How To Create AI Animations

Have you ever dreamed of making your own Studio Ghibli-style animation — full of whimsical worlds, lush landscapes, and charming characters — but felt like you didn’t have the skills or budget to do it?

Thanks to AI, that dream is now within reach. You don’t need to know how to draw, animate, or compose music. All you need is an idea… and this guide.

In this step-by-step tutorial, we’ll show you how to go from a simple story concept to a fully animated, Studio Ghibli-inspired short film using free or low-cost AI tools — no technical background required.

Step 1: Use ChatGPT to Write Your Story and Scenes

Start by imagining what kind of animation you want to create. Think of:

• A magical forest adventure?
• A quiet countryside story with emotional depth?
• A young girl discovering a hidden spirit world?

Once you have an idea, head to ChatGPT (you can use the free version, but GPT-4 is better if you have access).

Ask it something like:

"Help me write a short 3-minute Studio Ghibli-style animation. I want it to be about a girl who finds a mysterious glowing creature in the forest. Make it whimsical, emotional, and suitable for animation."

ChatGPT will give you a full outline. You can ask it to break it down scene by scene:

"Can you split this into 5 scenes with descriptions of what happens visually in each one?"

Now you have your mini screenplay.

Step 2: Use MidJourney to Generate Ghibli-Style Images

MidJourney is an AI tool that turns text prompts into images. It’s great at mimicking the dreamy, painterly look of Studio Ghibli animations.

To use MidJourney:

1. Go to MidJourney and join.
2. Use your ChatGPT scene descriptions as prompts to get an image you like.

For example:

Studio Ghibli style, magical forest glowing softly at night, a girl in a red cloak staring at a glowing creature, dreamy lighting, painterly brush strokes --v 6

Repeat this for each scene from your script. Save the resulting images — you’ll need them for the animation step.

Step 3: Animate with Luma AI’s Dream Machine (Ray 2)

Now it’s time to bring your still images to life.

Head over to Luma AI's Dream Machine — a free tool that lets you upload images and turns them into short video clips with realistic motion.

Upload your MidJourney image and type a simple motion prompt like:

“Camera slowly zooms in. Leaves gently rustle in the wind. The glowing creature pulses with light.”

The tool will generate a short animation (usually a few seconds). Do this for each scene image you created.

Now you have animated clips!

Step 4: Add Sound Effects with MM-Audio

Want the wind to rustle through the trees? Want footsteps in the forest? Use MM-Audio — a tool that lets you generate AI sound effects just by describing them.

Go to the tool and type prompts like:

• “Light wind blowing through trees in a quiet forest”
• “Soft footsteps on forest ground”
• “Magical glowing creature humming softly”

You can download these sounds and match them to your animated clips.

Step 5: Create Original Music with Suno AI

Now it’s time for music — the soul of any animation.

Visit Suno AI and describe the kind of music you want.

Try something like:

“Emotional and whimsical orchestral soundtrack with flutes and strings, in the style of Studio Ghibli, soft and peaceful with a magical tone.”

Suno will generate an original song in a few seconds. You can create multiple music tracks for different scenes — or one beautiful song for the whole short.

Step 6: Edit Everything Together in CapCut

Now it’s time to assemble your masterpiece!

Download CapCut — it’s a free, beginner-friendly video editor for mobile and desktop.

1. Import your animated clips from Luma AI.
2. Drag in your sound effects from MM-Audio.
3. Add the music track you made with Suno.
4. Use fade-ins, crossfades, and soft transitions between scenes to keep it dreamy.
5. Add text titles or captions if you like.

When you’re done, export the video and you now have your own Studio Ghibli-style AI short film!

Final Thoughts

With a little imagination and the help of AI tools, anyone can create magical animated films — even if you’ve never drawn a picture or composed a note in your life.

Here’s a quick recap of your AI animation toolkit:

• Story + Scenes → ChatGPT
• Illustrations → MidJourney
• Animation → Luma Dream Machine (Ray 2)
• Sound Effects → MM-Audio
• Music → Suno AI
• Editing → CapCut

This is just the beginning. The more you experiment with prompts, the better your animations will become.

So go ahead — make something magical. 🍃✨