there’s already been enough toxic behavior online and that it could be a problem if the entire digital environment becomes more compelling and immersive. He noted that moderating that type of toxic behavior could be a big challenge of internet 3.0. He also said that toxic behavior and monitoring things like that is something Disney will have to consider as it starts to talk about and look at creating a metaverse for themselves.

©Disney

Iger noted that the standard for Disney is so high, especially because there are typically so many kids involved, so that’s something that’ll have to be carefully considered when it comes to the metaverse and toxic behavior.

When it comes to NFTs, Iger said he thinks they “are real.” He shared that he was big into trading baseball cards as a kid and that “the ability to collect things, even if they’re digital” is an interesting concept. He said that things don’t have to be physical to have meaning to people — which can be easy for some to forget.

Bob Iger

Iger noted that “as long as that meaning can be essentially substantiated in a blockchain, I think you’re going to see an explosion of things being created, traded, collected in NFTs.”

Iger noted that Disney has done some licensing in this area, but that he didn’t have all of the details since that happened near the end of his term. But he shared that when you think about all of the characters, copyrights, and trademarks Disney has, “and the NFT possibilities, they’re extraordinary.”

Mickey!!

We’re already seeing that come into fruition actually! For example, according to Medium, NFTs featuring Mickey and friends will actually be dropping tomorrow! These are first edition character interactive cards that will feature Goofy, Pluto, Daisy, Donald, Minnie, and Mickey, with artwork done by Disney artists.

The Mickey Mouse common NFT for example, has a list price of 40.00 and the number of editions is 13,928. Disney has already released some other limited edition pieces of digital art as well.

When discussing NFTs with Swisher, Swisher noted that there has been fraud around the area of NFTs in some cases and that characters can be stolen. Iger agreed and noted that he went onto a platform used to buy and trade NFTs and saw lots of Disney stuff on there, most of which was pirated and created by people who had no right to create them.

So, it sounds like while Disney has already discussed the metaverse, there are concerns it will need to tackle like toxic behavior and moderating participants. And when it comes to NFTs, there are great possibilities Disney could have in the space, but fighting off NFTs created by those who don’t have the right to use Disney characters will be something the Company will likely have to deal with.

How Disney ultimately decides to move in this changing digital space will be something interesting to watch. We’ll be sure to keep an eye out for more updates and share those with you.