Amazon Alexa and Disney Team on ‘Hey Disney’
Want to watch The Mandalorian? No problem. Just say “Hey Disney” to your Amazon Echo.
That’s the upshot of Amazon’s preview announcement Thursday (Jan. 5) on the opening day of the 2023 Consumer Electronics Show (CES), providing an apt backdrop to debut the voice-activated experiences Amazon and Disney are rolling out in coming months.
According to an Amazon blog post, the new deal takes Alexa deep into Disney country, saying in a blog post that the new Alexa wake-word “Hey Disney” will activate new features both at home and in Disney Resorts.
Saying the service will be available for purchase in the U.S. within “coming months,” it will enable Disney fans to “enjoy experiences featuring more than 20 Disney, Pixar, and ‘Star Wars’ characters. Customers can interact with these fan-favorites — like Mickey Mouse, Dory from ‘Finding Nemo,’ and Olaf from ‘Frozen’ — to hear an array of jokes, play trivia, listen to soundscapes, and more.”
The service will be accessed through Amazon Echo smart speakers as well as through Disney’s MagicBand+, the interactive wearable worn by Walt Disney World and Disneyland Resort visitors to enter the parks, interact with programming and experiences, and redeem Lightning Lane access, among other features.
The linkup with Disney comes in the wake of scrutiny being directed at Alexa in the third quarter of 2022. The Wall Street Journal reported in November that Amazon was taking a hard look at the 10,000-person headcount of the Alexa business. A subsequent story by Business Insider said the Alexa unit was looking at a $10 billion loss in 2022.
In a statement to PYMNTS in November on the Alexa imbroglio, Amazon spokesman Brad Glasser said: “Even in the last year, Alexa interactions have increased by more than 30%. We’re as optimistic about Alexa’s future today as we’ve ever been, and it remains an important business and area of investment for Amazon.”
Meanwhile, at Disney, costs were also on the chopping block late last year as the company struggled with COVID-era theme park losses and its attempts to make the Disney+ streaming service profitable.
Just one week before being dismissed as CEO to be replaced by former CEO Bob Iger, Bob Chapek responded to PYMNTS with a memo on cost-cutting actions, saying: “We are going to have to make tough and uncomfortable decisions.”
As PYMNTS reported at the time, Disney logged $1.5 billion in quarterly losses for its streaming service, which has lost $8 billion in three years. Netflix has also unseated Disney+ from the top spot in PYMNTS’ December Provider Ranking of Streaming Apps.
This all casts the new partnership in a slightly different light for both companies as they look to increase engagement in their respective products and experiences.
As to the experience previewed at CES, the “Hey Disney” wake word will trigger responses like having your queries answered by beloved Disney characters. When at a Disney Resort hotel, the wake word lets guests “ask questions about park hours, request fresh towels, and access other helpful features.”
Aaron Rubenson, a vice president of Alexa, said in the announcement that “Disney is the master storyteller, and its stories are so powerful for so many people. Now people can keep talking to a character and continue with the storyline when they go back to their room at the end of the day — or when they go home when the vacation is over. It’s gratifying to imagine that we’re a part of literally bringing that magic home.”
Disney has been installing Echo family devices equipped with the new Hey Disney! functionality in rooms at Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort, presumably as a pilot, and will also be available for customers to purchase in the coming months.