How to Create Pixar style Illustrations with DALLE3

ChatGPT and DALLE3 have been gradually implementing additional content policy restrictions, and it's a reasonable move on their part. Perhaps you've noticed a surge in Pixar-style artwork shared on various social platforms. However, when you attempt to create such content yourself, you may encounter content policy restrictions, leading to limitations imposed by the content policy watchdog, correct?

ChatGPT and DALLE3 have established clear guidelines to prevent users from generating copyrighted content. As an illustration, you can't directly instruct DALLE3 to generate a character from a Pixar movie.

To capture the essence of Pixar's unique style, all you need to do is incorporate the term "Pixar-like" into your description. When we say "Pixar-like," we're basically letting the system know that we don't want to copy existing stuff. Instead, we want DALLE3 to whip up some unique illustrations inspired by Pixar's cool animation style based on our prompts.

The Raw Prompt

I'd like to be surprised. I want to see a young character with their companion friend in a scene that can have any theme but must be kid-friendly and cute, following the Pixar-like style. The characters should not be looking at the camera.

I tried running this prompt multiple times, and I got some fantastic results. I intentionally omitted the term "3D," and while it still produced impressive images, they appeared more realistic and less cartoonish. Feel free to experiment with the prompt to find what suits your preferences best.

The Results and Generated Prompts

These results are entirely random because I instructed DALLE3 to surprise me with various scenes, characters, and colors. This approach yielded a wide range of outcomes that consistently exceeded my expectations.

Illustration of a young Indigenous North American boy with braided hair, donning a hoodie with tribal patterns, as he teaches his companion, a cartoonish bear cub with expressive eyes, how to fish by a tranquil mountain lake. Pine trees and a campfire nearby set the scene for a peaceful evening, with the reflections of the sunset on the water enhancing the tranquil mood. The image is crafted in a Pixar-like style, capturing the essence of companionship and learning, with the characters absorbed in their activity and not looking at the camera.

Illustration of a young Hispanic girl with long, wavy hair, wearing a light summer dress, as she quietly reads a storybook under the shade of a giant oak tree. Her companion, a gentle fawn with soft brown eyes, is lying next to her, nestled in the lush grass, both lost in the tranquility of the moment. The garden around them is blooming with flowers of all colors, with butterflies fluttering by, and the scene is bathed in the warm light of a lazy afternoon. This entire idyllic setting is captured in a Pixar-like style, with the characters naturally integrated into the scene, not looking at the camera.

Illustration of a young African boy with short curly hair, dressed in a bright red sweater and blue jeans, as he quietly reads a giant storybook in the shade of a grand old tree. His companion, a gentle giraffe with a scarf around its neck, peers over his shoulder with curiosity at the colorful pictures in the book. They are in a lush meadow filled with wildflowers and butterflies, creating a peaceful scene in a Pixar-like style, with neither character looking at the camera.

Illustration of a young Hispanic boy with short wavy hair, equipped with a digital mapping device on his wrist, standing in awe in a subterranean cavern with his pet baby dinosaur that has whimsical stripes of electric blue and lime green. The cavern is lit by a mysterious ethereal light, highlighting the myriad of fluorescent minerals embedded in the walls, which sparkle in a spectrum of colors. Streams of underground water reflect the dazzling lights, adding to the sense of wonder and discovery, portrayed in a Pixar-like style.

You can really let your imagination run free with this one. As an example, I came up with an idea involving a girl immersed in a cyberpunk setting, wearing a VR headset on her head, while her robot companion stands nearby.

Here's the raw prompt:

A young girl and her robot friend in a cyberpunk setting. She has a VR headset tipped up on her head. 16:9 with a Pixar-like style. Candid shot.

The result and generated prompt:

Pixar-like style illustration of a young girl with a playful expression, her hair in pigtails, wearing a VR headset tipped up on her head as a visor. She's in a bustling cyberpunk cityscape, with her small, friendly robot companion that has large, expressive eyes and a shiny metallic surface. The scene is candid, with the pair looking at a holographic map projected from the robot's chest, surrounded by neon signs and floating vehicles, capturing the whimsical nature of a futuristic urban environment.

If you'd like to see more of the Pixar-like images generated using DALLE3, check out my gallery here.

Final Thoughts

I had a great time experimenting with this. My kids thoroughly enjoyed brainstorming ideas for this article, making it a fun and engaging activity for all of us.

As of November 2023, this approach is effective, but it's hard to predict how it will fare in the future, given ChatGPT's continually evolving content policies and rules. So, make the most of it while you can and relish the results you achieve!

Have you used ChatGPT and DALLE3 for generating unique and Pixar-like illustrations? What themes or scenes have you envisioned with these AI tools? Share your artistic adventures in the comments below, and don't forget to subscribe to our newsletter for more AI related inspiration and updates.