As generative AI tools sweep through the creative industries, Dr Steve Henderson, co-founder of Manchester Animation Festival, warns they risk leaving animation “soulless” and devoid of creativity.
Speaking on the latest episode of the This is MediaCity podcast, Henderson told the show’s host Stephen Chapman that he’s “yet to see” an argument convincing him that AI tools are anything other than a means to cut costs and “do away with creatives”.
He was responding to a comment he had seen, where someone had questioned why animators would spend time doing “labour intensive work” and put “so much effort into moving something”.
“That person clearly doesn’t realise that animation is that,” he told Chapman. “That’s where the creativity lives, that’s where the humanity lives, that’s where the love lives, that’s where everything that makes animation special lives.
“If you discount that, then you end up with something that’s soulless and that is a bare replication of what can be created by humans and what can be created by animators.”
READ MORE: Netflix, BFI and BBC lead speaker line up for Manchester’s Animation Nation Forum
Alongside tackling some of the biggest issues facing the animation sector, Henderson also highlights how the festival has launched a major survey to assess the industry’s regional impact, workforce scale and financial contribution.
As the festival prepares to return to Manchester from November 9 to 13, those same questions about creativity and technology will undoubtedly take centre stage.
Renowned as the UK’s only Oscar and BAFTA-qualifying animation festival, MAF is preparing to host more than 120 events across venues in the city, including HOME. The packed programme features social events, panel discussions, film screenings, and workshops.
Festival-goers can expect to hear from Epic Games discussing the future of animation, while Netflix will offer exclusive previews of its “next big animation” following Kpop Demon Hunters. Major players from Walt Disney Animation Studios and Industrial Light & Magic will also be in attendance.
The conversation also explored the North’s rich animation heritage, first with the pioneering work of legendary animation studio Cosgrove Hall, creators of Danger Mouse, Count Duckula, The BFG, and The Wind in the Willows.
Hailed by Henderson as the “grandparents of the animation industry” in Manchester, Cosgrove Hall paved the way for studios like MacKinnon and Saunders, whose team went on to craft puppets and animations for Pinocchio, Fantastic Mr Fox, Corpse Bride, and, more recently, Wednesday.
During the chat, Henderson also reflects on Factory, the Altrincham-based studio behind Newzoids and Clangers, examining how its closure highlights the challenges currently facing the animation sector.
“It’s undoubtedly a tricky time for the creative industries at the moment,” he said.
Check out the full interview with Dr Steve Henderson here:
