Credit: Gage Skidmore via Wikimedia CommonsAfter AI reimagined over a dozen Disney characters in Tim Burton’s iconic style, the beloved filmmaker had a few choice words to describe the “disturbing” results.
To say that Tim Burton’s artistic style is distinct is an understatement. The iconic filmmaker has gone from an animator’s apprentice at Walt Disney Productions to one of the most beloved directors of all time, with classic titles to his name like Pee-wee’s Big Adventure (1985), Beetlejuice (1988), Edward Scissorhands (1990), Batman (1989) with Michael Keaton and Jack Nicholson, Ed Wood (1994), Sleepy Hollow (1999), Big Fish (2003), Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007), and Big Eyes (2014).
Everyone knows what a Tim Burton movie will contain. The colors will be more black and white, there will be stripes, Danny Elfman will most likely write the score, and it will star some combination of Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, Winona Ryder, and Danny DeVito. Because it is so easily recognizable, it can be easy to replicate. That’s what someone decided to do with Artificial Intelligence, and Burton was not a fan.
Tim Burton Finds AI “Disturbing”
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Back in July, BuzzFeed published an article titled “We Asked AI To “Tim Burton-Ize” Disney Movies, And I Can’t Get Over How Snow White Looks.” In it, there was a collection of over a dozen classic Disney and Pixar films reimagined in Tim Burton’s iconic style. While some worked better than others, it was an interesting experiment.
During an interview with The Independent, Tim Burton was asked if he had seen these AI interpretations. Not only had he seen them, he was aghast. “They had AI do my versions of Disney characters!” While this exclamation was intended to be humorous, his further explanation still showed he was upset.
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“I can’t describe the feeling it gives you,” he said. “It reminded me of when other cultures say, ‘Don’t take my picture because it is taking away your soul.'”
While he admitted that some of the art created was “pretty good,” he still didn’t enjoy the experience. “What it does is it sucks something from you. It takes something from your soul or psyche. That is very disturbing, especially if it has to do with you. It’s like a robot taking your humanity, your soul.”
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AI’s place in the world has been a massive topic for the entertainment industry these past few months, especially with the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes still in effect. While studios simply want to replace actual humans with robots and software, it cannot be forgotten that the thing that makes people connect to art is the humanity behind it.
So, while it is fun to experiment with it and see what could be, real artists cannot simply be replaced by a robot. And seeing Tim Burton’s reaction to this recreation is a reminder of that.
What do you think of AI recreating artists’ iconic styles? Let Inside the Magic know in the comments down below!