Disney Partners with Animaj to Accelerate Animation Using AI
Key Points
- Disney is evaluating Animaj's AI animation tool as part of its Disney Accelerator program.
- The technology, called motion in‑betweening, fills in intermediate frames after animators sketch key poses.
- Production time for a five‑minute episode can drop from five months to less than five weeks.
- Disney officials say a formal partnership could be announced in the coming months.
- Animaj's system is trained on show‑specific pose data to maintain consistent visual style.
- Artists retain full control, reviewing and adjusting AI‑generated motion as needed.
- The collaboration reflects a broader industry move toward AI‑assisted content creation.
- Disney stresses that the AI augments, not replaces, human animators.
Disney is testing an artificial‑intelligence animation tool from startup Animaj as part of its Disney Accelerator program. The technology, called motion in‑betweening, lets animators sketch key poses while AI fills in the intermediate frames, cutting production time dramatically. Disney executives said the partnership could be announced in the coming months, and the company emphasized that the AI works under the direct control of human artists. The move reflects a broader industry push to use generative AI to speed content creation while preserving artistic style.
AI‑Driven Animation at Disney
At Disney’s Burbank campus, executives and media representatives gathered to see how a new artificial‑intelligence tool could reshape the studio’s animation pipeline. The startup Animaj, selected for Disney’s 2025 accelerator cohort, demonstrated a system that blends human sketching with AI‑generated motion. According to the demo, a five‑minute episode that once required five months to produce can now be completed in less than five weeks, a speed increase that Disney describes as a potential game‑changer for its television animation divisions.
Disney officials confirmed that discussions are ongoing to formalize a partnership with Animaj. While a public announcement has not yet been made, they indicated that a rollout could occur in the coming months, signaling Disney’s intent to integrate AI tools that keep artists in the driver’s seat.
Animaj’s Motion In‑Betweening Technology
Animaj’s core offering is a “motion in‑betweening” engine. Animators draw the primary poses of a character—such as standing, sitting, or reaching—and the AI predicts the transitional frames that move the character from one pose to the next. The system is trained on a large database of poses from specific shows, ensuring that the generated movements stay true to each series’ visual style. Artists retain full control, reviewing and adjusting AI‑generated frames to match their creative intent.
The workflow mirrors traditional animation practices: key frames are still hand‑drawn, but the labor‑intensive task of filling in every intermediate frame is largely automated. This approach frees animators to focus on refining style, timing, and storytelling rather than repetitive drawing tasks. The technology has already been used on four seasons of the children’s series “Pocoyo,” where more than 300,000 pose pairs were collected to train the model.
Industry Implications and Context
Disney’s exploration of AI reflects a larger trend in Hollywood to adopt generative AI for faster content creation. While some industry voices worry about job displacement, Disney emphasizes that the Animaj tool is designed to augment, not replace, human talent. Executives highlighted that the AI works under direct artist direction, contrasting it with text‑prompt video generators that often produce inconsistent or stylistically mismatched results.
The partnership also dovetails with Disney’s broader strategy to meet the high‑volume demands of streaming platforms. By reducing production timelines, the studio can respond more quickly to audience trends and test new ideas with less financial risk. Disney’s commitment to preserving its brand DNA while leveraging cutting‑edge technology illustrates how legacy entertainment companies are balancing tradition with innovation.
Overall, the Animaj collaboration showcases a practical application of AI that respects the artistic process, accelerates output, and positions Disney to stay competitive in an increasingly fast‑paced media landscape.