Why Papa D Created Me and You and Kalamazoo Using AI

Why Papa D Created Me and You and Kalamazoo Using AI

In this special episode, Papa D shares the deeply personal story behind the creation of the Me and You and Kalamazoo children's series and explains why he chose to use artificial intelligence to help bring these adventures to life.

Long before AI existed, Papa D was creating bedtime stories for his own children, featuring a character named Kalamazoo and whatever adventures they could imagine together. Decades later, after becoming a grandfather, those same stories were revived for a new generation of children—and eventually evolved into the Me and You and Kalamazoo books and animated series.

In this episode, Papa D discusses:

•  How the original Kalamazoo stories began as improvised bedtime adventures for his children 
•  The important role his daughter played in designing the original Kalamazoo character 
•  Why he decided to replace his children with his grandchildren as the heroes of these new adventures 
•  How artificial intelligence made it possible for one grandfather to create stories, books, cartoons, and educational adventures that otherwise never would have existed 
•  Why family, faith, kindness, courage, loyalty, and traditional family values remain at the heart of every episode 
•  His hope that these stories will inspire children's curiosity about history, science, technology, and the world around them 
•  Why preserving memories and creating a lasting legacy for his grandchildren became one of the most important motivations behind the project 

This episode is not really about artificial intelligence.

It's about family, storytelling, imagination, and one grandfather's desire to create something meaningful for the people he loves most.

As Papa D explains:

"They watch the TV screen, and I watch their expressions."

If you've ever told a bedtime story, read a book to a child, or wanted to leave behind something that says, 'I loved you,' this episode is for you.

Welcome to the story behind Me and You and Kalamazoo.

