Animation

Maurice Vaughan I just opened ANOTHER newsletter and they're talking about it too "Nearly 15 years ago to the day, Jeff Bewkes, who was the CEO of Warner Bros. then parent company at the time, shrugged off the rise of an upstart DVD-by-mail service called Netflix. “It’s a little bit like, is the Albanian army going to take over the world?” He said. “I don’t think so. The Bewkes of 2010 would be flabbergasted to learn that Netflix just bought Warner Bros. And the world might be next."

Cyrus Sales I like that Netflix said it expects to maintain the current operations of Warner Bros. “including theatrical releases for films," but I don't like the idea of shorter theatrical release windows.

Feels a bit villainous Cyrus Sales.

I'm just glad I can re-watch GOT on Netflix lol

Three words: TOO. MUCH. POWER! Not a good deal on my part. I'm sorry, I'm just not a fan of the deal.

I think it's bad for animation and filmmaking, Cyrus Sales. I think it's gonna cost people more jobs and opportunities, do more damage to the environment, and blur the line between studio-produced and AI-generated content. Disney should be against AI in storytelling, animation, and filmmaking, not partnering with it.

Cyrus Sales I think it will benefit creators in the first couple of years while studios figure out how to use it properly and still need skilled people to guide and shape the output. After that, I worry it turns bad, with studios limiting roles to a small group to maintain the systems and relying on AI instead of creators. It feels like a short-term opportunity that could lead to long-term replacement.

I love using Ai as a tool but not to create scripts and films Everything will be based on how good your prompts are..

I read the story through the Disney Food Blog. It's a nice idea though. It could help make innovations of it.

My condolences to Dan's family and friends. I was a big Simpsons fan growing up, Kevin Jackson. I like the movie too!

Maurice Vaughan I heard a new movie is in the works. https://screenrant.com/the-simpsons-movie-2-release-date-change-2027-hom...

So young. I'm so sorry for his family's loss. Thanks for sharing this Kevin Jackson.

I can't wait, Kevin Jackson. I need to catch up on The Simpsons show. I remember playing a Simpsons game growing up.

Kevin Jackson I thought I commented on this yesterday but it looks like it didn't post. Sending my thoughts to Dan's family. For whatever it's worth, I know Dan inspired countless people through his work on the Simpsons for generations to come.

Sometimes when I want to write Animation stories, I would much rather create a better subscription and strategize with a better profit for it before making a meeting. I have finished 7 pilots if you like to read the screenplay and longlines for each of my concepts. Also, I'm considering posting a job hiring writers to write non-pilot episodes for the first concept. I can't remember which one, but I know for certain it has to be a superhero concept.

Being a Cymro or Welshman who lives in a hidden country, because you have never heard of a film or animation film about our hero's Owain Glyndwr , or Llewellyn ap Griffiths , our last king of Cymru /Wales, or folklore as in my script entitled, Nos Galan Gaeaf, (Night Of The Heart Of Winter) Our Halloween, the most ancient in Ynys Prydain (Isle of Briton) that was filmed produced and directed by a Welsh crew.

How many of you know about our cultural heritage or History and Folklore, literature, or Arts.?

So being of bardic tradition that runs through our DNA, in Cymru, Well have you heard of any creative arts belonging to Cymru, if so name one?

Being the Oldest Native Peoples of Briton, named by the Romans, Britannia, Latin for brythoneg tribes or early Welsh speakers, we have been in Ynys Mel, (Isle of Honey our name for Britain,) before the Romans came, before the The Irish tribe from Ulster that became the Scottish Nation came, in the 3rd century AD, and with the Welsh that were in what is now Scotland's highlands and low lands became the Pict's that you have heard of, well they spoke Welsh, then came the the Saxon invasion foiled by a Gwentian King Named,' Arthwyr ap Meurig ap Tewdrig', you will have heard of King Arthur I bet there is a Welsh version of the true story but suppressed, by ridicule by British academics, British is a nonsense word an English construct to have their language and Culture suppress the Celtic countries.

Did you know it was the Welsh that fought the Saxons, in 12 battles, not the English fighting their ancestors the Germans? Arth means bear in Cymraeg/Welsh and Wyr meaning man of power, then the Norman Vikings came defeated the Saxons so French was the language for the next 300 years after that , until both languages German and French became English, you know that of course.

