June 9, 2026
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Cohen’s Cartoon Corner: June 2026
by Karl F. Cohen
Those cute critters from 'Critterz', are causing an AI stir. photo: Paddington in PeruPLEASE support our research expenses, rebuilding the cineSOURCE site and more with a one-time or ongoing subscription.
First AI Feature Hits Cannes
The world’s firsts commercial AI, family -friendly feature was showen at the Cannes Marketplace hoping tto find a distributor. Although it was not to be shown in the actual festival, false rumors said it was withdrawn. How that happened isn’t clear yet. The first story I read made no sense. It said it wasn’t shown because the Sora software wasn’t available at Cannes, which is true, but the software was taken off the market several months ago, so why wasn’t production stopped then if the software had to be on the market?
According to Bloomberg News, “Critterz” was reportedly left without a key element of its workflow pipeline in mid-production. Why couldn’t the work continue (or did it?) as the production company already had copies of the software that worked?
I’ve seen blogs and credible sounding new stories with various ideas as to what happened. All sounded confusing. My theory is that the film’s producers went to Cannes with clips to show to prospective distributors but, according to my sources, it was a bit behind schedule and wasn’t finished. I never saw a screening date announced. I suspect nobody offered it a firm distribution contract and that rumors started about no premiere and got out of control.
“Critterz” is an animated feature written by the Paddington-in-Peru duo James Lamont and Jon Foster, and Tom Butterworth (“Birthday Girl”, “The Last Legion”, “Ashes to Ashes”), was going to launch sales and screen first-look footage at Cannes , according to Variety (May 4, 2026) (also see Cartoon Brew).
The script is directed and produced by Nik Kleverov, co-founder of Native Foreign, with Chad Nelson, creative strategist at OpenAI, serving as a producer along with Allan Niblo and James Richardson from Vertigo Films (part of Federation Studios). Pascal Breton, Lionel Uzan, Jane Moore, Ford and Aghi Koh are executive producers.
The feature is a full-length adaptation of the 2023 viral short “Critterz” created by Nelson, which was the first to use cutting-edge creative tools. “Critterz” follows an anxious but brave little woodland creature who unites with a group of eccentric outcasts — each with their own peculiar quirks and hidden strengths—on a high-stakes quest to find her long-lost brother.
“’Critterz’ will be a timeless film—a world that feels truly its own,” according to director Nik Kleverov. “It will carry the wonder of the ‘80s fantasy movies I grew up on — the scrappy, adventurous spirit of ‘The Goonies’ and the mythic, emotional scope of ‘The NeverEnding Story’… combined with the scale of early ‘Star 'Wars’. It’s grounded in something deeply human: a fractured world finding its way back together. At the center is a character whose greatest power isn’t force — it’s believing in herself, and her family.”
Unfortunately, a friend emailed me, “The faces are just creepy!”
Plympton cartoon about his roast. illo: B. Plympton Plympton Roasted on Birthday
Bill Plympton was grilled, rather well done twice not once on his 80th birthday roasts. Here is what a few people had to say in notes sent to be read or where there in person.
Matt Groening: “Bill Plympton is God. Period.”
Terry Gilliam: “Bill Plympton is a genius. Where does he buy his drugs?”
Pat Smith: “Bill Plympton is a National Treasure.”
Biljana Labovic: “Bill Plympton is the most consistent animation job creator in NYC.”
Signe Baumane: “Bill Plympton inspired thousands of animation careers, including mine. He showed what is possible if you just do it, make a film without waiting for a studio approval or a grant.”
Bill was roasted for about 90-minute at the School for Visual Arts auditorium by people he had worked with over his remarkable 45+ year career. There were humorous anecdotes, personal stories, and other kinds of good-natured comments that reflected on Plympton’s lasting impact on the animation industry. They honored his creative vision that transformed a shy boy from Portland, Oregon into one of the most influential figures in independent animation.
Bill has been called “The King of Independent Animation.” The MC for the SVA event was Patrick Smith (Disney, MTV, YouTube, Pour 585). The presenters: Maureen McElheron (music for "The Tune", "Your Face"), Signe Baumane (“My Love Affair With Marriage”), Lisa LaBracio (“The Opposites Game” and founder of Animation Speak/Easy), Biljana Labovic [“TED-Ed”], Dez Stavracos [“Hornet”) and Daniel Neiden (“Whale 52”,” The Tune”).
A week later Bill was grilled at Metrograph at the Grill Bill event by fellow indie animator Signe Baumane who made sure Bill was well done and ready for his next decade.
Enjoy a wonderful tribute to Bill with link to a trailer for "I Married a Strange Person".
Plympton Shown at Two Major European Festivals
Plympton recently returned from the Berlin International Film Festival, where his latest short film “Whale 52” won the Crystal Bear for Best Short Film. The film was also screened at the Cannes Film Festival.
Disney Hits Two Bill Mark
Disney is the first studio to pass the two billion dollar global box office mark this year.
Other high grossing trivia facts include “Avatar” is still the "highest-grossing" film ($2.9 billion). “Titanic” earned $1.2 billion from video and DVD sales and rentals, in addition to the $2.2 billion it grossed in theaters. “The Lion King” has grossed over $2 billion in box-office and home video sales, but that pales in comparison to the $8 billion earned at box offices around the world by the stage show adaption and the $3 billion of “Lion King” merchandise.
The latest Marvel film is Captain America: Brave New World, which was released in theaters on February 14, 2025. photo: courtesy Disney in Peru Disney’s Marvel Lay-offs
Disney’s Marvel Studios lays off artists who “brought the studio to to life” and is appointing other people to head the division ceo Josh D’Amaro informed staff about cuts in a memo on April 14 that said around 1,000 jobs were being eliminated. Marvel Studios was included in the cuts, and laid off members of its visual development team included 16-year veteran Andy Park, who was well known by fans.
Andy Park, who created the original Wasp super-suit and the original Wasp concept drawings for the film “Ant-Man and the Wasp”, said "It’s true. I have been let go. And I can’t quite believe that Disney has let go of the artists who brought the Marvel Universe to life through their imagination and their genius.” He began working with Marvel nearly two decades ago, beginning with 2011’s “Captain America: The First Avenge” and “Thor”.
One person contacted by The Hollywood Reporter speculated that some are being replaced by AI (unconfirmed rumor at the time of publication). The new head of Marvel TV, animation, comics and franchise will be Brad Winderbaum who was Disney’s chief of television and animation. David Abdo will move from Disney to serve as Marvel’s general manager, comics and franchise and will be reporting to Winderbaum. Dan Buckley, the longtime head of Marvel Comics is departing.
Disney Sued for Facial Recognition
Disney sued for using facial recognition technology at park entrances to verify tickets. A class action suit accuses the company for violating privacy, competition and consumer protection laws. The complaint says they use the technology at Disneyland to photograph guests’ faces and comparing them with images when they first used the ticket or annual pass. The company “does not adequately disclose the use of their biometric collection, so consumers have no idea that Disney is collecting this “sensitive data.”
Breaking News: AI Short Actually Watchable
Eurika! I’ve finally found an AI short that I consider to be quite impressive—it’s name “New York Rust & Rhythm Blues Bar”. I have no idea who created it, but it shows AI is probably going to find a place in the animator’s tool box for work on music videos . Was the live action it is based on filmed on a cell phone? Read more here
Perhaps you can tell me.
