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It’s been a busy week at Italy’s View Conference, where two panels offered strikingly different visions of animation’s future. Directors from Forgotten Island, Toy Story 5, and GOAT kept the conversation focused on storytelling, creativity, and the importance of making films that connect with audiences, largely brushing aside questions about AI. Studio executives, meanwhile, had their eyes on a very different set of priorities: technology, production pipelines, artificial intelligence, and the business challenges reshaping the industry. No real talk about employee wellbeing until we raised the question during the audience Q&A after their panel.
On the creative side, Disney screened 30 minutes of its upcoming feature Hexed, Laika revealed some staggering production figures from Wildwood, and Pixar explained how an unlikely side project turned Hoppers character Tom the Lizard into a viral PR sensation.
Back in the States, The Proud Family is getting a stop-motion holiday special, the Archer team is reuniting for a new HBO comedy, and previs studio Proof is expanding into New York.
The business side of animation looks much less cheerful. Netflix is cutting 1,000 jobs even as its CEOs insist business is booming, while Warner Bros. Discovery chief David Zaslav is walking away with $606 million after years of layoffs and cost-cutting. It’s a striking contrast to the optimism we’ve heard all week at View, where artists and filmmakers remain excited about the medium’s future, even as the companies employing them seem increasingly disconnected from the people doing the work.
Check out these stories and more at cartoonbrew.com.
