Eli Roth has acknowledged that generative AI was used in a small part of Ice Cream Man, revising his earlier claim that the film’s animation was created without it.
Roth changes his account
Ice Cream Man is a self-funded horror film from Roth, whose earlier credits include Hostel, Cabin Fever and the 2024 adaptation of Borderlands, a critical flop. The story follows children who eat contaminated ice cream, become possessed and are prompted to kill by a cartoon displayed on their phones.
During in a recent interview with Polygon, Roth was asked whether generative AI had helped create the film’s animated sequences. He said he had drawn the material himself, describing an animation team’s work to make the imagery more fluid and give it an old-fashioned, jittery appearance.
Roth said he designed the loop cycles and visual style, drew the frames he wanted and aimed for the feel of 1920s haunted Mickey Mouse cartoons. The resulting characters have also been compared with the look of Cuphead.
AI appears in the credits
Doubt emerged when a preview copy supplied to reviewers credited Dark Half, an AI visual-effects company. That credit prompted questions about which parts of the low-budget production the company had contributed to.
Roth subsequently gave a follow-up statement to Polygon:
I misspoke. AI was used in a very small portion of a few scenes in the film. It was an opportunity where technology and creativity came together to help bring my vision for the film to life.
The statement does not identify the scenes or confirm that AI was used for the phone cartoons. However, those animated sequences were the only part of the film that Roth had previously discussed when answering questions about AI. It remains possible that he drew the original artwork and worked with animators while AI was used elsewhere or only for a limited stage of the process.
Follow-up questions about the specific work have received no response, and Dark Half was contacted for clarification about its contribution. The episode highlights why precise production credits matter as filmmakers increasingly combine traditional craft with emerging tools.
For more coverage of the wider arcade and gaming news, explore RETROCADE’s arcade industry videos. If this film’s cartoon-driven horror has you considering a home setup, the arcade machine buying guide can help with the basics, while arcade light guns offer another route into retro shooting games.
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