Will the animators animate or be animated?. illo: unknown My Beef with AI Animation
My personal criticism of AI animation is that I have yet to see exceptional examples of it. Nevertheless, AI artists are getting better by the month. Some is amazing in some way, but technical accomplishments or short clever moments do not qualify as remarkable or meaningful works. Frankly, most of what I’ve seen has not been that impressive aesthetically or interesting in terms of content or technique. I assume that the command of the technology and the quality of the writing will improve with time.
Please send me impressive examples of ai animation so i can tell readers about them in future newsletters. Do they exist? Let me know at .
Ai Animation: The Rise Of A New, Controversial Art Form (an essay by Karl Cohen)
Over the centuries some art has always been controversial. In the early 19th century artist sincluding Goya and Delacroix were seen as both politically correct or incorrect, depending on what government was in power. As new approaches to art developed in Europe in the second half of the 19th Century, the people who controlled what was exhibited in the annual academy salons were highly critical of works by Monet, Van Gogh, Cezanne and their friends. In the 20th Century the Nazis held a famous exhibit of contemporary art that they hated called “Enarte Endekunst,” or Degenerate Art which they wanted the public to ridicule (they didn’t, instead they flocked in droves while the Munich gallery with Nazi-approved art was lightly attended).
In the U.S. there have been several controversial art moments including the Ash Can School, action painting (Jackson Pollock, de Kooning), Pop Art, Op Art and several others.
Today some people consider AI animation so controversial, to the point that they are openly intolerant of it. The Motion Picture Academy just took a strong stand against it when they announced that, “AI is not welcomed at the Oscars.”
Iris Knobloch, the President of the Cannes Film Festival denounced AI in the press this year. “We are defending the freedom of creation for all human beings, but only for human beings,” she said. “AI is already in the studio and the editing rooms and the process of creation. We will not close our eyes, but we refuse [to let] AI dictate its law to cinema. Behind each picture, there is a moviemaker, but also dozens, sometimes hundreds of people who put their talent, their skill, their energy, their soul, in a shared project. A movie is not just a patchwork of data; it’s a personal vision. AI knows how to imitate very well, but it will never know how to feel.”
Cannes Film Festival head, Iris Knobloch, rejected AI-made films this year. illo: courtesy Cannes Film FestAI is disliked by some people because it is created using advanced computer systems. They overlook the fact that humans create and control those computers. Humans tell the machines what they want them to do. They train the systems, decide what the images and soundtrack will be, tell the computer what movements to make, decide on the timing and editing and make other changes. People, not computers make the decisions. The computers simply follow the artist’s instructions about what is wanted as best as they can.
From conversations with people who create AI, a major problem is one of linguistics; the machine may not understand exactly what it is being told to do. That may result in you’re not getting exactly what is wanted. That may result in compromises being made. For example, the machine may not have been trained to know the difference between art nouveau and art deco.
Errors are another problem. The operator of the system may have to spend a vast amount of time making corrections. You constantly need to check to make sure your work stays “on model.” A minor error can multiply and become a major problem if it isn’t caught right away. It can be quite time consuming to have to go back and make all the needed changes, or you may decide to live with the problem.
Another concern is some people have ethical or artistic reasons for not liking AI. It bothers a lot of people that many of the creators are using unauthorized works to train their systems. If you train your animation to create a specific image, sequence or movement using someone else’s work without their permission or without changing it in a major way, it is considered plagiarism. Yes, you may be guilty of ripping off another artist. Unfortunately, most AI animators do not get permission to copy it or don’t change their work enough to make it obvious it is original footage.
Creating something new based on someone else’s work that inspires you can be a complicated issue. For example, we may admire Mozart or Beethoven, yet some of their works are based on earlier work by Hyden, Handel and others. In some cases, the newer work may have a title like “12 variations based on a work by…” that acknowledges the origin of the music.
With contemporary pop music are there agreed upon rules for bands that borrow licks from the Rolling Stones or The Beatles? I don’t know, but I do know that at some point people will need to decide what is are realistic rules for AI animation.
Yet another issue is the fears that AI will put animators out of work. That may not be a major problem as several people I’ve interviewed say AI is creating more jobs than it has replaced as it is so labor intensive. While some people with traditional skills have been laid off, others have been retrained to work with AI.
Finally, it is important to note that AI animation is just getting started and we don’t know if it will succeed or fail. It may not be very useful for some tasks and valuable for others. It could be too expensive to use in some situations. Producers will be anxious to use it if it cuts costs, if it is attractive looking, or if saying your work uses new technology draws attention to it. On the other hand animators may go nuts having to talk all day to a computer.
Jessica Rabbit's oozing tumescence is acceptable in animation. illo: courtesy R. Zemeckis What Type of Films Are Well Suited for AI
David Scarpa, who writes about media for the Hollywood Reporter. feels audiences will not take seriously AI people in films about real life features, but animated character are more likely to be accepted as enjoyable entertainment (May 1 issue of Hollywood Reporter).
“Animation has never tried to perfectly replicate what live-action can do; instead it does what live-action can’t. And in all great animation, from Chuck Jones to Hayao Miyazaki to “Wall-E”, the human touch is palpable in every frame, because human audiences demand it.” But while we can enjoy Jessica Rabbit in “Who frame Roger Rabbit?” as sexy, it will be much harder to accept as sexy not spooky an AI woman in a photorealistic work. Our brains know the difference.
Scarpa feels, “Realistic AI in the future will have to be enormously original and distinctive to rise above the ocean of zero-cost AI slop that will soon be out there,” while “the bar will be higher for AI filmmakers than live-action filmmakers in terms of voice and originality. “He expects to see “legions of roving AI agents cloning whatever movie just dropped,” but “the supply of human drama, written by real writers and performed by real actors, will remain as scarce and valuable as ever.
Trippy Eye Candy
It looks cool, but is there any meaning or point to it? Here is another surreal music video by Kelly Boesch Eldridge that holds together for me, but is still vapid: "Between Imagining & Real - An AI Journey into the Bizarre".
Scene from 'Fallen' by French animator Louis Clichy. illo: courtesy L. Clichy Animation at Cannes
What animated features were screened at the Cannes Film Festival, May 12-23? “Fallen” is a French animated feature by Louis Clichy, a Pixar alum who worked on movies like “Wall-E” and “Up” before making two animated “Asterix” features in his home country. Clichy’s third feature is 2D animated, with a sketchbook aesthetic that looks quite charming, and focuses on a young boy who needs an iron prosthetic corset to stand upright and breaks away from his strict life on his family’s farm to find a passion for music.
“Tangles”, the debut feature of Canadian director Leah Nelson, which is based on a graphic memoir by Sarah Leavitt and focuses on a daughter who returns to her hometown to help care for her mother, who has begun suffering from Alzheimer’s. “Lucy Lost” from Oliver Clert is a more family-friendly story of a young orphan living in 1915 Sicily who goes on an adventure to uncover the truth behind her mysterious visions.
“In Wave”s, Phuong Mai Nguyen, France, is about the romance between a surfer and skateboarder. It was the first animated feature to open the Fortnight screenings and it was shown twice, in English and once in French.
