Directors Joel Crawford & Januel Mercado say AI could never make an animated film like ‘FORGOTTEN ISLAND’. “The things we do remember make us who we are, and they create they lens that we, especially as artists, see the world through. That’s something that AI can never replace.”

Sep 24, 2026 · 4:44 PM UTC

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Replying to @DiscussingFilm
AI can copy pixels but it can never replicate human soul, memory, and lived experience. Absolute facts from the directors. 🎨🔥
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Every generation of artists says the new tool can never replace them. If an AI movie is great, will audiences honestly care who made it?
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Replying to @DiscussingFilm
Forgotten Island might be the PERFECT movie to make this argument with. Joel and Januel did not just invent Jo and Raissa. They pulled them from a 15-year friendship, Joel’s wife and daughters, Januel’s sister, and the Filipino stories their families actually grew up with. AI can learn what that LOOKS like. It cannot remember the people who made you see the world that way.
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Dreamworks probably would’ve made a better movie if they did. 💀
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What a beautiful statement. I definitely felt it in the movie. It was great! Spoiler but not really spoiler but he’s talking about the end credits having pictures of the cast and crew, mostly baby/child photos, but they were all pictures with friends. It was very touching
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Replying to @DiscussingFilm
the irony of a dreamworks director saying this while their whole catalog is built on recycled tropes is kind of funny but he has a point about the lens part
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Replying to @DiscussingFilm
ai could let a two-person crew turn their own memories into a film the studios would never fund. i'd judge the finished movie.
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Replying to @DiscussingFilm
The credits calling out the human artists by name is the actual statement Everything before that is just press day talking points
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Replying to @DiscussingFilm
Directors Joel Crawford & Januel Mercado are shitheads about the whole Animation for kids crap talk! Spider man did that shit before your asses
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I mean with the way ai is going I'd give it another 2 years
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Was on the fence about watching it this weekend, now I’m going no matter what
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Replying to @DiscussingFilm

ALT Thats Why The Goat GIF
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This perspective on artistry is actually so refreshing. why don't more creators speak up about the irreplaceable human heart behind animation. y'all skipped straight to debating the entire future of cinema instead of just appreciating a director's creative stance
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Replying to @DiscussingFilm
Then why does it look like generic AI art?
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this shit looks like a Fortnite loading screen.
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Replying to @DiscussingFilm
Good to hear this from the people who make the films. There is a legal side too: in the US, material generated by AI without meaningful human authorship cannot be copyrighted, and studios depend on owning what they put on screen.
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Replying to @DiscussingFilm
وردة شامية
@WrdtS40854
Sep 24
.لحظات تحبس الأنفاس ... مارأيكم 😲 #أحداث_حول_العالم
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Replying to @DiscussingFilm
Absolutely AI can generate images, but it can’t live the memories, emotions, and experiences that give art its soul. That human lens is what makes a story truly unforgettable.
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Replying to @DiscussingFilm
"Never" is a bold forecast with no deadline. The harder question isn't whether AI can make this film. It's what happens when a craft people spent decades mastering stops being something others pay for. That costs a role and a routine, not your worth as a person.
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Replying to @DiscussingFilm
Why do I have a feeling that they’ll eat those words? 🤔 Also:
Made with AI
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Replying to @DiscussingFilm
the fingerprints are the whole point. A machine can copy a style, it can't have lived it
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Replying to @DiscussingFilm
Human memory turns past awkward moments into cinematic emotion, whereas AI just averages them into a smooth uncanny valley.
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Replying to @DiscussingFilm
The poster already looks like it was designed by someone who actually grew up with boomboxes, bad hair, and too much sun. That’s the part the model doesn’t have.
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Replying to @DiscussingFilm
Memory creates the lens, sure. But the film industry already outsources memory to archives and references. AI just automates the curation.
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ai remembers nothing, feels less. we win.
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👏👏👏
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that dog doing the jazz hands is the real star
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the directors arent the problem. "ai could never replace this" is what every studio says on stage right before the next round of animator layoffs
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Replying to @DiscussingFilm
ai can simulate technique but not the ache of having lived it
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Replying to @DiscussingFilm
AI can't replicate the lived experiences that give animation its soul.
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Replying to @DiscussingFilm
exactly
ina 🌙
@inaonly
Sep 24
SUCH A BABY CAT 😼
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Replying to @DiscussingFilm
Stories made from life, not prompts🌴🪴
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Replying to @DiscussingFilm
OFC IT WAS MADE BY FAGGOTS
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Replying to @DiscussingFilm
@alleniverson you gonna take that??
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Replying to @DiscussingFilm
Flop movie. Cringe
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