Disney's New iPhone Keyboard Puts Pixar And Star Wars GIFs At Your Fingertips

Sometimes words aren't enough to completely express the idea you're trying to convey. Maybe a popular cartoon character GIF, which is really just compressed images on a short loop, can help -- and Disney Interactive's new app and keyboard for iOS makes it a lot easier.

The app is appropriately called Disney GIF, and it's free for iPhones from the iTunes App Store. There's no Android version yet. It's a straightforward iOS keyboard -- after you install it and activate it, it's just another tap away from the Apple emoji keyboard. You scroll through, find a GIF you like, then copy and paste it into whatever message you're composing, whether it's a text, email, or other messaging service that supports GIFs.

The selection of GIFs is pretty great. After all, Disney not only owns its impressive collection of characters -- from Cinderella to Pocahontas -- but also characters from Pixar, as well as Star Wars. (GIFs from ABC shows are available, too, in case you're a huge Black-ish fan.) There are a lot of good selections, including an original, licensed, "It's a Trap!" GIF.

The only in-app purchases so far are two packs of emoji and stickers for Frozen. Other animations are totally free. But considering how popular Frozen is in the younger set, Disney is hoping a lot of parents will be paying a buck or two for the ability to send little pictures of Elsa.

Disney's new app and keyboard isn't the first to simplify the ability to send GIFs on the iPhone. It's not even the first that can send Star Wars animations -- you've been able to upload your own GIFs to keyboards like Popkey since last year. But Disney GIF is fully licensed, fun, and free for the most part. There's no reason not to try it out if you're a fan.