A Very Long Carriage Ride marks the return of AI auteur Hooroo Jackson. Check out his first fully AI feature, Window Seat. The script, sound, music, video, performances, and animation were generated by AI. A Very Long Carriage Ride builds upon the work he did with Window Seat, as this film pushes the current boundaries of animation. There are two versions of this film. One is a traditional 2D hand-drawn feature, and the other is a 3D stop-motion feature.
In A Very Long Carriage Ride, an aspiring socialite named Persephony embarks on a chaotic journey alongside her friend Autumn and a disgraced town drunk, Mr. Brandy. The stage is set with a mysterious rooftop escape as a man evades the police, foreshadowing the events to come and warning of betrayal and unexpected twists. Persephony and Autumn, both intelligent but fiercely independent women, have long been at odds with the powerful Dame Whitock, a woman in their town who seeks to expand her influence through a series of three high-profile weddings. Hoping to challenge Dame Whitock’s authority finally, the two women set off on an adventure that will take them through each of these ceremonies.
Along their path, Persephony and Autumn encounter Mr. Brandy, once a revered figure in the town, now reduced to a shell of his former self after being ruined by an adversary he calls the “serpent.” Their situation grows more complicated when the police detain Mr. Brandy and assign Persephony and Autumn responsibility for him for the day. Seizing the opportunity, the trio embarks on their carriage ride to attend three weddings: first at Suzy’s Trough, then at Roland’s Bay, and finally at Slozy Cave. At each stop, more and more of a secret is revealed.
Persephony, the protagonist of A Very Long Carriage Ride, appears in the AI-generated stop-motion version of the film alongside her horse, showcasing the film’s innovative animation techniques.
“…a chaotic journey alongside her friend Autumn and a disgraced town drunk…”
The journey takes an unexpected turn with the ghostly arrival of Laney Langdon, hinting at past wrongs hinting at past wrongs and unease surrounding the upcoming weddings. As mistaken identities, hidden motives, and supernatural elements intertwine, Persephony must expose the true villain before the final vows are exchanged.
The main question is whether or not AI is a viable tool for animators today, and if not, where does it stand? First, I should mention that the above summary of A Very Long Carriage Ride is the best I could cobble together—I know I may have gotten some story facts wrong. Jackson mentions that while AI wrote the script, Jackson did guide/workshop the process. It feels like a very loose thread is holding the story. AI struggles to manage the numerous disparate story elements. The story needs to be pared down and simplified. The dialogue also appears to be going for a Victorian/Jane Austen vibe. It felt like the AI ran away with the overly colorful and flowery dialogue, where a human editor needed to come in and smooth it all out. The overall story really needed to be simplified by reducing the number of characters and sub-plots.
Regarding the animation, A Very Long Carriage Ride delivers a better finished product than Window Seat. For the most part, the hand-drawn animation looked good, replicating Disney-style faces. The stop-motion modeling was also impressive. Both, though, suffer from the inherent weakness of AI-generative animation, and that’s consistency. The film struggles to maintain a consistent look for each character. As an audience, we struggle to keep track of the characters’ identities. At times, it was challenging to track character names, let alone follow their plotlines.
We’re just not there yet, but Hooroo Jackson is the only filmmaker/animator who is submitting work that goes beyond the typical AI memes and fake movie trailers. Definitely, check out Window Seat and A Very Long Carriage Ride as they may inspire you to make an attempt at a feature film or, better yet, problem-solve some solutions.
For more information about A Very Long Carriage Ride, visit A Very Long Carriage Ride Official PosterA Very Long Carriage Ride Official Poster.
"…AI ran away with the overly colorful and flowery dialogue..."
