Fine Tooning Looks Back at 2025, From Disney’s AI Gamble to Animation’s Biggest Wins (Ep. 339)

The Jim Hill Media Podcast Network

Jim Hill Media Podcast Network

Places & Travel, Society & Culture, Tv & Film

4.7 • 1.5K Ratings

🗓️ 30 December 2025

⏱️ 35 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

As 2025 comes to a close, Jim Hill flies solo on this Drew-free edition of Fine Tooning to take stock of one of the biggest, strangest, and most consequential years the animation industry has seen in decades. From record-shattering box office runs and surprise streaming hits to uncomfortable conversations about AI and the future of creative labor, this episode connects the dots between where animation has been and where it appears to be heading next. NEWS • Why Disney’s $1 billion investment in OpenAI has the animation world divided and how a Jerry Beck-hosted editorial argues that Walt Disney might have embraced AI himself • A year-end box office check-in including Zootopia 2, Avatar: Fire & Ash, and Angel Studios’ faith-based animated feature David • Netflix confirms KPop Demon Hunters has been watched more than 500 million times worldwide and what that means for its sequel and merchandising future • Major release-date shakeups for The Legend of Aang: The Last Airbender and Pixar’s Gatto and why March releases are no longer considered box office poison • A rundown of upcoming animation books, UPA retrospectives, and why supporting animation historians matters more than ever HOSTS • Jim Hill - IG: @JimHillMedia | X: @JimHillMedia | Website: JimHillMedia.com • Drew Taylor - IG: @DrewTailored | X: @DrewTailored | Website: drewtaylor.work FOLLOW • Facebook: JimHillMediaNews • Instagram: JimHillMedia • TikTok: JimHillMedia SUPPORT Support the show and access bonus episodes and additional content at Patreon.com/JimHillMedia. PRODUCTION CREDITS Edited by Dave Grey Produced by Eric Hersey - Strong Minded Agency SPONSOR Unlocked Magic helps you save big on Walt Disney World and Universal Orlando tickets, sometimes up to 12 percent off. Unlocked Magic is run by the same team behind DVC Rental Store and DVC Resale Market, making it easy to plan your 2026 Central Florida vacation. Pick your dates, grab your tickets, and go. Visit UnlockedMagic.com and be sure to tell them Drew and Jim sent you. If you would like to sponsor a show on the Jim Hill Media Podcast Network, reach out today. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome back to fine-tuning with Drew Taylor, your one-stop shop when it comes to animation news and commentary.
0:06.0	I'm entertainment writer Jim Hill and Mr. Taylor, whose writings on the industry you can regularly read over on the rap,
0:13.8	and whose musings on the Mission of Possible movies you can still listen to over on Light Diffuse,
0:19.0	the official Mission impossible podcast.
0:26.8	Well, it's another Drew Free show, folks. Mind you, it won't be for very much longer.
0:31.4	Mr. Taylor is on the mend. He actually checked in yesterday afternoon.
0:39.9	By the way, I'm recording this week's show on Monday, December 29, 2025, for those of you who are listening to this podcast at some point in the future.
0:44.5	Anyway, Drew needs a little more time to heal.
0:55.4	And when he's back here on next week's show, well, I'll leave it to Mr. Taylor as to whether or not he actually fills our listeners in on what Drew's been dealing with these past few weeks.
0:58.3	It's his story to tell, not mine.
1:03.6	As for me, we're just a day or so away from the start of the new year.
1:07.3	So I thought we'd take a moment on this week's fine tuning.
1:13.5	We'd take a look back at 2025, which was, let's remember, an enormous year for animation. We had huge, huge successes like Nizot 2, K-pop Demon Hunters, and Zootopia 2.
1:22.4	But at the same time, we also had genuinely concerning developments in the animation industry,
1:27.3	like Disney's decision to invest $1 billion in Open AI,
1:32.5	but not only that, but as part of this agreement,
1:35.4	users will then be allowed to create short videos that feature more than 200.
1:41.4	Disney, Marvel, Pixar, Star Wars characters that these same users can then share through social media.
1:48.3	And understandably, a lot of folks who work in the animation industry were rightly upset when this news broke back on December 11th.
1:57.4	But what caught my eye was a guest editorial that Jerry Beck recently hosted over on
2:03.8	Animation Scoop. Jerry Beck, for those of you who don't know, is one of the preeminent animation
2:09.4	historians working today. He's written 15 different books on the topic. He helped launch
	...

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