What you do not know is that the Cymry (Welsh people not to be confused with Cymru the country) have been in this Island for 10,000 years about 8,000 years longer than our incomers Saxons Scottish and French. So having given you a tiny bit of our History you may ask why don't we know this?

For me it can only be Animation to explore our legends and myths. We were an oral traditional people, so unlike the other Brythonic speakers/ Nations of Kernow (Cornwall) and Brittany , who were to near their colonisers to evolve their own cultures against stronger powerful languages and traditions of their invaders.

So knowing some thing happened to our ability to show our traditions and legacies, heritage and History due to the battle of our culture and Language which is the last battle with our colonisers the English, so we have been gagged at funding source, knackered from jumping through hoops only to find its a paper exercise, so the Native people of Briton are voiceless , our folklore has been kept alive through Cymry people fighting every inch for our culture and Language, as sung in the song in Cymraeg, (Our language) Yma O Hyd, check it out on you tube.

Phew, got that off my chest, the script was originally a 4 year project of an interactive theatre play, a Script lecturer from the Atrium University Cardiff encouraged me to produce short 2D animation film , so any tips would be gratefully received, Diolch yn fawr iawn . PS, its a bilingual film.

1) a good script, is a good script. 2) a good script can be either animation or live action - a bunny cop can be a cute as a bunny female cop. 3) cost? Make the movie any way you can. Animation or live action or puppets if needs be. Each production technique has strengths, play to them. I learned a long time ago getting it done is way more important than not getting it done. I like animation, it’s what I do, but I like watching/ making live action just as much. Storytelling is fun- enjoy it any way you want.

One thing that to me makes animation the best way to tell a story is that it can appeal to literally everyone, and I mean it, to children and adults alike.

Kevin Jackson Honestly, I think it comes down to what can’t be done in live action. Animation gives you the freedom to bend reality, exaggerate emotion, create fantastical worlds, or tell stories in ways that live action can’t easily achieve—or would be insanely expensive to try. If your story needs that kind of flexibility, animation isn’t just a choice—it’s the medium that makes the story possible. The key elements I look at are whether the visuals or action could realistically be done in live action without breaking the bank, whether the story benefits from stylization or exaggeration that only animation can deliver, and whether the characters, settings, or concepts are easier to communicate visually in animation. Basically, if animation adds something unique to the storytelling, it’s probably the right choice.

Hey, Matthew Wach. DragXon is like a dragon and dragonfly mixed. And it can break sound barriers. Unique creature.

There are a lot of animators on Stage 32 (www.stage32.com/people?name=&location=&roles=Animator).

And you could post an ad on the Job Board (www.stage32.com/find-jobs).

Is this like especulative zoology?

Alex Olguin If you mean speculative zoology as in designing creatures with real-world logic, kind of — but Realmon is a full multimedia IP with battles, evolutions, lore arcs, worldbuilding, and narrative integration. It uses spec-zoology principles, but it isn’t only that.

Matthew Wach Hey, Realmon sounds super cool! I love the idea of bringing your creatures to life and helping shape their world. I own a production company for animation and post-production, and often we get on calls with people who have no budget. It really helps if you’ve thought about how you plan to fund or receive funding for your project—being upfront makes things way smoother. I’d be down to see more of your designs and chat about how we could animate them.

I know this is 6 months later, but Zootopia 2 just made $818 Mil on opening weekend, beating Superman's entire cinema run earnings. I just think Elio was not marketed well and it came out around the same time as another movie about a child and her alien friend (Lilo and Stitch). While that is live action and might at a glance prove your point, we have to remember that material based on already popular content will always attract a bigger audience.

I think Elio suffered from poor marketing, which also include timing of its release.

Kevin Jackson I think similar but it's also, and this is something tha happens to me, I feel that every movie is too safe, they all feel the same not like a huge surprise. I think, personaly that movies, specialy animated need to recover that unpredictability factor to actually feel like a real adventure.

I agree Alex Olguin I find that these days everything has to follow a formula, but you still have to create a surprise in it, and I feel like the formulaic structures make everything too predictable. I can literally see "Save The Cat" in amost everything I watch. You can literally set your clock to the beats "Oh here comes the dark night of the soul at the 75% mark".

I love movies like Onward where in the end they don't fully get what they want, but they get what they need. Far too often animated films always have to end with the character getting exactly what they want in a clean happy ending.

