Alibaba signed content licensing deal with Disney

Alibaba Digital Media & Entertainment Group announced a multi-year licensing agreement with Buena Vista Pictures Distribution. More than 1,000 episodes of Disney animations will be available on Youku and other over-the-top (OTT) platforms that partner with Alibaba.

SEE ALSO: British PM Mentions Alibaba 3X in 10-Minute Speech: Unlimited Cooperation

The agreement includes several Alibaba platforms, including Youku (PC and mobile) and OTT platforms with Alibaba partnership (SmartTV and set-top boxes). Users can watch a variety of Disney animated series, including 600 episodes that will be exclusively licensed to Alibaba during the first two years of the agreement.

The agreement covers several classic animated series, such as My Friends Tigger & Pooh and Duck Tales. It also includes hundreds of Disney movies, such as Pirates of the Caribbean, Beauty and the Beast, Mulan, and Frozen Fever.

In December, Youku struck content licensing deals with NBC Universal and Sony Pictures. Those agreements included series such as the Fast and Furious, Despicable Me, The Mummy, Resident Evil, The Smurfs, and Spider-Man.

In 2015, Youku partnered with Disney to exclusively market Marvel content in China. At the end of 2016, Oriental DreamWorks exclusively licensed with Youku in mainland China to distribute animated films such as Kung Fu Panda, Shrek, and How to Train Your Dragon.