The festival closed with “Le Vertige”, a French comedy by Quentin Dupieux. “A man discovers his world is a simulation that’s animated to look like a PS2 game.”
The festival also showed “We Are Aliens” from Japan. a rotoscope film, and “Viva Carmen!”, an adaptation of the famous opera by Chicken for Linda! director Sébastien.
Scene from 'Jim Queen and the Quest for Chloroqueer' by first-time directors Marco Nguyen and Nicolas Athané. illo: courtesy M. Nguyen and N. Athané“Jim Queen and the Quest for Chloroqueer” is a retro, 2D animated independent film from debut directors Marco Nguyen and Nicolas Athané, that was shown as a midnight movie at Cannes. Wilson Chapman, the IndieWire writer about animation at Cannes says “sounds unabashedly camp and extremely queer, focusing on a hunky gay influencer and a twink who search for a cure to a disease that makes gay men heterosexual. It looks gorgeous, weird, daring, funny, and unlike any animated film to ever get serious awards attention, which is why I’m really pulling for it to be great.”
See Some Exciting Animation
See a really exciting trailer for some incredible animation, George Pal’s “Puppetoons”. Leonard Maltin said, "George Pal's ‘Puppetoons’ took music and fantasy and charm as their ingredients for entertainment...reminding us all of this great, great talent."
Arnold Leibovit is proud to present the restored Director's Cut of "The Puppetoon Movie" digitally-4K scanned for the first time from the original 35mm color negative. It is packed with almost four hours of total content including over tow hours of new Bonus Extras, presented on a Dual Layer Blu-ray with a 28-page Color Collector's Booklet, go here.
Censored Old Animation
An unexpected website: “Secrets of Golden Age Cartoons”. Want to watch videos like “How Cennsorship Destroyed Betty Boop”, “35 Forgotten DARK Disney Cartoons You Won’t Believe Existed”, “Merrie Melodies: 14 Weird Facts You Didn’t Know” (1931); “14 Weird Facts You Didn’t Know About Gerald McBoing Boing” (1950); “The Dark Origins of Betty Boop” and dozens more?
When I looked the series up using a Microsoft search the shorts were in English, but when I used Firefox, some were in foreign languages. I have no idea who created this site or why, but the narration is full of fun obscure facts including dark production stories, strange behind-the-scenes information and other details. The text seems to be well researched and written, while the images seem to be appropriate collages of clips. Many seem to be extreme examples so the clips are fun to watch even though many are not from the actual film being discussed.
Nancy Beiman Tells All
“The Secret to Staying Creative for Life with Nancy Beiman” is now online. She talks about working at Warner Bros Animation, creating a comic strip, the importance of including your own experiences in your work, advice she gives students, her feeling about AI and other things. The Secret to Staying Creative for Life with Nancy Beiman - YouTube
Penn Station Has Cool Animation
John Canemaker’s work is being seen by thousands of people each week in a most unusual way. The Museum of Modern Art New York is running a 15 second clip from his short “Bridgehampton” in the cavernous Moynihan Train Hall at Pennsylvania Station, NYC. It is seen every 5 minutes as part of Penn Station’s “MoMA at Moynihan”. It is being screened on four huge screens and will be seen by thousands of commuters daily until the end of June. See video clip.
Scene from Lippy's 'Valentine's Day'. illo: courtesy LippyTed Talks Animator
Lippy from Mill Valley has been animating shorts for Ted Talks and several are on his demo reel, see Lippy Animation Demos.
Lippy is a San Franciso based animator and illustrator. He has produced work for Google, Apple, Disney, & the John Lennon estate, see his “Valentine’s Day" “Google Doodle” was their very first, long-form 2D animation and it gained him international acclaim.
Nik and Nancy On the Road
On May 12th, Nancy Phelps wrote me, “We are back from a wonderful week in Stuttgart. Lots of good films, old friends, and great food. On Saturday (May 11) we leave for Berlin where Nik has done the music about a play about Lotte Reiniger in celebration of the 100th anniversary of The Adventures of Prince Achmed. Her granddaughter wrote the script, there are silhouette figures, puppets and three live actors along with Nik performing. The anniversary may not be a big deal in the states but it is in Europe, especially in Germany. Then it is time for Zagreb and Annecy.” That is a hint of what her coming articles will be about.) Stuttgart’s animation festival also presented it with a live acompment.
Help Needed
Temporary help needed to assist Karl Cohen in writing part of the newsletter since he needs to get serious about finishing his book “Amazing Animation”. About 90% is finished but he is spending too much time on the newsletter, so hasn’t completed the book. It can be easy articles to write, like interesting Disney news or listing the soon to be released features with links to the trailers. You can also write about other things you think readers might want to know about.
Netflix Debuts Spanish Version of Frankelda
"I Am Frankelda" debuted on Netflix on June 12th. In fact, Netflix will release the movie in both the original Spanish version with subtitles and in a dubbed English-language version, see the "I Am Frankelda" Trailer,
Annecy Fest Update
Annecy Animation showcase will feature five films looking for distribution. There is a wide range of content in these non-Hollywood features:
'Bataille', a new French animation draws on Renaissance art, pop songwriting and more. illo: courtesy V. Keaton Bataille (France, Canada, Italy, Belgium)
Director: Vergine Keaton, Language: French, completion: 2028
On a cold winter morning, a battle rages in the surroundings of a small town in the Italian Renaissance. As the military tactics gradually go awry, two movements oppose each other: the desire to win and the desire to live. Written and directed by Annecy-nominated artist Vergine Keaton, "Bataille" draws from Renaissance art to transform a single conflict into a universal allegory; French singer-songwriter Pomme is involved in the project.
Les chiens ne font pas des chats (France, Canada, Belgium)
Director: Alain Gagnol,
Language: French, Technique: 2D with 3D elements Completion: 2027
Jules and Lola’s life has taken a sad turn after their parents’ death, but their routine is disrupted by their grandmother Jeanne, who turns up with a very special mission: to find a missing teenager. Thanks to their grandmother, they discover an extraordinary family legacy within themselves. The title, literally translated as “dogs don’t give birth to cats.,” is the French equivalent of the English phrase “the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.”
Hidari (Japan)
Director: Masashi Kawamura, In English, Stop motion, Completion: 2029’ Betrayed during Edo Castle’s reconstruction, legendary craftsman Jingoro Hidari loses his father figure, fiancée, and even his right arm. Forging lethal mechanical prosthetics, he turns grief into vengeance and carves a path to justice with his loyal “Sleeping Cat.”
Insectario (Mexico, Spain)
Director: Sofía Carrillo: Stop motion, Completion: 2026. In a world where insects have gone extinct, Lexi preserves specimens in a collection for her uncle, Dr. Krause, an entomologist. After removing the pin from a rare Attacus atlas moth, she takes it home to hide her mistake, only to discover it has come back to life.
Wasted Chef (Japan)
Director: Takayuki Hirao, Completion: 2027. A young chef chasing a lost flavor lands in a ruined city without taste. Saved by Kasumi, his cooking awakens forgotten memories. But a dark force threatens to erase all desire — making his quest the last hope to save both worlds.