Kevin Jackson Alex Olguin Totally agree with you both. Marketing and timing matter, but a lot of animated movies feel too safe and predictable these days. Honestly it isn't just animation. I love when a short series comes out on Netflix because I've found this is where they write the best storylines. A lot of twist and turns. I think we are all tired of the predictable animations and films.

I see photogrammetry being a must-know tool for big-budget projects, Ashley Renee Smith. Avengers, Star Wars, Spider-Man, etc.

Ashley Renee Smith Thanks for sharing. This is my first time hearing about Photogrammetry. I'll have to find out from our animation team if they are familiar with it.

Great questions Ashley Renee Smith. I’m familiar with Fusion 360 for 3D mechanics, and I’ve seen a lot of people using similar workflows in car and product design for games. Working with it has really helped me create new inventions and think through details more clearly. I honestly think VFX and production companies are going to benefit from tools like this drastically in the future. As pipelines get more integrated, studios and production teams may end up relying on this kind of 3D design more than we expect.

I'm a big fan of Bong Joon Ho's live-action movies, Amanda Toney! I'm excited for his Animation feature film!

Great to see one of my alltime favorite directors explore the possibilities of animation.

Amanda Toney I'm not familiar with Bong Joon Ho. I'm still learning who is who in this industry but I did like where he stated "he would love to create a military squad with a mission to destroy AI," lol. I love it for easing the headache of repetitive task and creating some professional emails aside from that, I would love to see AI take a whole seat from the creative world.

Cyrus Sales Bong Joon Ho is the brilliant mind behind PARASITE, which is my favorite movie of the last decade. If you haven’t seen it, I’d watch it, it’s a masterpiece

Amanda Toney I've heard of it but can't quite remember if I saw it. I'll see where it's streaming and check it out. Thanks for the suggestion!

It is all playing out, and real data will be generated when AI is successfully implemented across the entire production pipeline. I know of two productions that axed several artists, downsizing them to one prompter/fixer for various aspects of the production. I am hearing reports from those in production coordination that AI will also be taking over many entry-level jobs in that area.

This article highlights the "fear" that many studio artists share - https://www.animationmagazine.net/2024/01/animation-guild-co-commissione...

The studios intend for AI to replace as many artists as possible, which is why they made no concessions for artists' protection in the latest Animation Guild negotiations.

It's true there is some people who abuse of AI but I see it as a tool that helps with the things you can't do by yourself, but it's not definitorym it's just a complementary tool, like an assistant.

Joshua Young I really appreciated your perspective on AI in the creative industry. I agree that AI is a tool, not a replacement, and it’s easy to see how companies might push for efficiency at the expense of creative labor.

To Bob's point - I hear you. Studios are testing automation (especially at entry levels), but it generally fails when consistency or edits are needed. Here is why the 'AI Replacement' narrative doesn't match the reality:

It’s mostly budget cuts: The layoffs are largely post-COVID corrections. AI is just a convenient excuse for financial squeezing.

Legal risks are high: Buyers are demanding strict guardrails. With cases like Getty (UK) and Andersen (US) unresolved, no one wants to risk the chain of title on major IP.

The tech falls short: AI struggles with character persistence and multi-shot coherence. It’s great for pitch decks and previs, but not final production.

Artists have valid concerns, but right now, the issue is business management, not technology. So yes, there are experiments, and artists have valid concerns. But most layoffs right now are budget corrections thanks to COVID, not AI replacement. Streamers want more for less, studios are cutting costs, and AI is being used as the explanation even when the real issues are business and rights.

There is no disagreement about the main reason that arts jobs are being lost due to studios scaling back and outsourcing. The alarm is for what is coming down the pike with the advancement of AI in the production pipeline. In a recent Wall Street Journal article, Pixar's Andrew Stanton reveals that jobs will be lost due to AI advancement, but creatives will still be needed.

Outstanding. I follow Aaron on youtube. I think his work is amazing.Thank you for posting.

This was a beautiful animation. 0:58 seconds in and I was already moved. Dustin Richardson couldn't have said it better, the Disney magic that we've been missing for years.

Aaron is an animation dynamo. He is keeping the torch of hand-drawn animation burning!

SNOW BEAR is phenomenal, Laurie Ashbourne! Thanks for sharing the film. It reminds me of 2D animated movies I watched growing up. What stood out most about the film is how Aaron used facial expressions, action, and objects to tell the story.

Watched this on "X". Absolutely incredible work.