— Papa D

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:03

Hello everyone, I'm Papa D, the creator of Me and You and Kalamazoo. Every now and then I receive an unfavorable comment about having used AI Slop, their description, not mine, to create this cartoon series called Me and You and Kalamazoo. And I thought I would share a little bit about why I created Me and You and Kalamazoo. Yep, I used artificial intelligence tools to help me animate my stories. I don't hide that. And honestly, I'm grateful these tools exist. I didn't start creating these videos to make money, to replace somebody else's work, or to cause anyone to lose their job. But the truth is, this story actually began many many years before artificial intelligence even existed. When my children were very young, and they're old now, in fact, their parents already, about when they were two and three years old, my daughter and son loved hearing bedtime stories. And they eventually got tired of me reading the same bedtime story books that uh over and over. So instead, I started making up stories on the spot. And I created a character named Kalamazoo. Don't ask me why. I have no connection, never been to Michigan, don't have any connection to Kalamazoo, Michigan. Never it just popped in my head. It just was meant to be. Anyway, I made my children part of every adventure along with Kalamazoo. Every night was a new story, and every story featured Kalamazoo and whatever exciting adventure we happened to imagine that evening. Those bedtime stories became some of the most special memories of my life. Many years later, after my children had children of their own, my daughter, Princess Anna, is how you would know her if you watch the show, reminded me of those stories and suggested that I create children's books based on them so that my grandchildren could experience the same magic. By the way, Princess Anna was the princess of Breland as a child growing up. She told me she was in the first grade before she realized that she wasn't a real princess. So it's a special story. And if you haven't noticed by now. So anyway, that's exactly what I did. My daughter, Princess Anna, who's a graphic artist, desired designed the original visual appearance of Kalamazoo. AI didn't do that, she did. What he looks like, his personality, his clothing, his sword, his the spirit of his character all came from human beings' creativity and my memories of telling stories to my children. And uh interestingly enough, when I asked my daughter to create an image of Kalamazoo, she did that based on me telling stories. And I don't think I ever really described him to her. But when she created him and said, This is what I envisioned Kalamazoo looking like, ironically, it looked exactly like what I had pictured in my mind when I told the story. And again, I never once described how Kalamazoo looked. Anyway, that's a side note. Bottom line is these stories have always been mine. The only major difference in what we're doing today is instead of putting my children into the adventures, I now place my grandchildren in there into them. Of course, my children are in there also as King Bailey and Princess Anna. The original idea of creating children's books morphed into making cartoon videos, but I still create the picture books, coloring books, and companion materials for each of these stories. Well, not always, but would I can. But eventually I realized something that every grandparent and probably parents too know is most children today would rather watch a cartoon than sit and read a book. And unfortunately, fewer and fewer parents take time to read to their children. Uh, probably because everybody has to work harder and longer hours just to make ends meet these days. So instead, I decided to bring these stories to life as animated adventures, and that's where artificial intelligence became such an incredible gift to me. Without AI, I would never have attempted to create these cartoon videos. And that would be a terrible shame because there has been very little joy in my life in recent years that compares to the joy I feel when my grandchildren run to hug me before I've even closed the door behind me. And one of the first things out of their mouths is, Did you make a new cartoon for us? Our routine is to play outside in the yard first and maybe let them beat me in a race or watch them show me something new that they've learned recently. Then we eventually always go inside and sit down and watch the latest episode together. They watch the TV screen and I watch their expressions. I calculated one time recently what it takes for me to create a video, and it takes about one hour of work for every minute of final video production. That's real work, but I can tell you that those few minutes of being with them, watching the joy it brings to them, makes every minute of the work worth it. The greatest reward I've received from this project hasn't been views, subscribers, or money. Certainly hadn't been money because they hadn't made a nickel or penny. Uh, it's been watching my grandchildren see themselves as heroes in their own adventures and hearing them laugh and cheer. An example of what I'm trying to convey is this. Not long ago, I sat down with Jordan and William to watch a new episode. And William, who was only two years old at the time, hopped off the couch, disappeared into the bedroom for a few minutes, and I thought to myself, that's odd. He's never been uninterested in a new me and you and Kalamazoo episode before. But then a few minutes later, he returned to the living room wearing his red cape, blue mask, and customized superhero t-shirt that I gave him for Christmas, which matches the superhero costume that he wears in the cartoon series. He had the biggest smile on his face of pride. Wow. That was a reward greater than all the potential subscribers in the world to me. And that motivated me to create more content for them. And I'll be honest with you, there's another reason I do this. As a grandfather, like all of us, I know that none of us are guaranteed tomorrow. If I were to get run over by a bus tomorrow, or more likely get hit in the head by a pickleball paddle, I would want my grandchildren to grow up knowing how much I love them and how proud I was of them and how much joy they brought into my life. And my children too. I want my children to know that. And I hope years from now they'll still be able to watch these adventures and remember their Papa D. When I realized how much joy these series brought to my family, I decided to share them with other families and children who might enjoy them too. Another goal I have is to share some of the values that I believe are very important. Traditional family values like faith, kindness, courage, loyalty, responsibility, and taking care of the people we love. Those are traditional family values that I believe have always mattered and always will. And finally, I want these stories to inspire curiosity. That's why you'll see our characters travel to ancient Rome, celebrate the original Thanksgiving, explore outer space, encounter dinosaurs, or learn something about science and history. My hope is that when these children grow older and they're in school and they hear about Julius Caesar in a history class or learn about planets or space exploration, they'll think, wait a minute, I remember that from me and you and Kalamazoo. And maybe they'll pay a little more attention. Maybe they'll become a little more curious. Maybe they'll discover a lifelong love of history, science, technology, or storytelling. Without AI, me and you and Kalamazoo would never have existed. These stories aren't replacing something somebody else would have created. They're creating something that otherwise never would have existed at all. Technology has always given people new ways to tell stories. For me, AI is simply another tool like a camera, a computer, or an animation studio. Just to be clear, AI doesn't write these stories. Every character, every story idea, every corny dad joke, and every adventure comes from me. At the end of the day, I'm just a grandfather telling stories to his grandchildren. And if those stories bring a little joy, a little imagination, and maybe even a little learning to children around the world, then I think that's a pretty good thing. Thank you for watching, and welcome to Me and You and Kalamazoo. This is Papa D. Now I'm gonna share with you some clips from a variety of recent episodes so you can know whether or not this is something your little ones might enjoy. Take care and God bless and enjoy.