Scooby-Doo Springtrapped AI Voice Controversy

Overview

Scooby-Doo Springtrapped AI Voice Controversy refers to backlash surrounding the use of AI voice technology by animator Eagan Tilghman for a fan animation mashing up Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! and Five Nights at Freddy's titled "Scooby Doo, Where Are You? In… SPRINGTRAPPED!" The animation was released in mid-August 2023 and received criticism on sites like X, including from voice actress Grey DeLisle, who has voiced Daphne in numerous Scooby-Doo shows and movies throughout the 2000s and storyboard artist Jay Lender.

Background

On August 11th, 2023, YouTuber^[1] Eagan Tilghman (@Eagtab) posted a stop motion animated video titled "Scooby Doo, Where Are You? In… SPRINGTRAPPED!" garnering over 971,000 views in five days (shown below). The animation is meant to directly resemble the 1969 show Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! and mashes up Scooby-Doo and FNAF. Throughout the animation, AI voices are used for four of the seven characters in order to make them sound authentic to the show, with Shaggy being voiced by an impersonator.

Tilghman shared a link to the animation on X^[2] that day, encouraging his followers to watch it. While the animation was celebrated by commenters for its authenticity to Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! and its high quality, some commenters on X^[3][4] complained about the use of AI voices and how using AI voice takes jobs away from voice actors (examples shown below).

Developments

Jay Lender and Grey DeLisle Respond

On August 12th, 2023, Jay Lender, a storyboard artist and TV writer whose work includes SpongeBob SquarePants and Phineas and Ferb, shared the video on X,^[5] writing, "This film uses AI-simulated voices of currently active talent. The inevitable result of this cheap tech will be over-exposure, killing their ability to make a living with their formerly unique instrument. Law must catch up NOW," tagging actress Mindy Kaling and voice actress Grey DeLisle in the post (shown below).

Around this time or shortly prior, Tilghman posted a notice in the description of the video about his use of AI voices, claiming he did so because he is an independent animator and didn't have the money to hire authentic voice actors, writing:

4 OUT OF 7 VOICES IN THIS SHORT WERE CREATED USING A.I.
I chose to go this route bc i wanted the gang to sound right, and voice actors were not at my disposal. I am very new to the animation community and have never worked with voice actors before, so honestly i did not think it was that big of a deal to use an A.I voice on a fan parody.

I'm only 23, I'm not rich, and I'm working completely solo. i spent $10 on this project, and that was to pay a tiktokker with a good shaggy impression to read all of his lines. i taught myself scooby and did all of those lines myself, so i hope you can understand that it was an honest mistake made by an independent animator who was just trying to have a little fun with the medium and his favorite franchises.

On August 12th, X^[6] user @treystar679 posted a screenshot of the description under @JayLender1's post calling out the video. DeLisle responded to the comment on X^[7] that day, writing, "I will never EVER work for this person and I am sharing their name with every voice actor I know!" garnering over 600 likes and 1,200 quote-retweets in four days (shown below). Lender deleted his original post on an unknown date.

Tilghman's Response

On August 13th, 2023, @Eagtab made a post to X,^[8] writing, "Y’all I don’t hate voice actors, I literally just viewed my video as a giant overproduced meme. I didn’t really think AI was that big of a deal bc the video was just a joke I was making in my free time," garnering over 6,900 likes in three days (shown below, left). That day, he made another post on X,^[9] further clarifying, "I hope y’all don’t think I’m pro AI just because anti ai people were harsh with me […] I genuinely agree with the sentiment of VA’s and I’m glad I understand now. People should be much kinder and more understanding of new and ignorant creators but I still don’t like AI," garnering over 4,800 likes in the same span of time (shown below, right).

@Eagtab also directly responded to DeLisle's comment on X,^[10] apologizing and writing, "Hey Grey, just wanted to apologize personally!I’m just a 23 year old kid who appreciated the show you were a part of and wanted to bring some of the joy it brought me back into the world!"

