How Disney Studios use AI? Are old school animators loosing their job?

What Disney is doing with AI

Disney has been experimenting with, developing, or exploring quite a few AI / machine-learning tools. Some examples:

1. Visual Effects / Post-Production Tools

   • They use AI research such as FRAN (“Face Re-Aging Network”) to age or de-age actors’ faces in films. dot.LA

   • Performance capture and digital face / motion tools that involve ML to reduce manual labor (for example, reconstructing faces without traditional mocap) are part of their toolkit. CNBC

2. Tools for Animators & Creatives

   • Disney Animation has said it is taking a “very cautious approach” to AI, preferring tools that enhance or assist artists rather than fully replacing them. The Direct

   • The Animation Guild (which represents many of the artists/animators) is negotiating protections — e.g. making sure AI doesn’t replace core union work, ensuring staffing minimums, and guarding rights around use of artists’ work to train AI. visive.ai

3. R&D and Internal Experimentation

   • Disney has created task forces to explore how AI can help reduce costs, improve workflows, etc. CNBC

   • Robotics / character interaction in theme parks (e.g. “BDX droids”) are also using simulation + AI so that the “robots” emote, move, etc., in more lifelike ways. Yahoo Tech

4. Guardrails, Legal & Ethical Oversight

   • Disney has filed lawsuits (e.g. vs Midjourney) to protect its intellectual property from being used in AI in ways they deem infringing. Reuters+1

   • They’ve abandoned some potential AI projects due to concerns about ownership, backlash, or legal issues. For example, they explored using deepfake tech in Moana remake and generative-AI character creation for Tron: Ares, but some of those ideas were dropped. GamesRadar+

5. Quality & Creativity Concerns

   • People at Pixar (Pete Docter, etc.) have expressed skepticism about AI being able to capture the full nuance, emotion, performance, etc., of human-driven animation. AI is seen more as a helper tool, especially for tedious/repetitive tasks, rather than as a replacement for the creative and craft aspects. Business Insider

Are traditional/old-school animators losing their jobs / being replaced?

So far, the evidence does not strongly support the idea that animators are being broadly replaced by AI — at least in the high-profile Disney / Pixar kind of projects. But there are caveats and uncertainties. Here are the main points:

What suggests animators are not being replaced:

• Disney has publicly said they are being cautious about AI in animation, favoring tools that enhance what artists can do rather than ones that remove the artists. The Direct

• In one example (the Marvel/TV series Secret Invasion main titles), a company involved (Method Studios) said they used AI as “just one tool among the array of tool sets our artists used,” and that no artists’ jobs were replaced by the use of that AI. Tech Xplore

• Union/ guild activity is very much in motion, trying to ensure protections against AI being used to replace core artistic work or being used without artist consent. visive.ai

What suggests there is risk / early change:

• There’s growing concern among animators about AI being used (for backgrounds, inbetween frames, clean-up, etc.) in ways that might reduce the need for certain tasks. Some tasks in animation are repetitive or tedious, which AI can help automate. This could reduce certain kinds of jobs or reduce the labor/time required for them.

• Studios looking for cost savings often explore automation; there is definitely potential for some roles to be diminished or changed due to AI.

• Some projects are exploring or briefly exploring using deepfake or generative elements (like putting an actor’s face on body doubles via AI). If those become more mainstream and the legal/ethical/ownership issues are resolved, that could reduce certain production costs (e.g. stunt doubles, extra shots). But many of these ideas have been paused or scrapped due to those very complications. GamesRadar++1

Conclusion / Outlook

Putting these together:

• AI is a tool, not yet a wholesale replacement. As of now, especially in high-budget, high-quality animation (Disney, Pixar, etc.), the artistic, performance, storytelling parts are still done by people. AI tends to help with things like background generation, facial de-aging, cleanup, simulations, etc.

• Some jobs / roles may change. Tasks that are more mechanical or repetitive are most at risk of automation. That could mean fewer people doing certain kinds of in-between frames, cleanups, or particular effects, if a studio decides to automate.

• There is pushback, legal/ethical concerns, and union action. That acts as a brake on wholesale replacement: rights, ownership, creative intent, brand protection, etc., all complicate simply replacing artists with AI. Plus quality matters: audiences expect a certain level of artistry, especially from something called “Disney” or “Pixar.”

• Long-term uncertainty remains. As AI tools get better, faster, and more integrated, there will probably be increasing pressure to use them more broadly. Whether old-school animators (especially those with traditional drawing, hand-animation skills) will still have roles will depend heavily on how studios, unions, and legal frameworks adapt.