I think the recent leak is absolutely mind boggling. I think it is the most amazing and beautiful leak I’ve ever seen and it’s been quite a fun time looking through the files and seeing what people were posting on Twitter the night of the leak. My personal favorite was looking through the files of Foster’s Home, I can’t put into words how cool it is seeing all the characters in full high definition.
But as much joy as I’ve felt from all of this, I’ve also felt some despair just as equally. I feel like the leaks have came out during such an unprecedented time in television animation. With there already being fears of layoffs and major budget cuts to save money and the rise of generative AI, I get a feeling that the leaks will just be another major push for Skydance to think about layoffs even more with their entire source material out for the public to see which I imagine does not make them too happy.
There are a few good things I take away from the entire leak though. It is really good material for aspiring artists and animators to look and reference from and that it also gives a really great insight into how television animation is actually like. I can’t help but feel somewhat empathetic for the workers who just want to make a living off of doing something they love and worried for the future of television animation.
But hey, the leak could also very well lead to a whole new wave of animation because of the same said aspiring artists.