Disney has been trying their hardest to get into the anime market via Disney Plus. The company once had a powerful partnership with Studio Ghibli, but that deal was allowed to expire under Bob Iger. Now they are doing whatever they can to try and attract an audience within that marketplace. 
With Disney recently acquiring the streaming rights to the upcoming Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War series based on the popular Bleach anime, people have been wondering what Disney might try to snag next. With the recent Marvel/Shonen Jump partnership many assume they might go after content from Shueisha.
Recently an artist named @vannrose on Twitter decided to make an interpretation of Goku, the main protagonist from the popular Dragon Ball franchise, in the style of Moana and Raya and the Last Dragon.
Little piece of Dragon Ball fanart I've been working onhttps://t.co/Vc155dK6tj pic.twitter.com/0NvMXapxi8
— Van Rose (@vaanrose) September 27, 2022
However once the picture was posted many people spread the image around online, claiming that it was an announcement for an upcoming Disney Plus series and that Disney had acquired the rights to develop a Dragon Ball series.
This of course is not the case, but did make many hardcore Dragon Ball fans have a brief heart attack.
Technically Disney does have some connection to Dragon Ball as in 2009 20th Century Fox developed a Live-Action adaptation of the series called Dragonball Evolution. The film is considered one of the worst anime adaptations of all time and is reviled amongst the Dragon Ball fanbase. And yes, the film is currently on Disney Plus.
However, despite this being a case of an internet hoax going viral it doesn’t mean that Disney wouldn’t rule something like this out. A potential partnership with Shueisha could happen, leading to what may become wither a number of different movies and shows based on their IPs, or even a Shonen Jump Cinematic Universe. You know they would do that if they thought they could make money. The only thing that might be in their way is SONY/FUNimation.
What do you think? Do you believe Disney would make a Dragon Ball film/show?
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