AI and animation, good or bad?
When it comes to discussing the use of generative artificial intelligence in anything related to human creativity, I can’t help but disagree with it in its entirety. I think it’s bad, really bad.
However, I will say there is definitely potential for it to be used in making certain steps quicker or more convenient. Though, that would probably imply the loss of many jobs in an industry where it’s already hard to make it in a professional sense and make a true living out of it. Art and animation have already always been very hard fields to get into as a line of work, given there’s many aspiring artists and animators and only a select few spots open in certain places, or places looking for specific skillsets, or years of experience. Something not many people have.
So, bringing AI into the picture, if it’d optimize, say, in-betweening or cleanup – there would probably be less human animators involved in the process, which would not be a good thing. A lot of companies are already known for looking into cutting costs as much as possible with how expensive animation is and how fast everyone wants new content, but it’s awful. For example Coca Cola with their AI ads, truly a horrible reality.
To bring up some of the involvement of AI in the animation industry already, because it is sadly already starting to present itself, I will mention some examples of AI usage in the industry and the backlash they’ve faced because of it.
First off: Critterz. To quote TMB’s article on The Movie Blog, Vertigo Films and Federation Studios launch a new AI native production company called Amersia. Their first technology platform, Woven, powers the entire Critterz pipeline. Already working on an “AI animation” studio? Not a great look. To add on to Amersia, Netflix is also working on their own experimental “AI animation” studio: INKubator, with which they, allegedly, aim to let artists experiment.
On the topic of big companies and known names launching “AI animation” studios, Amazon is involved, too. There was recently a big controversy surrounding famous Mexican animator, creator of The Book of Life and Maya and the Three, Jorge Gutierrez, where he was partnering up with Amazon to fund Punky Duck, a production thought out to involve generative AI in its making.
However, due to the sheer amount of backlash Jorge Gutierrez received after announcing this project, he has since dropped out and apologized for even considering it in the first place. Damage was already done, though, since his reputation has already been tarnished because of this.
Moving on, how crazy would it be to imagine a whole movie production purely animated using generative AI? Probably insane, but as of today, it is sadly a reality. Copán: The Legend, an honduran “animated” production, is an entirely AI generated movie that came out early May this year. They have received amounts of backlash as crazy as its existence, no need to even get into why.
There are also companies who are now publicly against AI and their use in animation. In this case, I’m talking about Blender. They recently announced that the Blender Development Fund would join Anthropic, an AI-related company, as a Corporate Patron member. Though, after numerous negative opinions from the public, they said this: “Blender is a tool for artists and creators, it’s made by humans for humans. No generative AI functionality is currently available or planned to be integrated in Blender.” So that’s good news.
To close things off, there is a silver lining. Some big creators, like Guillermo del Toro, or smaller ones, like Kiana Mai (creator of indie show Pretty Pretty Please I Don't Want to be a Magical Girl) are very openly and publicly against generative AI and its usage in the industry. This creates a safe space for other creators and animators to keep pursuing their passion despite the hardships the current world situation is bringing.
References
Tmb, & Tmb. (2026, 25 mayo). Inside Critterz the Fluffy AI Animated Film Set to Transform Hollywood. The Movie Blog. https://www.themovieblog.com/2026/05/inside-critterz-the-fluffy-ai-animated-film-set-to-transform-hollywood/
Lang, J. (2026, 28 mayo). Amazon unveils its first GenAI animation projects, including a new series from Jorge Gutierrez. Cartoon Brew. https://www.cartoonbrew.com/artificial-intelligence/amazon-genai-animation-jorge-gutierrez-261648.html
Lang, J. (2026b, mayo 29). Jorge Gutierrez says he’s dropping out of Amazon’s AI animation initiative. Cartoon Brew. https://www.cartoonbrew.com/artificial-intelligence/jorge-gutierrez-amazon-mgm-punky-duck-261798.html
Chávez, J. (2026, 21 mayo). Rechazan Copán: La leyenda por haber sido creada totalmente con I.A. Hollywood Reporter. https://es.hollywoodreporter.com/rechazan-copan-la-leyenda-por-haber-sido-creada-totalmente-con-i-a/
Siddi, F. (2026, 1 mayo). Upcoming Blender Development Fund and AI Policies. Blender. https://www.blender.org/news/upcoming-blender-development-fund-and-ai-policies/