Scene from 'Copán, la leyenda', made in Honduras using AI. illo: courtesy Ricardo Morales and Level 7 Studios Honduran AI Animated Feature Criticized
An AI feature film from Honduras is drawing a lot of negative criticism including “Overlong AI slop,” according to Cartoon Brew. “Copán: la Leyenda, a recently released Honduran animated film produced with extensive use of generative AI, has become the subject of intense criticism in its home country. The production was openly marketed to highlight its use of AI tools, with its creators presenting the film as a new path forward for filmmaking in a country with almost no feature-animation industry.
The result, at least judging from the trailer and audience reactions, looks less like a breakthrough for independent animation than a feature-length version of the uncanny AI slop currently flooding social media feeds.”
SF Gay Film Fest, Frameline, Is Here
The San Francisco International LGBT+ Film Festival (Frameline50) takes place June 17–27 and will screen “So Be It” by Matthew Sorgie (2025 USA 7 min) an animated documentary that offers a rare and tender portrait of lifelong queer love by sharing the candid, heartfelt stories of five LGBT+ couples. He was awarded a 2026 Colin Higgins Youth Filmmaker Grant of $15,000 to go towards his next film project. Higgins wrote “Harold and Maude”,” 9 to 5”, and “The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas”.
A director based in Los Angeles, Matthew Sorgie’s work explores the intersection of nonfiction and animation. A graduate of the University of Southern California’s School of Cinematic Arts with a BFA in Animation and Digital Arts, Matthew is committed to using animation as a tool to breathe life into untold narratives. His work centers marginalized voices through mission-driven storytelling that aims to both entertain and empower. While at USC, he received the Discovery Scholar Prize and the SCA Impact Award for his contributions to socially engaged filmmaking. .
Netflix AI Studio
Netflix is building Inkubator, an AI studio, after teasing us with sporadic use of generative AI over recent months. Now Netflix is all-in on the new technology and us staffing up a new GenAI-focused animation studio built to fold artificial intelligence into every stage of production. It will be a “next-generation, creative-led, GenAI-native animation studio” focused on producing animated shorts and specials through experimental AI-driven pipelines.
Animation Accepted
Animation is being better accepted today, according to Cartoon Brew. In an interview with European producer Fabian Driehorst, he said he sees the broader animation landscape shifting in encouraging ways. He pointed to Cannes’ expanded Animation Day programming this year as evidence that major festivals are finally beginning to treat animation as an equal part of the global film conversation. “I think it’s great that Cannes is putting much more focus and emphasis on animation now,” he said. “The conversations are becoming bigger, more international, and much more ambitious.”
Netflix Animators Unionize
Netflix animation production workers secure their first union contract, see here. Animation crews cited years of layoffs and instability as key motivations behind the organizing effort at the Netflix-owned studio.
'The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, a sequel, is one of the biggest hits of the year. illo: courtesy llumination and NintendoIn The Loop With Leo (Leonel Cortes)
Mario Shoots for the Stars in Newest Film Illumination and Nintendo continue to dominate the box office with their sequel film “The Super Mario Galaxy Movie”. This time with a slightly higher budget of $110 million, Illumination continues to visually impress. The level of detail on the environment and character’s clothing was amazing. If the film wasn’t so bare bones in its story, I would have missed out on plot points just because of how entranced I was by the stitching on the Mario brothers’ hats. One of the more impressive moments of the film was the puppet show flashback. Whoever worked on that part did a great job at animating the sock-puppets. It almost looked like they shot a live action segment.
Visually appealing as the movie is, the downside was its story. Outside the Mario brothers going on another adventure, there wasn’t any real plot or character development. Those who are fans of the game series got to see a lot of references connecting to the Nintendo games. There were several cameos of other Nintendo game characters appearing or being referenced in the film which seems like set up for future films. The issue is that rather than focusing on the current project, they’re already focused on creating a larger universe focused on an existing fanbase rather than focusing on cultivating their own. Comparing it to the first film, there is just nothing that attaches the audience to the characters which hurts it in the long run. Perhaps the writers' strike also had something to do with the writing of this film, who knows. The movie is well worth watching in theaters but just don’t go in expecting anything past the surface.
Coyote Will Have His Day in Theaters Ketchup Entertainment released a trailer for the highly anticipated “Coyote Vs. Acme”. The trailer gives some more context behind what the film is about with Will Forte’s character being an experienced lawyer who has gone up against the Acme company before. It also shows that here’s plenty of chaotic energy and quick humor that Looney Tunes is known for. Why Warner decided to shelve this project is a head scratcher. It comes out on August 28th.
Present for a Presentation at the PCA/ACA conference This is a yearly conference where scholars of popular culture talk about everything that they hold near and dear. I’ve attended once before in Chicago and enjoyed it enough to do a presentation again. This year I traveled to Atlanta to talk about AI and animation which was mainly focused on the research and articles I’ve written for this newsletter.
I caught a red eye flight to Atlanta and was the first one to present for the animation section of the conference. Outside of my talk about AI, there was another person who did a video presentation on AI and the hallucinations it created when animating. They concluded that AI would be a powerful tool in the animation process but needs a lot of help to reel it in. It brought in a lot of discussion about how the animation industry would go with AI. It was interesting to see those in attendance were open-minded about AI as a tool. The real distrust about AI was the corporations trying to push it into every aspect of the entertainment industry.
There were plenty of panels just focused on Animation. A lot of these were presented by scholars from different fields. One of the stand outs for me included a presentation focused on looking at animation and VFX studios that were shut down for financial reasons. The presenter looked at Covid and post-Covid news articles that mention the number of studios being shut down. What I took away from it was that companies are creating narratives to financially exploit studios, even when said studios have won awards for previous projects. Some panels focused on animation history. One looked at the pioneering women in the anime industry and how they should be credited for the work they contributed to the early days of anime. Another connected horror films with horror animation and how the two paralleled historically.
There were other panels focused on other parts of popular culture. Ranging from video games to horror films to folklore and fables. Unfortunately for me the way the conference was set up there was no time to attend to every single one. One of the notable talks was about narratives in video games, with one focused on the lack of agency of non-player characters. Another looked at a video game that tried to remove the player’s agency while giving it to the characters. As an avid gamer it did make me think about the games outside of just entertainment.
The overall experience was a blast. Outside of some public speaking jitters, the conference was relaxing and fun. I’d highly recommend going if you’re a fan of not only animation but anything pop culture related.
Scene from 'The Amazing Digital Circus'. illo: courtesy Glitch Productions The Circus is Coming to TheatersHit web series "The Amazing Digital Circus" is coming to an end. Glitch productions and the creator of the series, gooseworx, are working with theaters to release the final episode of the series in theaters for fans. The finale has already amassed $5 million in presales. This isn't the first time a youtuber has done a theatrical release. Youtuber Markiplier recently released his film Iron Lung in theaters with fan and critical praise. Perhaps this is the early sign of theaters making a recovery?
Sharing Shorts Every once in a while, I get into a rabbit hole and discover some interesting animated shorts. Here are a few that I think deserve your time.
