My 5-year-old daughter is obsessed with unicorns 🦄
She draws them constantly. Unicorns, rainbows, love hearts. All day, every day.
Last week, I asked her: "What story would you like to bring to life?"
She came up with this:
She's at the beach near our house, gets separated from us, turns around and sees a unicorn. The unicorn flies her home.
So I used Midjourney to animate her exact story, with her as the main character.
The result? Watch her face when she sees herself riding that unicorn for the first time.
Here's how we made it happen.
The Setup:
I’d heard good things about Midjourney’s image generation. But they recently released an animation feature that lets you turn static images into 5-second videos—and you can extend them up to 20 seconds with seamless transitions.
My plan:
- Create an image of Maria in her school uniform on the beach
- Animate her turning around to see a unicorn
- Extend the animation: her climbing on, flying home, waving goodbye
- Total time: 30 minutes.
- Tool: Midjourney ($10/month basic plan, though I’m considering the $8/month annual option).
What Worked:
The OmniReference feature is powerful. You upload a photo of your child, and Midjourney uses it as a reference for generating images. This keeps the character consistent across scenes.
I uploaded a photo of Maria and started with a claymation style. But after 16 generations, I wasn’t happy with the results. The style just didn’t feel right.
Then I found a pro tip that changed everything: I clicked on a Pixar-style image I liked in the Midjourney gallery, copied the full detailed prompt, and edited it to match Maria’s appearance (brown hair, blue eyes, school uniform).
Second try, nailed it. After just 8 more image generations, I had the perfect Pixar-style Maria standing on the beach.
The animation feature is surprisingly simple. You have two options:
- Auto animation (creates 4 variations automatically)
- Manual animation (you write prompts for what happens)
I chose manual. First prompt: “She turns around and sees a unicorn.”
Boom. One-time hit. Perfect 5-second video of her turning, seeing the unicorn, and her face lighting up with shock and delight.
Then I extended it three more times:
- She climbs onto the unicorn’s back and flies into the air
- The unicorn lands at our house
- She waves goodbye and goes inside
Each extension was a one-time hit. I could have refined more, but I wasn’t chasing perfection—I wanted to see if Maria would even like it.
Turns out? She loved it. That look of wonder on her face when she saw herself in the story—worth every minute.
What Didn’t Work:
The claymation style was a bust. I generated 16 images trying different prompts, tweaking details, adjusting lighting. None of them looked right.
The problem wasn’t the AI - it was me not knowing what style would work. I wasted 10 minutes going down a path that didn’t fit the vision.
The breakthrough came from copying existing prompts instead of writing from scratch. If I’d started there, I would have saved those 16 failed generations.
Prompting takes practice. Even with a clear idea (“claymation girl on beach”), you need the right descriptive language to get good results. Beginners will struggle without examples to work from.
The extensions aren’t editable. Once you commit to an extension, you can’t go back and tweak just that section. You’d have to regenerate the whole sequence. Not a dealbreaker, but worth knowing.
The Real Test: Maria’s Reaction
I didn’t show her the work-in-progress. I waited until I had the full 20-second story ready.
Yesterday, I sat her down, reminded her of the story she wanted to create, and pressed play.
Her face lit up. Pure amazement. She watched herself turn around, see the unicorn, climb on its back, fly through the air, wave goodbye at our house.
She wanted to watch it again. Then again. Then she asked: “Can we make another one?”
That’s the verdict. Not just “cool” once - she wants more.
The Pricing Reality:
I’m on the Basic plan: $10/month (billed monthly). But there’s an annual option: $8/month if you commit for a year ($96 upfront).
Four tiers total:
- Basic ($10/month or $8/month annual)
- Standard (more features, higher cost)
- Pro (for power users)
- Mega (for professionals)
For family storytelling projects, Basic is more than enough. I’m considering switching to annual because I can already see us using this regularly.
Compared to custom animation services ($500+ for a 20-second clip), this is incredible value.
My Honest Take: This is now in our creative toolkit.
- Maria already has ideas for the next story (something about a rainbow castle—I’m sure unicorns will be involved).
- The workflow is simple enough that I can teach her to prompt her own ideas in a year or two. For now, I translate her stories into prompts and she directs the vision.
- But here’s the key: you need to be willing to iterate. My first 16 attempts failed. If I’d given up there, we wouldn’t have this magical video.
The tool rewards persistence and stealing good prompts from the gallery.
Bottom Line:
Worth trying if:
- Your kid loves storytelling and sees themselves as characters
- You’re willing to spend 30-60 minutes on a project
- You’re okay with $10/month for unlimited creative exploration
- You can handle failed attempts without frustration
Not worth it if:
- You want perfect results on the first try
- You’re uncomfortable with AI-generated content of your child
- You need professional-quality animation (this is good, not perfect)
- Your kid won’t engage with the final result
Want to Try It?
Midjourney offers monthly and annual plans. Start with the $10/month Basic to test with your kids.
→ Try Midjourney
[EXCLUSIVE FOR SUBSCRIBERS]
3 Prompts That Actually Worked:
1. The Failed Claymation Attempt:
“A claymation girl with brown hair and blue eyes. You can see her full body and she is on a beach at the golden hour.”
Result: 16 generations, none matched the vision. Style just didn’t work for this story.
Lesson: Sometimes the style is wrong, not the prompt.
2. The Winning Pixar Prompt (Stolen from Gallery):
I found a Pixar-style image I loved in the Midjourney gallery, clicked it, copied the full prompt, then edited for Maria:
“Pixar-style 3D render of a 5-year-old girl with brown hair and bright blue eyes, wearing a gray tracksuit and yellow t-shirt, standing on a sandy beach during golden hour, soft lighting, detailed facial features, child-friendly animation style, full body visible, cheerful expression, photorealistic textures –ar 16:9”
Result: Perfect on the second generation (8 images in).
Lesson: Copy proven prompts and customize them. Don’t start from scratch.
3. The Animation Prompts (One-Time Hits):
- Extension 1: “She turns around and sees a unicorn standing behind her, her face shows amazement and wonder”
- Extension 2: “She climbs onto the unicorn’s back and they fly up into the air above the beach”
- Extension 3: “The unicorn lands in front of a house, she waves goodbye to the unicorn”
- Extension 4: “She turns toward the house door and walks inside”
Result: Each worked on the first try. Simple, clear action descriptions.
Lesson: For animations, be specific about the action but keep it simple.
What Made These Work:
- Specificity about appearance (brown hair, blue eyes, gray tracksuit, yellow shirt) helped maintain consistency.
- Aspect ratio tag (–ar 16:9) ensured widescreen format perfect for video.
- Copying professional prompts gave me the descriptive language I was missing (“photorealistic textures”, “soft lighting”, “detailed facial features”).
- Simple animation prompts focused on one clear action per extension.
Common Mistakes I Made:
- Trying to write clever prompts instead of copying proven ones.
- Not checking the aspect ratio before generating (square images don’t animate as well).
- Overcomplicating animation prompts (“she gracefully climbs aboard the majestic unicorn” vs “she climbs onto the unicorn’s back”).
- Not saving the prompts that worked (had to recreate them for this newsletter!).
Try It This Week?
Ask your kid what story they want to bring to life. Let them direct, you prompt.
Reply and tell me what they created!
P.S. - Next week: I’m testing a new AI animation tool that lets you control the exact first and last frame. Can you create smoother animations by locking down the start and end? Testing with real family projects. Results Sunday.
Quick Links:
