About a year ago, Jeffrey Katzenberg created one of his many stirs by suggesting that AI would replace most animation jobs (I think the percentage he gave was 90%) in a few years.
Two years ago, one of the developers at Open AI's Dall-E released a short where the key visuals were created in Dall-E and then sent to animation pros to compile. Just a few weeks ago, this same team took the same material and remastered it in Open AI's Sora. The side by side is here: https://youtu.be/qjuk0YCUdo8?si=a5iRk26SLjeJvyZS
Today, Variety reported the feature. https://variety.com/2025/film/global/paddington-in-peru-writers-ai-anima... - ‘Paddington in Peru’ Writers Reunite for AI Animated Feature ‘Critterz’ From Vertigo Films, Native Foreign (EXCLUSIVE)
I get it. And I can say that when I was at Disney we were always pushing the tech boundaries (just as Walt did), most animation directors I know do not shun technology, but they insist that technology is not story. This year's Oscar winning feature was made possible by Blender -- the free open source technology that used in most animation schools.
There is currently a big focus on going back to 2D animation and we will be seeing a lot more shorts and features in the near future with their roots in 2D. But the production process will absolutely leverage the technology to make those projects affordable and efficient, just as they did when 2D films were making millions at the box office. My advice to anyone is to always focus on story first and then find the right tools to convey that story. And realize that if CRITTERZ had human characters it would not be nearly as impressive.
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Laurie Ashbourne - Let me start by saying this was a cute little animation. Got a good chuckle out of him suggesting eating the sound guy and the boom pole coming into frame lol.
As someone who owns a small animation company, we have made it one of our goals this year to leverage AI for multiple reasons, cost and time being two of the determining factors. I do believe AI will help with workflow and cost but I don't feel it can replace storytelling and the human aspect of creating art. It's a tool, using it only enhances the work and helps with achieving the artist vision.
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This animation concept reminds me of Aardmans "Creature Comforts", but in no way is as good. If Katzenberg is right then we will be missing so much of the emotion and nuances that human animators bring vs. AI. I agree, a good story is a must, but so is what human animators bring to the project.
https://youtu.be/PCOWE0EiCyo?si=25K0SA90Rto0tnYn
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Robbie McCord I love Creature Comforts, we played that for days at the studio when it was first released. From what I understand of the process used for this, the artists just used AI to create the key visuals and exported it into another program with more controls.
There is no replacement for human nuance (in all creative endeavors), I think we are heading to a place where there will be distinct "content" made on the fast and cheap with AI and "artist generated" films. We were already seeing a shift to that with the playdough factory of CG animation vs. 2D.
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It is imperative for animators to survive the future of the industry is not only to understand AI , but how the biz actually works and see if there is a place for them in the new paradigm, or create their own.
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Laurie, I absolutely love when you pop in and mic-drop some knowledge. Your insights always bring so much clarity to these conversations. The AI debate in animation is fascinating, and I appreciate the perspective that technology should serve the story, not replace it. It’s exciting to see the resurgence of 2D animation alongside new tech, and I completely agree that storytelling should always come first. Thanks for sharing these links; I’ll definitely be diving into them!
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It's almost as if I saw the future. :-) This podcast just dropped today, when I said there will be a distinct AI studio made on the fast and cheap. Here it is, the plan is 30 films a year. However, it does seem they are focused on story first, and admittedly a lot of what is discussed here makes sense, https://open.spotify.com/episode/5tkHd33zKD3VKTDkHmvLRq?si=GVowwugYTlOZU...
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Here is the studio promo as well as the introduction to their first feature. The visuals are impressive, but I am very particular about lip sync. Not only in animation but in localized filmed entertainment. I can't watch anything where the lip sync is off. To my critical eye, it's not there yet. https://youtu.be/sJD4MaEHUJo?si=BL3E2K21SFp6Y38o