“Mrs. Apple's recipe – Rose Jam” (pictured above) This cute stop motion short follows Mrs. Apple shows us how to make rose jam. The creator has other videos showing their process which can be seen on their channel. “The Littles” This one is a little less animated focused as it's mainly live action, but it mixes in stop motion segments. A nice spooky short about a girl discovering living dolls under her floorboard. It also seems like they're making a feature film based on this short. “Obelisk - Folly” A surreal story of a living house dealing with a wind-up toy monkey. This one is the odd one out of the collection as it seems like people in the comment section are coming up with their own theories. I think it's about memory, but I think it's all up to interpretation.
Asifa-SF Is a Volunteer Run Association
The Newsletter Editor is Karl Cohen, contributors include Nancy Denney-Phelps, Leonel Cortes, Jim Middleton, Jack Zante Hays, John Hays, Jerry Beck and other friends of ASIFA, Proofreaders Jim Middleton and Scott Kravitz, with Special Thanks to Nancy Denney-Phelps who represents our chapter on the international ASIFA board. Also thanks to Shirley Smith and Eihway Su.
EMAIL RESPONSES
Please email responses to and they will be posted here. Thanks for your interest.
Posted on Jun 10, 2026 - 08:11 PM
by Karl F. Cohen
Those cute critters from 'Critterz', are causing an AI stir. photo: Paddington in PeruFirst AI Feature Hits Cannes
The world’s firsts commercial AI, family -friendly feature was showen at the Cannes Marketplace hoping tto find a distributor. Although it was not to be shown in the actual festival, false rumors said it was withdrawn. How that happened isn’t clear yet. The first story I read made no sense. It said it wasn’t shown because the Sora software wasn’t available at Cannes, which is true, but the software was taken off the market several months ago, so why wasn’t production stopped then if the software had to be on the market?
According to Bloomberg News, “Critterz” was reportedly left without a key element of its workflow pipeline in mid-production. Why couldn’t the work continue (or did it?) as the production company already had copies of the software that worked?
I’ve seen blogs and credible sounding new stories with various ideas as to what happened. All sounded confusing. My theory is that the film’s producers went to Cannes with clips to show to prospective distributors but, according to my sources, it was a bit behind schedule and wasn’t finished. I never saw a screening date announced. I suspect nobody offered it a firm distribution contract and that rumors started about no premiere and got out of control.
“Critterz” is an animated feature written by the Paddington-in-Peru duo James Lamont and Jon Foster, and Tom Butterworth (“Birthday Girl”, “The Last Legion”, “Ashes to Ashes”), was going to launch sales and screen first-look footage at Cannes , according to Variety (May 4, 2026) (also see Cartoon Brew).
The script is directed and produced by Nik Kleverov, co-founder of Native Foreign, with Chad Nelson, creative strategist at OpenAI, serving as a producer along with Allan Niblo and James Richardson from Vertigo Films (part of Federation Studios). Pascal Breton, Lionel Uzan, Jane Moore, Ford and Aghi Koh are executive producers.
The feature is a full-length adaptation of the 2023 viral short “Critterz” created by Nelson, which was the first to use cutting-edge creative tools. “Critterz” follows an anxious but brave little woodland creature who unites with a group of eccentric outcasts — each with their own peculiar quirks and hidden strengths—on a high-stakes quest to find her long-lost brother.
“’Critterz’ will be a timeless film—a world that feels truly its own,” according to director Nik Kleverov. “It will carry the wonder of the ‘80s fantasy movies I grew up on — the scrappy, adventurous spirit of ‘The Goonies’ and the mythic, emotional scope of ‘The NeverEnding Story’… combined with the scale of early ‘Star 'Wars’. It’s grounded in something deeply human: a fractured world finding its way back together. At the center is a character whose greatest power isn’t force — it’s believing in herself, and her family.”
Unfortunately, a friend emailed me, “The faces are just creepy!”
Plympton cartoon about his roast. illo: B. Plympton Bill Plympton was grilled, rather well done twice not once on his 80th birthday roasts. Here is what a few people had to say in notes sent to be read or where there in person.
Matt Groening: “Bill Plympton is God. Period.”
Terry Gilliam: “Bill Plympton is a genius. Where does he buy his drugs?”
Pat Smith: “Bill Plympton is a National Treasure.”
Biljana Labovic: “Bill Plympton is the most consistent animation job creator in NYC.”
Signe Baumane: “Bill Plympton inspired thousands of animation careers, including mine. He showed what is possible if you just do it, make a film without waiting for a studio approval or a grant.”
Bill was roasted for about 90-minute at the School for Visual Arts auditorium by people he had worked with over his remarkable 45+ year career. There were humorous anecdotes, personal stories, and other kinds of good-natured comments that reflected on Plympton’s lasting impact on the animation industry. They honored his creative vision that transformed a shy boy from Portland, Oregon into one of the most influential figures in independent animation.
Bill has been called “The King of Independent Animation.” The MC for the SVA event was Patrick Smith (Disney, MTV, YouTube, Pour 585). The presenters: Maureen McElheron (music for "The Tune", "Your Face"), Signe Baumane (“My Love Affair With Marriage”), Lisa LaBracio (“The Opposites Game” and founder of Animation Speak/Easy), Biljana Labovic [“TED-Ed”], Dez Stavracos [“Hornet”) and Daniel Neiden (“Whale 52”,” The Tune”).
A week later Bill was grilled at Metrograph at the Grill Bill event by fellow indie animator Signe Baumane who made sure Bill was well done and ready for his next decade.
Enjoy a wonderful tribute to Bill with link to a trailer for "I Married a Strange Person".
Plympton Shown at Two Major European Festivals
Plympton recently returned from the Berlin International Film Festival, where his latest short film “Whale 52” won the Crystal Bear for Best Short Film. The film was also screened at the Cannes Film Festival.
Disney Hits Two Bill Mark
Disney is the first studio to pass the two billion dollar global box office mark this year.
Other high grossing trivia facts include “Avatar” is still the "highest-grossing" film ($2.9 billion). “Titanic” earned $1.2 billion from video and DVD sales and rentals, in addition to the $2.2 billion it grossed in theaters. “The Lion King” has grossed over $2 billion in box-office and home video sales, but that pales in comparison to the $8 billion earned at box offices around the world by the stage show adaption and the $3 billion of “Lion King” merchandise.
The latest Marvel film is Captain America: Brave New World, which was released in theaters on February 14, 2025. photo: courtesy Disney in PeruDisney’s Marvel Studios lays off artists who “brought the studio to to life” and is appointing other people to head the division ceo Josh D’Amaro informed staff about cuts in a memo on April 14 that said around 1,000 jobs were being eliminated. Marvel Studios was included in the cuts, and laid off members of its visual development team included 16-year veteran Andy Park, who was well known by fans.
Andy Park, who created the original Wasp super-suit and the original Wasp concept drawings for the film “Ant-Man and the Wasp”, said "It’s true. I have been let go. And I can’t quite believe that Disney has let go of the artists who brought the Marvel Universe to life through their imagination and their genius.” He began working with Marvel nearly two decades ago, beginning with 2011’s “Captain America: The First Avenge” and “Thor”.
One person contacted by The Hollywood Reporter speculated that some are being replaced by AI (unconfirmed rumor at the time of publication). The new head of Marvel TV, animation, comics and franchise will be Brad Winderbaum who was Disney’s chief of television and animation. David Abdo will move from Disney to serve as Marvel’s general manager, comics and franchise and will be reporting to Winderbaum. Dan Buckley, the longtime head of Marvel Comics is departing.
