International
Twenty one animated films vying for Academy honours
MUMBAI: A record twenty one animated features have been submitted for Oscar consideration.
Computer-animated films continue to dominate, generating big box office as four of the year‘s top 10 highest-grossing films have been computer generated creations. For the first time, stop-motion animation films also had a big year with more than one of the nominees in the feature animation category, being a stop-motion film. Several small time producers at home and overseas served up traditional, hand-drawn fare.
CGI
Since Pixar‘s Toy Story became the first feature-length computer-animated film released way back in 1995, CG has been used to produce a string of animated hits. This year, Disney offered Pixar‘s Brave and Disney Animation‘s Wreck-It Ralph; DreamWorks Animation fielded both Madagascar 3: Europe‘s Most Wanted and Rise of the Guardians which opened on 21 November; and Fox/Blue Sky Studio‘s Ice Age: Continental Drift, Universal/Illumination‘s Dr. Seuss‘ The Lorax and Sony Pictures Animation‘s Hotel Transylvania all hit it big.
Stop-Motion
Among the hopefuls this year are Tim Burton‘s Frankenweenie, which to date has grossed $63.2 million worldwide for Disney. Producer Laika‘s sophomore feature ParaNorman that has collected $97.3 million worldwide is the second film in the category. They are followed by director Peter Lord‘s The Pirates! Band of Misfits.
Hand drawn
This year, contenders include three hand-drawn features from GKIDS Films, the New York-based distributor that crashed the Oscar party one year ago with the surprise animated feature nominations for Chico and Rita and A Cat in Paris, grabbing slots that many expected to go to more high-profile contenders such as Steven Spielberg‘s The Adventures of Tintin.
GKIDS is putting up for consideration From Up on Poppy Hill from Studio Ghibli, The Rabbi‘s Cat, and Zarafa. Rounding up the list of contenders in the category are Walter & Tandoori‘s Christmas and The Mystical Laws.
International
Utopai Studios unveils 4K three-minute video generation for PAI platform
New Story Agent and editing tools aim to streamline AI-led filmmaking workflows
MUMBAI: Utopai Studios has announced a major upgrade to its PAI storytelling AI platform, introducing what it claims is an industry-first capability to generate three-minute videos in 4K resolution, alongside enhancements to its Story Agent feature.
The update, rolling out from April 15, expands the platform’s capabilities across the filmmaking process, from early concept development to post-production. The company said the new features are designed to help filmmakers maintain continuity across characters, scenes and visual styles, a key challenge in AI-driven storytelling.
At the heart of the release is a next-generation model that enables more structured narrative development, allowing creators to move more seamlessly from idea to execution. With tools such as multi-shot sequencing and multi-turn editing, the platform aims to give both studios and independent creators greater control over complex storytelling workflows.
Commenting on the launch, Utopai Studios co-founder and CTO Jie Yang said, “The next phase of AI in media will not be defined by isolated tools, but by systems that can carry story, continuity and collaboration across the full creative process.” He added that the update is a step towards enabling more practical, end-to-end narrative development at a professional level.
Echoing this, Utopai Studios co-founder and chief scientific officer Zijian He said, “Generative video is opening the door to a new production model, where creative ambition is less constrained by traditional cost and complexity.” He noted that the platform combines multimodal models with iterative editing to give creators more speed, control and consistency.
The company said PAI is already being used in professional film and television productions, particularly in Hollywood, for tasks such as pre-visualisation, scene design and post-production refinements. The latest update adds features including improved voice options, character consistency, unlimited editing and more flexible asset management.
Utopai also emphasised that its models are not trained on copyrighted material, positioning the platform as a cleaner alternative for creators and rights holders navigating the evolving AI landscape.
As AI continues to reshape content creation, Utopai’s latest push signals a shift from standalone tools to integrated systems, aiming to make high-quality filmmaking faster, more flexible and increasingly accessible.
