OpenAI Joins the Production of the First Full-Length AI Animation, Saves Significantly on Budget

OpenAI is investing resources into a feature-length animated film project that will be primarily generated by artificial intelligence. The film, called Critterz , was conceived by Chad Nelson, a creative director at OpenAI, three years ago. Nelson began designing the characters with the initial goal of making a short film using the DALL-E image-making tool. Now the idea has evolved into a full-length animated film, backed by OpenAI, and is expected to premiere at the Cannes Film Festival next May.

Critterz centers on a group of forest creatures who must embark on a new adventure after their peaceful village is disrupted by a stranger. What's unique about the film is the way it's being produced: instead of relying entirely on traditional processes, the team aims to demonstrate that animation can be created at a lower cost and in a shorter time thanks to AI. The entire production is planned to be completed in nine months on a budget of less than $30 million – a fraction of what's typically seen in Hollywood.

The Critterz project is produced by London-based Vertigo Films in conjunction with Native Foreign, a Los Angeles studio known for using AI alongside traditional filmmaking methods. Native Foreign previously collaborated with Nelson on a short film of the same name, a Planet Earth -style documentary , in which the entire image was created from DALL-E with only limited animation.

For the feature version, the production team will still hire human actors to do the voice acting and use illustrators to sketch out the characters, then combine them with OpenAI's text and image generation tools to complete them. The script is written by the same team of writers who worked on Paddington in Peru , providing a layer of creative assurance.

However, the project also comes amid tensions in the global film industry over the rise of artificial intelligence. Over the years, Hollywood has been fighting to protect its rights against the threat of AI taking over. In 2023, after a lengthy strike, the SAG-AFTRA union reached a deal with the studios, requiring consent and compensation for the use of AI-generated images of any actor, living or dead. Meanwhile, a series of major lawsuits involving rights between creators, studios, and AI companies are still ongoing.

For all the controversy surrounding AI in the arts, Critterz will be an important test case. If successful, it could usher in a new era of cheap, fast AI-powered animation. But at the same time, the film will continue to raise deep concerns about the future of creative labor in the entertainment industry.

Jessica Tanner

Update 09 September 2025