Disney Sued for Facial Recognition
Disney sued for using facial recognition technology at park entrances to verify tickets. A class action suit accuses the company for violating privacy, competition and consumer protection laws. The complaint says they use the technology at Disneyland to photograph guests’ faces and comparing them with images when they first used the ticket or annual pass. The company “does not adequately disclose the use of their biometric collection, so consumers have no idea that Disney is collecting this “sensitive data.”
Breaking News: AI Short Actually Watchable
Eurika! I’ve finally found an AI short that I consider to be quite impressive—it’s name “New York Rust & Rhythm Blues Bar”. I have no idea who created it, but it shows AI is probably going to find a place in the animator’s tool box for work on music videos . Was the live action it is based on filmed on a cell phone? Read more here
Perhaps you can tell me.
Will the animators animate or be animated?. illo: unknownMy personal criticism of AI animation is that I have yet to see exceptional examples of it. Nevertheless, AI artists are getting better by the month. Some is amazing in some way, but technical accomplishments or short clever moments do not qualify as remarkable or meaningful works. Frankly, most of what I’ve seen has not been that impressive aesthetically or interesting in terms of content or technique. I assume that the command of the technology and the quality of the writing will improve with time.
Please send me impressive examples of ai animation so i can tell readers about them in future newsletters. Do they exist? Let me know at .
Ai Animation: The Rise Of A New, Controversial Art Form (an essay by Karl Cohen)
Over the centuries some art has always been controversial. In the early 19th century artist sincluding Goya and Delacroix were seen as both politically correct or incorrect, depending on what government was in power. As new approaches to art developed in Europe in the second half of the 19th Century, the people who controlled what was exhibited in the annual academy salons were highly critical of works by Monet, Van Gogh, Cezanne and their friends. In the 20th Century the Nazis held a famous exhibit of contemporary art that they hated called “Enarte Endekunst,” or Degenerate Art which they wanted the public to ridicule (they didn’t, instead they flocked in droves while the Munich gallery with Nazi-approved art was lightly attended).
In the U.S. there have been several controversial art moments including the Ash Can School, action painting (Jackson Pollock, de Kooning), Pop Art, Op Art and several others.
Today some people consider AI animation so controversial, to the point that they are openly intolerant of it. The Motion Picture Academy just took a strong stand against it when they announced that, “AI is not welcomed at the Oscars.”
Iris Knobloch, the President of the Cannes Film Festival denounced AI in the press this year. “We are defending the freedom of creation for all human beings, but only for human beings,” she said. “AI is already in the studio and the editing rooms and the process of creation. We will not close our eyes, but we refuse [to let] AI dictate its law to cinema. Behind each picture, there is a moviemaker, but also dozens, sometimes hundreds of people who put their talent, their skill, their energy, their soul, in a shared project. A movie is not just a patchwork of data; it’s a personal vision. AI knows how to imitate very well, but it will never know how to feel.”
Cannes Film Festival head, Iris Knobloch, rejected AI-made films this year. illo: courtesy Cannes Film FestFrom conversations with people who create AI, a major problem is one of linguistics; the machine may not understand exactly what it is being told to do. That may result in you’re not getting exactly what is wanted. That may result in compromises being made. For example, the machine may not have been trained to know the difference between art nouveau and art deco.
Errors are another problem. The operator of the system may have to spend a vast amount of time making corrections. You constantly need to check to make sure your work stays “on model.” A minor error can multiply and become a major problem if it isn’t caught right away. It can be quite time consuming to have to go back and make all the needed changes, or you may decide to live with the problem.
Another concern is some people have ethical or artistic reasons for not liking AI. It bothers a lot of people that many of the creators are using unauthorized works to train their systems. If you train your animation to create a specific image, sequence or movement using someone else’s work without their permission or without changing it in a major way, it is considered plagiarism. Yes, you may be guilty of ripping off another artist. Unfortunately, most AI animators do not get permission to copy it or don’t change their work enough to make it obvious it is original footage.
Creating something new based on someone else’s work that inspires you can be a complicated issue. For example, we may admire Mozart or Beethoven, yet some of their works are based on earlier work by Hyden, Handel and others. In some cases, the newer work may have a title like “12 variations based on a work by…” that acknowledges the origin of the music.
With contemporary pop music are there agreed upon rules for bands that borrow licks from the Rolling Stones or The Beatles? I don’t know, but I do know that at some point people will need to decide what is are realistic rules for AI animation.
Yet another issue is the fears that AI will put animators out of work. That may not be a major problem as several people I’ve interviewed say AI is creating more jobs than it has replaced as it is so labor intensive. While some people with traditional skills have been laid off, others have been retrained to work with AI.
Finally, it is important to note that AI animation is just getting started and we don’t know if it will succeed or fail. It may not be very useful for some tasks and valuable for others. It could be too expensive to use in some situations. Producers will be anxious to use it if it cuts costs, if it is attractive looking, or if saying your work uses new technology draws attention to it. On the other hand animators may go nuts having to talk all day to a computer.
Jessica Rabbit's oozing tumescence is acceptable in animation. illo: courtesy R. ZemeckisDavid Scarpa, who writes about media for the Hollywood Reporter. feels audiences will not take seriously AI people in films about real life features, but animated character are more likely to be accepted as enjoyable entertainment (May 1 issue of Hollywood Reporter).
“Animation has never tried to perfectly replicate what live-action can do; instead it does what live-action can’t. And in all great animation, from Chuck Jones to Hayao Miyazaki to “Wall-E”, the human touch is palpable in every frame, because human audiences demand it.” But while we can enjoy Jessica Rabbit in “Who frame Roger Rabbit?” as sexy, it will be much harder to accept as sexy not spooky an AI woman in a photorealistic work. Our brains know the difference.
Scarpa feels, “Realistic AI in the future will have to be enormously original and distinctive to rise above the ocean of zero-cost AI slop that will soon be out there,” while “the bar will be higher for AI filmmakers than live-action filmmakers in terms of voice and originality. “He expects to see “legions of roving AI agents cloning whatever movie just dropped,” but “the supply of human drama, written by real writers and performed by real actors, will remain as scarce and valuable as ever.
Trippy Eye Candy
It looks cool, but is there any meaning or point to it? Here is another surreal music video by Kelly Boesch Eldridge that holds together for me, but is still vapid: "Between Imagining & Real - An AI Journey into the Bizarre".
Scene from 'Fallen' by French animator Louis Clichy. illo: courtesy L. ClichyWhat animated features were screened at the Cannes Film Festival, May 12-23? “Fallen” is a French animated feature by Louis Clichy, a Pixar alum who worked on movies like “Wall-E” and “Up” before making two animated “Asterix” features in his home country. Clichy’s third feature is 2D animated, with a sketchbook aesthetic that looks quite charming, and focuses on a young boy who needs an iron prosthetic corset to stand upright and breaks away from his strict life on his family’s farm to find a passion for music.
“Tangles”, the debut feature of Canadian director Leah Nelson, which is based on a graphic memoir by Sarah Leavitt and focuses on a daughter who returns to her hometown to help care for her mother, who has begun suffering from Alzheimer’s. “Lucy Lost” from Oliver Clert is a more family-friendly story of a young orphan living in 1915 Sicily who goes on an adventure to uncover the truth behind her mysterious visions.
“In Wave”s, Phuong Mai Nguyen, France, is about the romance between a surfer and skateboarder. It was the first animated feature to open the Fortnight screenings and it was shown twice, in English and once in French.
The festival closed with “Le Vertige”, a French comedy by Quentin Dupieux. “A man discovers his world is a simulation that’s animated to look like a PS2 game.”
The festival also showed “We Are Aliens” from Japan. a rotoscope film, and “Viva Carmen!”, an adaptation of the famous opera by Chicken for Linda! director Sébastien.
Scene from 'Jim Queen and the Quest for Chloroqueer' by first-time directors Marco Nguyen and Nicolas Athané. illo: courtesy M. Nguyen and N. AthanéSee Some Exciting Animation
See a really exciting trailer for some incredible animation, George Pal’s “Puppetoons”. Leonard Maltin said, "George Pal's ‘Puppetoons’ took music and fantasy and charm as their ingredients for entertainment...reminding us all of this great, great talent."
Arnold Leibovit is proud to present the restored Director's Cut of "The Puppetoon Movie" digitally-4K scanned for the first time from the original 35mm color negative. It is packed with almost four hours of total content including over tow hours of new Bonus Extras, presented on a Dual Layer Blu-ray with a 28-page Color Collector's Booklet, go here.
Censored Old Animation
An unexpected website: “Secrets of Golden Age Cartoons”. Want to watch videos like “How Cennsorship Destroyed Betty Boop”, “35 Forgotten DARK Disney Cartoons You Won’t Believe Existed”, “Merrie Melodies: 14 Weird Facts You Didn’t Know” (1931); “14 Weird Facts You Didn’t Know About Gerald McBoing Boing” (1950); “The Dark Origins of Betty Boop” and dozens more?
When I looked the series up using a Microsoft search the shorts were in English, but when I used Firefox, some were in foreign languages. I have no idea who created this site or why, but the narration is full of fun obscure facts including dark production stories, strange behind-the-scenes information and other details. The text seems to be well researched and written, while the images seem to be appropriate collages of clips. Many seem to be extreme examples so the clips are fun to watch even though many are not from the actual film being discussed.
Nancy Beiman Tells All
“The Secret to Staying Creative for Life with Nancy Beiman” is now online. She talks about working at Warner Bros Animation, creating a comic strip, the importance of including your own experiences in your work, advice she gives students, her feeling about AI and other things. The Secret to Staying Creative for Life with Nancy Beiman - YouTube
Penn Station Has Cool Animation
John Canemaker’s work is being seen by thousands of people each week in a most unusual way. The Museum of Modern Art New York is running a 15 second clip from his short “Bridgehampton” in the cavernous Moynihan Train Hall at Pennsylvania Station, NYC. It is seen every 5 minutes as part of Penn Station’s “MoMA at Moynihan”. It is being screened on four huge screens and will be seen by thousands of commuters daily until the end of June. See video clip.
Scene from Lippy's 'Valentine's Day'. illo: courtesy LippyLippy from Mill Valley has been animating shorts for Ted Talks and several are on his demo reel, see Lippy Animation Demos.
Lippy is a San Franciso based animator and illustrator. He has produced work for Google, Apple, Disney, & the John Lennon estate, see his “Valentine’s Day" “Google Doodle” was their very first, long-form 2D animation and it gained him international acclaim.
Nik and Nancy On the Road
On May 12th, Nancy Phelps wrote me, “We are back from a wonderful week in Stuttgart. Lots of good films, old friends, and great food. On Saturday (May 11) we leave for Berlin where Nik has done the music about a play about Lotte Reiniger in celebration of the 100th anniversary of The Adventures of Prince Achmed. Her granddaughter wrote the script, there are silhouette figures, puppets and three live actors along with Nik performing. The anniversary may not be a big deal in the states but it is in Europe, especially in Germany. Then it is time for Zagreb and Annecy.” That is a hint of what her coming articles will be about.) Stuttgart’s animation festival also presented it with a live acompment.
Help Needed
Temporary help needed to assist Karl Cohen in writing part of the newsletter since he needs to get serious about finishing his book “Amazing Animation”. About 90% is finished but he is spending too much time on the newsletter, so hasn’t completed the book. It can be easy articles to write, like interesting Disney news or listing the soon to be released features with links to the trailers. You can also write about other things you think readers might want to know about.
Netflix Debuts Spanish Version of Frankelda
"I Am Frankelda" debuted on Netflix on June 12th. In fact, Netflix will release the movie in both the original Spanish version with subtitles and in a dubbed English-language version, see the "I Am Frankelda" Trailer,
Annecy Fest Update
Annecy Animation showcase will feature five films looking for distribution. There is a wide range of content in these non-Hollywood features:
'Bataille', a new French animation draws on Renaissance art, pop songwriting and more. illo: courtesy V. Keaton Director: Vergine Keaton, Language: French, completion: 2028
On a cold winter morning, a battle rages in the surroundings of a small town in the Italian Renaissance. As the military tactics gradually go awry, two movements oppose each other: the desire to win and the desire to live. Written and directed by Annecy-nominated artist Vergine Keaton, "Bataille" draws from Renaissance art to transform a single conflict into a universal allegory; French singer-songwriter Pomme is involved in the project.
Les chiens ne font pas des chats (France, Canada, Belgium)
Director: Alain Gagnol,
Language: French, Technique: 2D with 3D elements Completion: 2027
Jules and Lola’s life has taken a sad turn after their parents’ death, but their routine is disrupted by their grandmother Jeanne, who turns up with a very special mission: to find a missing teenager. Thanks to their grandmother, they discover an extraordinary family legacy within themselves. The title, literally translated as “dogs don’t give birth to cats.,” is the French equivalent of the English phrase “the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.”
Hidari (Japan)
Director: Masashi Kawamura, In English, Stop motion, Completion: 2029’ Betrayed during Edo Castle’s reconstruction, legendary craftsman Jingoro Hidari loses his father figure, fiancée, and even his right arm. Forging lethal mechanical prosthetics, he turns grief into vengeance and carves a path to justice with his loyal “Sleeping Cat.”
Insectario (Mexico, Spain)
Director: Sofía Carrillo: Stop motion, Completion: 2026. In a world where insects have gone extinct, Lexi preserves specimens in a collection for her uncle, Dr. Krause, an entomologist. After removing the pin from a rare Attacus atlas moth, she takes it home to hide her mistake, only to discover it has come back to life.
Wasted Chef (Japan)
Director: Takayuki Hirao, Completion: 2027. A young chef chasing a lost flavor lands in a ruined city without taste. Saved by Kasumi, his cooking awakens forgotten memories. But a dark force threatens to erase all desire — making his quest the last hope to save both worlds.
Scene from 'Copán, la leyenda', made in Honduras using AI. illo: courtesy Ricardo Morales and Level 7 Studios An AI feature film from Honduras is drawing a lot of negative criticism including “Overlong AI slop,” according to Cartoon Brew. “Copán: la Leyenda, a recently released Honduran animated film produced with extensive use of generative AI, has become the subject of intense criticism in its home country. The production was openly marketed to highlight its use of AI tools, with its creators presenting the film as a new path forward for filmmaking in a country with almost no feature-animation industry.