Jay Lender's Apology

On August 15th, 2023, @JayLender1 apologized to @Eagtab through X, writing, "I don't know what's going on in your corner of the internet, but if my post has caused you any suffering then I am truly, truly sorry for that," continuing, "The intent was not to bring trouble to your door, but to illustrate an issue I believe to be of vital importance to vocal artists," also apologizing for tagging "outsiders" (shown below).

Grey DeLisle's Response

On August 16th, 2023, Grey DeLisle began responding to the backlash on X. That day, she made a post to X^[15] writing, "Stealing someone’s art for your own recognition and profit is wrong. Period. It’s unbelievable to me that folks are mad at ME for being angry that my voice was stolen without my consent. Wow," garnering over 11,000 likes in two days (shown below). Before this, she responded to Tilghman's post on X^[16] apologizing to her, accepting the apology and hoping that he replaces the AI voices.

That night, Tilghman made a post to X^[14] regarding the controversy. In his response, he writes that it's frustrating to be held to the standards of animators when he doesn't consider himself an animator, writing that he wants to direct movies and that he learned to animate so he could direct without a budget. He writes:

Springtrapped was literally me practicing animation in a piece that was coherent enough to go in my portfolio when complete. I have a short film I wrote that is very dear to my heart and I did all of this so I could properly animate it myself. Im over it, but I just think people should know that this was all Just a practice run at animation and I legit knew nothing. But I seriously respect the art and wanted to give it my best, but im happy it was good enough to convince people I actually knew what I was doing haha.

On August 17th, DeLisle made an X^[17] post defending herself from accusations of blacklisting Tilghman, writing:

Creators who do unethical things run the risk of getting blacklisted. That’s just a fact. I said I was going to warn my colleagues as I would do for anyone who was vulnerable to theft. The filmmaker has apologized and promised to do the right thing from here on out. We’re good.

DeLisle further responded to the controversy via an Instagram^[13] video that night. In the video, she admits she "may have overreacted a tiny bit" but backs up her opinion that using AI voices of voice actors is wrong, calling it an "emergency" and saying "computers are taking artists' livelihoods away." She admits that she will "be fine" but says she's worried about the future of voice acting. She then thanks Eagan Tilghman for apologizing for using AI voices. After that, she defends herself for "blackballing" Tilghman, saying, "Sorry, blackballing is a thing that can happen […] all I was doing was warning other actors," then says that she is the victim in the situation. She goes on to call the assertion that Tilghman had to use AI because he had no budget "BS," saying, "Every week I meet people who want to do voiceovers," suggesting he should seek out non-union actors who might do the work for free. The video gained over 5,000 likes in a day.

Later that night, Tilghman posted to X^[18] announcing that he deleted some posts about Grey's video because he believes the situation was "an honest mistake," writing, "I don’t wanna leave up my tweets that continue to accuse her for something she corrected and apologized for on her page." He then announces he's going to take some time off of X.

Grey DeLisle AI Art

On September 11th, 2023, Grey DeLisle posted on X^[19] that she had acquired a new piece of art of Daphne that she commissioned from an artist. This art was going to be at her signing table, meaning that at an upcoming convention in Edmonton fans could pay to have her sign the art and walk away with it. Fans of hers were quick to note that the art itself was AI generated, with many pointing to the eyes, fingers, and background details to support it. This caused further discussion around DeLisle, who posted about being scammed and had fans bring up the irony of her previous issues with AI yet being tricked by it (shown below).

Online Reactions

The controversy became the subject of video essays and reactions by numerous creators. On August 14th, 2023, YouTuber^[11] Clownfish TV posted a video about the controversy, garnering over 60,000 views in two days (shown below, left). On August 15th, YouTuber^[12] Vailskibum posted a video on the subject that gained over 131,000 views in a day (shown below, right).

Search Interest

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External References