Eli Roth admits using generative AI in Ice Cream Man amid backlash
Eli Roth has clarified his earlier comments about how Ice Cream Man was made, saying he “misspoke” amid mounting criticism over generative AI.
Here we go again with AI making headlines in the film world, but this time it’s not some tech startup or shadowy VFX supervisor in the crosshairs—it's genre regular Eli Roth and his new film Ice Cream Man. After making a fuss about drawing things by hand, Roth's been called out for a different sort of artistry entirely.
Hand-drawn or not so much?
The whole thing started to unravel after Polygon ran a piece digging into the production process behind Ice Cream Man. Roth had initially told them in an interview that, for a particularly creepy animated segment—think a Fleischer Studios-inspired cartoon broadcast to kids’ mobiles—he'd personally drawn the frames, working directly with animators to get the look he wanted. So far, so traditional.
The trouble came when reviewers spotted Dark Half, an AI visuals company, listed in the end credits. Naturally, online speculation kicked off about how much of the film had actually been crafted by hand, and how much had come courtesy of a generative algorithm. That’s a bit awkward, considering Roth’s earlier claims about his hands-on approach.
Ice Cream Man arrives in cinemas on 7 August.
Dark Half, an AI visual effects company, is credited for work on Ice Cream Man.
Roth tries to set the record straight
Polygon weren’t satisfied with the mixed messages and went back to Roth, who then admitted via an official statement that he’d got it wrong. According to Roth, he "misspoke" about the animation being entirely hand-drawn, explaining instead that generative AI was actually used for "a very small portion of a few scenes." He kept it vague—there were no details about which scenes, or even descriptions of what sort of AI technique was used. Just... rest assured, it’s a limited role, apparently.
In his own words, as provided to Polygon, Roth put it like this:
"I misspoke. AI was used in a very small portion of a few scenes in the film." He also said the process was one "where technology and creativity came together to help bring my vision for the film to life."
Neither Roth nor anyone at Dark Half supplied further comment when pressed. The end result: everyone knows now that generative AI is in the mix for Ice Cream Man, even if we’re in the dark about precisely where it pops up. The story itself centres around an ice cream truck driver with a supernatural knack for turning local children into killers—so perhaps a bit of AI trickery isn't the weirdest element at play.