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Disney introduces Infinity: Toy Box world creator and Action! video apps for iPad

Disney's Infinity collection of toys and video games arrive this Sunday, August 18, and the company surprised the gaming community today by announcing two new iOS mobile companion apps that will be part of the collection. The first is called Disney Infinity: Action! and is described as a user-generated video app. But the second, Disney Infinity: Toy Box, is the one that has our attention.

Disney Infinity is the entertainment behemoth's attempt to create cross-media entertainment with toys that come to life inside its video game. For example, if you bought a Buzz Lightyear Infinity toy and set it atop your Infnity game base, you would play with that character inside a Toy Story world. A code with the toy would unlock the character in the Toy Box mobile app, or you could purchase a digital-only Buzz for US$0.99.

The Toy Box is an iPad app that allows users to create and edit game worlds filled with Disney props and characters, and it's interoperable across platforms. Create a new world on the iPad, and you can play within it or edit it on a PlayStation or Xbox. To tie all of the platforms together, Disney's also announcing a cloud-based identity system known as Disney ID.

Disney Infinity: Action! gives users the chance to shoot videos, then splice them into scenes with Disney characters. The resulting videos, which blend live action with animated cartoon characters, can be shared on YouTube or Facebook, or emailed to others.

VentureBeat interviewed Dan Lehrich, the producer of Disney Infinity: Toy Box, who shows off the game world and the world builder in the following video: