Disney’s upcoming animated film Hexed has revealed an unexpected creative influence ahead of its release. While discussing the film’s direction, directors Fawn Veerasunthorn and Jason Hand pointed to the acclaimed anime Chainsaw Man as one of the inspirations behind certain visual choices. Their remarks have drawn additional attention to the upcoming fantasy feature.
Fawn Veerasunthorn and Jason Hand explain how Chainsaw Man influenced Hexed
Disney’s upcoming animated feature Hexed has drawn creative inspiration from an unexpected place. Directors Fawn Veerasunthorn and Jason Hand recently revealed that the anime Chainsaw Man helped shape some of the film’s visual ideas, particularly during the development of its young protagonist, Billie.
Speaking about the design process, Veerasunthorn explained that the team wanted Billie to hint at her magical potential without making it immediately obvious. “When you look at Billie, we wanted to evoke the feeling that this girl has the potential to be a witch, but we didn’t want to be too on the nose about it, so we put little clues everywhere,” she said.
Hand added that watching Chainsaw Man with his teenage son sparked ideas about how expressive animation could be. “I have a 15-year-old son, and we were watching Chainsaw Man. They do all kinds of crazy things with the eyes that I felt like we could totally do, but in a much subtler way,” he explained.
The filmmakers said those ideas reflected a broader creative philosophy for the project. “Because this is an original film, we took it as an opportunity to think differently and get cartoonier,” Veerasunthorn said. Hand agreed, explaining, “Being cartoonier was a big thing we’ve been pushing across the board. The color in the production design is really insane, and so are the proportions of our characters.”
The film centers on Billie Doe, a girl who has spent much of her life feeling like an outsider before an unexpected journey takes her into Hexe, a magical realm where she learns she has witchcraft powers. Disney is planning to release the original animated feature over Thanksgiving later this year.
