The Naughty Adventures of Scarlett May Blossom

In the nascent days of AI filmmaking in 2024, veteran filmmaker Paul Davids achieved a remarkable first: adapting his novel into a nine-part series using early AI video technology. Known for works like Showtime's "Roswell" and "The Sci-Fi Boys," Davids demonstrated his characteristic innovative spirit by embracing AI animation in its most primitive form.

The series follows the adventures of Scarlett May Blossom, whose journey takes her from trailer park to royal palace in a tale that combines lowbrow humor with surprisingly sophisticated storytelling. Originally written as a novel and later produced as an audiobook, the story features a full cast of talented voice actors who bring its eccentric characters vividly to life through sharp dialogue and clever wordplay.

What makes this production particularly fascinating is its timing. Created during AI video technology's infancy, the series captures a unique moment in cinematic history. The visuals, while primitive by today's standards, possess a peculiar charm - somewhere between a photo-realistic puppet show and surrealist animation. The imperfect lip-sync and spontaneous morphing effects create an accidental artistic vocabulary that will likely never be replicated as the technology advances.

The series succeeds primarily through its strong foundation: a well-crafted story brought to life by exceptional voice acting. While the tale itself might be described as Mark Twain on mushrooms - mixing adolescent humor with clever wordplay - it manages to be both entertaining and engaging. The narrative may be silly, but it's silly with style, earning genuine laughs through its witty dialogue and outrageous situations.

As a historical artifact, this series holds significant importance. Just as early silent films captured the dawn of traditional cinema, Davids' work documents the first stumbling steps of AI-assisted filmmaking. His decision to create a full series at this technological turning point - rather than just experimental shorts - demonstrates both remarkable foresight and creative courage.

The production does have its limitations. The character models could have used more variation, and the visual style, while novel, can become monotonous. However, these constraints feel less like flaws and more like the charming limitations of a pioneering work, similar to the technical restrictions that early filmmakers faced.

For viewers interested in the evolution of digital storytelling, this series represents a fascinating milestone. While it may not be the most polished AI production we'll see, it stands as the first lengthy narrative told through this medium. Like many technological pioneers, it may well achieve cult classic status - not despite its primitive nature, but because of it. Davids' work marks the moment when AI tools moved beyond mere technological novelty to become a medium for genuine storytelling.

I've seen some pretty rough reviews of SCARLET MAE, but I feel the series isn't being seen in the right light. To me, this jumps us back to the days of Burt Reynolds as Gator McClusky, The Dukes of Hazzard, "R" rated drive-in fare for on a hot summer night and Hee Haw. The series brought back all of those memories for me and so I watched it through teenage eyes and I had fun, which, I think, is the whole point.

Alot of attention is being given to the completely AI creation of the series, except it still had to be written and directed, and that didn't happen by computer. AI was simply a tool that Paul Davids used to bring his project into being; it was pretty much a massive solo effort for the documentarian, and that accomplishment deserves recognition. And Scarlet herself is quite a creation!

Special note should be made of the fun and bouncy tunes of the Metzger brothers (Russell was one of the producers). Those tunes are what carry NAUGHTY ADVENTURES right into Hee Haw territory where it very comfortably fits.

Going into The Naughty Adventures I had no idea that it was a show completely created by AI but also by a team that are so bone idle and lazy that the opening credits unintentionally features men with 2 right arms drinking from glasses from which their fingers have merged or the animation that is put to shame by free to play/play to win adverts.

Some of you may be aware of early Marvel cartoons that were lifted directly from the comic books and where a mouth would be super-imposed on them, well here we are 60 years later and we get virtually the same effect.

So the animation is terrible, but what of the show?

It's bad. It's so, so boring. We get bad animated talking heads intercut with AI scenes or traditional animation that looks like it was done on MS Paint by a Labrador moving the mouse around in search of a treat.

This isn't a show, it's psychological warfare.

There are and always will be bad shows and movies but some have the redeemable factors people involved cared, even a little. This looks like someone entered a list of prompts and took what was ever served up by their free to use AI tool - honestly there are people on YouTube who are producing better stuff than this and theirs is generally considered pretty substandard.

If you can get through a whole 25 minute episode without causing harm to yourself or others then you're a better person than I. Because it's awful.

I didn't last long watching this nonsense. It is absolute nonsense.

NASCB is horrendous AI animation that, when viewed for the first time, is unsettling, disturbing and and weird. Most of all it is off putting. At first, I thought (and hoped) it was just a gimmick that was the opening that would last a few short minutes and then we would get on with whatever this is about. Unfortunately, I was wrong.

I would class this as clickbait drivel that tries to entice people to view it based on the title and the thumbnail. There was something profoundly disturbing about the artifice mixed with the mindless blathering of some woman.

Avoid.

There's going to be people that like it and people that don't. I think that may be because this way of creating is the beginning of a vast new arena at the doorstep of media -Ai created content.

Just like the drum machine freaked out drummers or the no mechanical keyboard on the first iPhone made me feel odd; our reactions to Scarlett May Blossom are reactions to a completely new way of creating entertainment.

Like it or not Scarlett May Blossom has entered in the very early stages of Ai content creation, and as such is definitely ground breaking.

Check it out for yourself. It's history in the making however which way your criticism goes.