Audi’s New Holiday Film Ditches AI for Classic Stop-Motion with Miniature Cars
The German automaker used painstakingly detailed stop-motion animation to bring its iconic models to life for the holidays.
Audi has released a festive holiday greeting that, at first glance, appears to be another example of artificial intelligence–generated content. The German automaker, however, says its latest video was produced without the use of AI, relying instead on a traditional animation technique.
The film, titled “Holiday Play, the Audi Way,” was created in the United States using stop-motion animation, a painstaking process that involves photographing miniature models frame by frame to simulate movement. Audi said each scene was built and captured manually, with objects shifted slightly between shots to create the illusion of motion.
The video prominently features several of Audi’s most iconic road and racing vehicles, with the legendary Audi quattro playing a central role in the brand’s holiday storytelling.
An extended version of the film, which runs for nearly two minutes, opens with a miniature Audi Q8 emerging from a gingerbread garage. The story then unfolds across snowy, ice-covered landscapes populated by models representing different eras of Audi’s automotive history.
Viewers can spot modern vehicles such as the RS3, RS4 Avant, A6 e-tron, and A5, alongside classic models, including an Audi 80 depicted dragging a large snowball through the winter scene.
The production also highlights Audi’s motorsports legacy, featuring miniature recreations of the brand’s recent Dakar Rally–winning car, the original Audi quattro from the World Rally Championship, the Le Mans–winning R10 TDI, and several single-seater race cars from the mid-20th century.
Notably absent from the celebration of Audi’s racing past is any reference to Formula 1, despite the automaker’s plans to enter the sport next year.
The film concludes at a large gingerbread mansion, where the full collection of miniature cars is displayed beneath a brightly illuminated Audi four-ring logo.
To underscore the authenticity of the production, Audi USA shared behind-the-scenes images of the stop-motion filming process on its social media channels.
