Rainbow Hollow Is A Darkly Whimsical Journey into the Afterlife
Nura Studios has officially released Rainbow Hollow, an adult animated dark comedy directed by filmmaker Noah Wagner (Watch Room, The Dirty Oyster) and co-created with writer Michael Koehler. Serving as the flagship proof-of-concept for Nura Studios, every shot in the series was generated using Showcraft—the startup’s proprietary, web-based AI animation production platform.
Inspiration & Story: A Morbid Spark
The concept for Rainbow Hollow came to director Noah Wagner while attending a friend’s funeral. Watching the casket lower into the earth, Wagner found himself thinking about how bizarre burial customs are, sparking a scene in his mind: a casket descending, followed by a knock on the wood and an undead neighbor popping in to say, “Hey there, neighbor!”
The series follows Milo (voiced by Robert Cossyleon), a firefighter who dies attempting to save a cat from a tree. Upon being buried, Milo awakens in Rainbow Hollow—a secret underworld society where deceased souls live on, provided their physical bodies remain intact on Earth.
When Milo learns that his surviving wife plans to be cremated upon her death—which would erase her existence entirely rather than sending her to Rainbow Hollow—he makes a twisted choice: he resolves to return to the living world to murder her for her own good so they can spend eternity together.
Crafting “Clay Without Clay”
Rather than aiming for photorealism, Wagner envisioned Rainbow Hollow in a tactile, imperfect Claymation aesthetic reminiscent of classic stop-motion fantasy. Facing budget and timeline constraints that made physical stop-motion impossible, Wagner turned to generative AI—not as a substitute for human artistry, but as a bridge to bring the ambitious vision to life.
Nura Studios plans to release additional AI-generated original series throughout late summer and fall.
