Particle 6, the company founded by Eline van der Velden and the home of fake AI “star” Tilly Norwood, has partnered with Rob Minkoff, co-director of Disney’s animated classic “The Lion King,” who will serve as a creative lead on an upcoming feature called “Storm Dogs.”
According to the official release Minkoff will work with CEO Van der Velden and the studio’s team “over the coming months to develop the story, characters and screenplay ahead of production.”
“Storm Dogs,” based on an original idea by Van der Velden, is described as a family adventure comedy-drama (that’s a lot of things!) set in an English village during a devastating storm. “When two-year-old Poppy is unexpectedly separated from the adult caring for her, five very different dogs must overcome their instincts, and one another, to bring her safely home,” according to the official synopsis.
The film will combine live-action performance with what are described as “photorealistic animated characters,” with both animal and toddler characters “created through an approach that brings together live-action performance, traditional filmmaking techniques and emerging AI tools.”
Particle 6 claims that it will be developing “a performance-driven process that translates an actor’s facial expressions, physicality, timing and emotional choices into the animated characters. Rather than contributing only a voice, the actor will be able to shape the complete performance, from a glance or flinch to the movement of a dog’s ears or tail.”
Please keep in mind that traditional animation, which often uses vocal performances and recorded video of the actors to guide the end result, and performance capture, which uses specific inputs from performers, have also created the same experience for years. These approaches employ real artists and don’t cannibalize preexisting work, without the thorny moral and catastrophic environmental concerns associated with A.I. These are the traditional techniques that have produced your favorite animated features throughout history.
Van der Velden said in a statement: “Rob has helped create some of cinema’s most enduring animal characters. His understanding of character, comedy and emotional storytelling makes him an extraordinary creative partner for ‘Storm Dogs.’ This film presents a challenge that would be extraordinarily difficult to achieve through conventional production alone: a toddler and five dogs carrying much of the story through extreme weather and hazardous terrain. By bringing performers, filmmakers and emerging tools together, we can attempt something unusually ambitious while keeping every creative decision in human hands. I’m not interested in AI as a replacement for human creativity. But I believe it has extraordinary potential to transform the process of making motion pictures, to help filmmakers manifest what they imagine with greater freedom and fewer limitations. We are still in the pioneering phase of this transformation, and I’m thrilled to have the opportunity to help define how it can be used responsibly.”
“I have spent much of my career looking for ways to create animal characters who are funny, emotionally truthful and completely alive. When I visited Particle 6 in London, I found a group of filmmakers who care deeply about story, character and performance,” Minkoff said in a statement. “They are also serious about exploring how new production methods can expand how filmmakers’ imaginations are realized on screen. ‘Storm Dogs’ is a wonderful opportunity to develop that approach together in the service of a story with real jeopardy, heart and humor. Set over the course of 24 hours, ‘Storm Dogs’ follows the unlikely pack as it carries Poppy across flooded fields, damaged bridges and a countryside transformed by the storm. What begins as a desperate journey gradually turns five mismatched dogs into a family, and forces Poppy’s dog-fearing mother to see them in an entirely new light.”
“Storm Dogs” is currently in early development, with production targeted for 2027. Distribution has not yet been announced.
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