The result, at least judging from the trailer and audience reactions, looks less like a breakthrough for independent animation than a feature-length version of the uncanny AI slop currently flooding social media feeds.”
SF Gay Film Fest, Frameline, Is Here
The San Francisco International LGBT+ Film Festival (Frameline50) takes place June 17–27 and will screen “So Be It” by Matthew Sorgie (2025 USA 7 min) an animated documentary that offers a rare and tender portrait of lifelong queer love by sharing the candid, heartfelt stories of five LGBT+ couples. He was awarded a 2026 Colin Higgins Youth Filmmaker Grant of $15,000 to go towards his next film project. Higgins wrote “Harold and Maude”,” 9 to 5”, and “The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas”.
A director based in Los Angeles, Matthew Sorgie’s work explores the intersection of nonfiction and animation. A graduate of the University of Southern California’s School of Cinematic Arts with a BFA in Animation and Digital Arts, Matthew is committed to using animation as a tool to breathe life into untold narratives. His work centers marginalized voices through mission-driven storytelling that aims to both entertain and empower. While at USC, he received the Discovery Scholar Prize and the SCA Impact Award for his contributions to socially engaged filmmaking. .
Netflix AI Studio
Netflix is building Inkubator, an AI studio, after teasing us with sporadic use of generative AI over recent months. Now Netflix is all-in on the new technology and us staffing up a new GenAI-focused animation studio built to fold artificial intelligence into every stage of production. It will be a “next-generation, creative-led, GenAI-native animation studio” focused on producing animated shorts and specials through experimental AI-driven pipelines.
Animation Accepted
Animation is being better accepted today, according to Cartoon Brew. In an interview with European producer Fabian Driehorst, he said he sees the broader animation landscape shifting in encouraging ways. He pointed to Cannes’ expanded Animation Day programming this year as evidence that major festivals are finally beginning to treat animation as an equal part of the global film conversation. “I think it’s great that Cannes is putting much more focus and emphasis on animation now,” he said. “The conversations are becoming bigger, more international, and much more ambitious.”
Netflix Animators Unionize
Netflix animation production workers secure their first union contract, see here. Animation crews cited years of layoffs and instability as key motivations behind the organizing effort at the Netflix-owned studio.
'The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, a sequel, is one of the biggest hits of the year. illo: courtesy llumination and NintendoMario Shoots for the Stars in Newest Film Illumination and Nintendo continue to dominate the box office with their sequel film “The Super Mario Galaxy Movie”. This time with a slightly higher budget of $110 million, Illumination continues to visually impress. The level of detail on the environment and character’s clothing was amazing. If the film wasn’t so bare bones in its story, I would have missed out on plot points just because of how entranced I was by the stitching on the Mario brothers’ hats. One of the more impressive moments of the film was the puppet show flashback. Whoever worked on that part did a great job at animating the sock-puppets. It almost looked like they shot a live action segment.
Visually appealing as the movie is, the downside was its story. Outside the Mario brothers going on another adventure, there wasn’t any real plot or character development. Those who are fans of the game series got to see a lot of references connecting to the Nintendo games. There were several cameos of other Nintendo game characters appearing or being referenced in the film which seems like set up for future films. The issue is that rather than focusing on the current project, they’re already focused on creating a larger universe focused on an existing fanbase rather than focusing on cultivating their own. Comparing it to the first film, there is just nothing that attaches the audience to the characters which hurts it in the long run. Perhaps the writers' strike also had something to do with the writing of this film, who knows. The movie is well worth watching in theaters but just don’t go in expecting anything past the surface.
Coyote Will Have His Day in Theaters Ketchup Entertainment released a trailer for the highly anticipated “Coyote Vs. Acme”. The trailer gives some more context behind what the film is about with Will Forte’s character being an experienced lawyer who has gone up against the Acme company before. It also shows that here’s plenty of chaotic energy and quick humor that Looney Tunes is known for. Why Warner decided to shelve this project is a head scratcher. It comes out on August 28th.
Present for a Presentation at the PCA/ACA conference This is a yearly conference where scholars of popular culture talk about everything that they hold near and dear. I’ve attended once before in Chicago and enjoyed it enough to do a presentation again. This year I traveled to Atlanta to talk about AI and animation which was mainly focused on the research and articles I’ve written for this newsletter.
I caught a red eye flight to Atlanta and was the first one to present for the animation section of the conference. Outside of my talk about AI, there was another person who did a video presentation on AI and the hallucinations it created when animating. They concluded that AI would be a powerful tool in the animation process but needs a lot of help to reel it in. It brought in a lot of discussion about how the animation industry would go with AI. It was interesting to see those in attendance were open-minded about AI as a tool. The real distrust about AI was the corporations trying to push it into every aspect of the entertainment industry.
There were plenty of panels just focused on Animation. A lot of these were presented by scholars from different fields. One of the stand outs for me included a presentation focused on looking at animation and VFX studios that were shut down for financial reasons. The presenter looked at Covid and post-Covid news articles that mention the number of studios being shut down. What I took away from it was that companies are creating narratives to financially exploit studios, even when said studios have won awards for previous projects. Some panels focused on animation history. One looked at the pioneering women in the anime industry and how they should be credited for the work they contributed to the early days of anime. Another connected horror films with horror animation and how the two paralleled historically.
There were other panels focused on other parts of popular culture. Ranging from video games to horror films to folklore and fables. Unfortunately for me the way the conference was set up there was no time to attend to every single one. One of the notable talks was about narratives in video games, with one focused on the lack of agency of non-player characters. Another looked at a video game that tried to remove the player’s agency while giving it to the characters. As an avid gamer it did make me think about the games outside of just entertainment.
The overall experience was a blast. Outside of some public speaking jitters, the conference was relaxing and fun. I’d highly recommend going if you’re a fan of not only animation but anything pop culture related.
Scene from 'The Amazing Digital Circus'. illo: courtesy Glitch ProductionsSharing Shorts Every once in a while, I get into a rabbit hole and discover some interesting animated shorts. Here are a few that I think deserve your time.
“Mrs. Apple's recipe – Rose Jam” (pictured above) This cute stop motion short follows Mrs. Apple shows us how to make rose jam. The creator has other videos showing their process which can be seen on their channel. “The Littles” This one is a little less animated focused as it's mainly live action, but it mixes in stop motion segments. A nice spooky short about a girl discovering living dolls under her floorboard. It also seems like they're making a feature film based on this short. “Obelisk - Folly” A surreal story of a living house dealing with a wind-up toy monkey. This one is the odd one out of the collection as it seems like people in the comment section are coming up with their own theories. I think it's about memory, but I think it's all up to interpretation.
Asifa-SF Is a Volunteer Run Association
The Newsletter Editor is Karl Cohen, contributors include Nancy Denney-Phelps, Leonel Cortes, Jim Middleton, Jack Zante Hays, John Hays, Jerry Beck and other friends of ASIFA, Proofreaders Jim Middleton and Scott Kravitz, with Special Thanks to Nancy Denney-Phelps who represents our chapter on the international ASIFA board. Also thanks to Shirley Smith and Eihway Su.
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Posted on Jun 10, 2026 - 08:11 PM
