# Death Threats, Doxxing and AI: How Animator Jorge Gutiérrez Killed His Own Show in 36 Hours (EXCLUSIVE) > Source: > Published: 2026-07-15 15:20:00+00:00 Jorge Gutiérrez thought he was being noble. The director of “The Book of Life” had watched generative [AI](https://variety.com/t/ai/) quietly move into every animation studio in town, and he had a bad feeling about it. “There aren’t enough artists overseeing this stuff,” he thought. So when Amazon MGM Studios offered Gutiérrez the lead on “Punky Duck,” one of three series under its new GenAI Creators’ Fundhe took the job, seeing it as part of a mission. “I thought, I’m going to make sure artists are guaranteed a seat at the table,” he says. “I’m going to make sure this is driven by artists.” What followed was one of the fastest public implosions in recent memory. When it was announced that Gutiérrez was taking the “Punky Duck” job, his peers didn’t see him as a hero working for the cause, but as a defector. Immediately, the death threats started against him and his wife, as did the publishing of his home address. ### Popular on Variety “What I quickly learned is this is a black-and-white issue,” Gutiérrez says. “You’re pro or you’re anti — there’s no in between right now.” He adds, “The road to hell is paved with good intentions. My intentions were good, but I was taking my family to hell by doing this.” So Gutiérrez [backed out of the project](https://variety.com/2026/tv/news/jorge-gutierrez-drops-out-amazon-mgm-ai-generated-series-backlash-1236762285/). “It was a Wednesday announcement,” he recalls of his hiring. “Thursday, I said, ‘I’m listening to everybody.’ On Friday morning, I pulled the plug.” Amazon had no hard feelings when he walked away. “They said, ‘You do whatever is best for your family,'” he says. “I think I’m the first creator to kill their own show a day and a half after announcing it.” Gutiérrez’s ordeal was extreme, but the divide it exposed runs through every animation studio. Travis Knight, the Laika CEO whose stop-motion films are built by hand, views the animation boom as a chance to save corners of the medium he fears are fading. “Stop motion is a celebration of artistry over algorithms,” Knight says. “AI is the furthest thing from human, so I get why people are nervous. I’m nervous about it.” [Pete Docter](https://variety.com/t/pete-docter/), Pixar’s chief creative officer, is OK with using AI tools, as long as an artist is driving them. “To bypass and have AI do it, you’re robbing that individual of the chance to say something and the audience to respond.” [Jared Bush](https://variety.com/t/jared-bush/), Walt Disney Animation Studios’ chief creative officer, lands on authorship: “It comes down to your voice. It doesn’t matter what form it takes, as long as what you’re putting out to the world is you.” For Gutiérrez, the lasting damage is not the doxxing but what it silences at this most vital moment. “A lot of bad decisions are going to get made,” he predicts, “and artists are not going to be part of those discussions.” When they try to participate, as he puts it, “they’re crucified.”