There’s no Disney filter on Instagram today. On January 14, 2025 Meta removed every AR effect made by brands and independent creators from its apps, and kept only the effects Meta made itself (Meta). The Disney-style filters people remember on Instagram were creator effects, so they went too. The cartoon “Disney face” that went viral in 2021 came from another app: Snapchat’s Cartoon 3D Style lens, which you can still use and then post on Instagram (Snapchat).
What happened to the Disney filters on Instagram
Instagram’s Disney effects were never made by Disney. The best known, “Which Disney”, came from an Instagram user, @arnopartissimo, and you found it in the camera’s effects gallery or on his profile (Elite Daily). Creators built effects like it with Meta’s Spark AR tools.
In August 2024 Meta said it would close that platform. On January 14, 2025 all effects built by third parties, “including brands and our wider community of AR Creators”, stopped being available, while effects owned by Meta stayed (Meta). The change covered Instagram, Facebook and Messenger (TechCrunch). That’s why the old tips, like searching for “Disney filter” and tapping Save effect, lead nowhere now. We found no official Disney effect on Instagram either.
Get the cartoon look with Snapchat, then post it on Instagram
The “everyone is a Disney princess” wave was Snapchat’s own lens, Cartoon 3D Style. Snapchat released it on June 10, 2021, and within four days more than 215 million people had used it (TechCrunch). It’s still listed as a Snapchat lens:
- Open Snapchat and, with the lens carousel showing, tap the magnifying glass to open Lens Explorer (Snapchat Support).
- Look for Cartoon 3D Style, or open the lens page on your phone and open it in Snapchat.
- Take the photo or video and save it to your phone.
- In Instagram, add it to a story, a post or a Reel like any other photo or video.
Our guide to linking Instagram and Snapchat shows how to save Snaps and post them on Instagram. One thing to watch: if the saved video has another app’s logo on it, fewer people outside your followers may see it as a Reel. Adam Mosseri, the head of Instagram, put it this way: “What we try to do is not recommend Reels with logos from other apps” (Social Media Today). Once your cartoon Reel is up, our Instagram Reels Views can give it a first push.
Instagram’s own AI tools
Instagram has no Disney style, but it has AI tools that change how a photo or video looks:
- Restyle in Stories (October 2025). Pick a photo or video for your story, tap the paintbrush icon at the top and ask Meta AI to add, remove or change something, or choose a preset such as a watercolor effect (TechCrunch). First you have to accept Meta’s AI terms, which let Meta analyze and modify your images.
- AI effects in Stories (July 2026). Meta announced more than 30 new AI-powered effects for Instagram Stories (Meta).
- Edits, Instagram’s free video app (April 2025), which exports without a watermark (Instagram). In June 2025 Meta added AI restyling to it: more than 50 prompts, such as a vintage comic book look, for 10 seconds of video, free for a limited time and in the US and more than a dozen other countries (Meta).
None of these tools is made by Disney, and none offers a Disney style by name.
Cartoon effects on TikTok
TikTok still lets creators publish effects, and its Effect House tool got a new version on September 22, 2026 (TikTok). To try one, tap Add Post +, then Effects at the bottom of the camera, and tap an effect to preview it. The Favorites button keeps the ones you like (TikTok Support). If you bring the video to Instagram with TikTok’s logo on it, the same recommendation problem applies.
Can you make your own Disney filter?
Not for Instagram. Spark AR Studio closed together with the effects on January 14, 2025 (Auganix). Snapchat and TikTok still let you build and publish effects.
Leave the real Disney characters out of it. Snap tells lens makers they must hold the rights to everything they use, and it can take a lens down when a rights holder reports it (Snap). Disney does enforce its rights: in June 2025 it sued the AI image generator Midjourney together with NBCUniversal and DreamWorks (Georgetown Law), and in December 2025 Google took down dozens of AI videos of Disney characters from YouTube after a cease and desist letter from Disney (Variety). An original cartoon look is the safer choice.
Be careful with AI cartoon apps
An app that turns your selfie into a cartoon gets your face along with it. TechRadar warned in 2025 that uploading your photos to an AI generator gives the company more ways to use them legally, your face included (TechRadar). The US Federal Trade Commission has also warned about the misuse of biometric data such as face scans (FTC). Read what an app does with your photos before you upload them, and never give a filter app your Instagram password.
FAQ
What is the Disney filter called?
On Snapchat it’s Cartoon 3D Style, made by Snapchat. The Instagram versions had other names, such as “Which Disney”, and were removed with all creator effects in January 2025.
Why did my Instagram filter disappear?
If a creator or a brand made it, Meta removed it on January 14, 2025. Only effects made by Meta are left.
Is there a Disney filter on Facebook?
No. Facebook and Messenger lost third-party effects on the same day as Instagram.
Is there an official Disney filter?
We couldn’t find one on Instagram. The popular “Disney” filters were made by Snapchat and by independent creators, not by Disney.
Can I use the Snapchat cartoon lens for Instagram?
Yes. Make the photo or video in Snapchat, save it to your phone and upload it to Instagram.