When you think about Disney Animation inspirations, Chainsaw Man probably isn’t anywhere near the top of the list. One is a family-friendly studio known for fairy tales and heartfelt adventures. The other is an ultra-violent anime packed with devils, blood-soaked action, and a hero who literally sprouts chainsaws from his body.
So hearing that Disney’s upcoming animated movie Hexed borrowed a small piece of inspiration from Chainsaw Man definitely caught me off guard.
During a conversation with Cartoon Brew, Fawn Veerasunthorn and Jason Hand, the directors of Hexed, opened up about their goal of giving Disney’s latest original animated film a visual style that feels fresh and a little less conventional.
The film centers on Billie, a prickly teenager who discovers she has magical abilities and is pulled into a mysterious new world alongside her mother. While discussing the movie’s animation style, Hand shared one of the more surprising creative influences behind Billie’s design:
“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.”
That influence shows up in Billie’s crescent moon-shaped eye highlights. Rather than simply looking cool, the detail connects to the movie’s recurring moon imagery, representing cycles, transformation, and growth. It’s also a subtle visual clue that hints at Billie’s magical destiny without making it overly obvious.
Veerasunthorn explained the team’s creative mindset, saying: “Because this is an original film, we took it as an opportunity to think differently and get cartoonier.”
Chainsaw Man is one of the most popular modern anime series and often recommended as a great entry point for newcomers.
The story follows an impoverished teenager who merges with a devil, giving him the horrifying ability to transform parts of his body into chainsaws.
While the series is famous for its brutal action and body horror, it’s also celebrated for its incredibly expressive animation. The characters’ eyes, in particular, often carry enormous emotional weight, adding intensity and personality to every scene.
That’s clearly the aspect that resonated with Hand. Hexed isn’t importing any of Chainsaw Man‘s gore or nightmare fuel into a Disney movie. Instead, it’s adapting one of its artistic techniques into something that fits Billie’s magical adventure and Disney Animation’s signature style.
I actually love hearing about influences like this. It’s a tiny design choice, but it reveals that the filmmakers are looking beyond the usual Disney playbook for inspiration. The movie still looks unmistakably like a Disney Animation production, but it also seems interested in stretching its visual identity in new directions.
Veerasunthorn even described the film as “a little sharper and a little weirder,” and that’s exactly the kind of creative approach I’d like to see from an original Disney fantasy.
Original animated films have the freedom to take risks, and it sounds like Hexed is embracing that opportunity.
For a long stretch of the CG animation era, many major studio films drifted toward similar rounded character designs and polished realism. The individuality that once made every new Disney animated feature instantly recognizable became a little less pronounced.
More recently, movies like The Peanuts Movie, Spider-Verse, and TMNT: Mutant Mayhem have shown just how exciting stylized animation can be. It’s great to see Disney experimenting with its own visual language again instead of playing it safe.
Hexed certainly isn’t transforming into an anime horror film anytime soon, but its directors pulling inspiration from unexpected places suggests the movie could have a unique personality all its own.
If it successfully blends classic Disney storytelling with stranger visuals, an unconventional heroine, and a few anime-inspired touches, this could end up being one of Disney Animation’s most interesting original films in years.
Hexed arrives exclusively in theaters on November 25.
