This AI-Generated Heidi Trailer Is Your New Nightmare Fuel

When it was recently revealed that the opening credits of Marvel’s Secret Invasion were generated by artificial intelligence, some saw it as an appropriate artistic decision given the show’s themes. Many, on the other hand, saw it as yet more evidence of Disney and Marvel dismissing and devaluing the artists who work on their movies and TV series.

But however unsettling Secret Invasion’s credits might have been, brace yourself.

Johanna Spyri’s Heidi is one of the most beloved children’s stories of all time, chronicling the adventures of a precocious young girl living in the Swiss Alps with her grandfather. Originally published in the 1880s, it’s been adapted multiple times since, including an anime series by Isao Takahata (Grave of the Fireflies), an animated musical by Hanna-Barbera, and a version starring dogs in all of the roles with voices by Steve Guttenberg, Angela Lansbury, and Julian Sands. It even has its own theme park.

But watching this AI-generated trailer summoned from the abyss by Twitter user Karpi, you’d think that Heidi was, in fact, a hellish story of madness, demonic children, and obese mutant farm animals. And you might (understandably) conclude that AI itself needs to be killed with fire as soon as possible, lest it corrupt us all with more nightmarish visions.