Every tree at the Christmas tree farm gets taken home except Sprout, who is tiny, crooked and, honestly, a little ridiculous. So he pulls up his roots and goes looking for a family of his own. Sprout Finds Home is a 58-second, 10-scene narrated Christmas comedy, made start to finish in Atlabs from a script of just ten narration lines.
Sprout Finds Home at a glance
Runtime: 0:58
Scenes: 10, one per narration line
Format: Narration-led, a narrator tells the story, no dialogue
Characters: 2 (Sprout the Christmas tree, Millie)
Locations: 3 (a tree farm, a town street, a living room)
Style: Indie Web Cartoon
Genre: Christmas comedy with a heartwarming ending
Output: 16:9, English, fully animated
What is a narration-led animated story video?
A narration-led video is a story told by a narrator, where each line of narration gets its own shot. It’s the format of classic picture-book readings and many popular animated story channels, and it’s the simplest way to turn an idea into a finished animated video.
Why it works so well:
It’s easy to write. Ten sentences and ten shot descriptions are a complete script.
It’s easy to follow. Young kids can follow the story even if they miss a picture, and adults can watch with the sound on low.
The pace is built in. One line, one shot keeps the story moving every few seconds, which suits YouTube Shorts and Reels.
The narrator can be funny. A calm voice describing a disaster on screen is a reliable joke. “That went… terribly.”
How to make an animated story video with AI, step by step
Write one narration line per shot. A narration-led story is the easiest kind to write. Describe what we see in one or two lines, then write what the narrator says over it. Sprout Finds Home is ten shots and ten lines.
Let the narrator land the jokes. Keep the lines short and let the narrator react to what we see. “That went… terribly.” over a tree crashing into presents is the whole joke.
Describe your characters once. A sentence or two each. Sprout is a tiny crooked tree with twig arms, root feet and bean-shaped eyes; Millie has pink hair, a sky-blue sweater and a yellow scarf.
Start a new animated video. Open the Atlabs animated video maker, paste the script, and choose the language, a 16:9 frame and a fast scene pace.
Pick a style. We used Indie Web Cartoon, a bright, bold cartoon look. There are 50+ styles to choose from.
Let Atlabs make the video. It designs the characters and locations, turns each narration line into its own animated scene, records the narrator, and adds music.
Polish and post. Redo a scene, retime a line or swap the music with the AI editor, then export for YouTube and cut a vertical version for Shorts and Reels.
The inputs behind this film
Here is everything we gave Atlabs to make Sprout Finds Home. Atlabs did the rest: characters, locations, props, every scene, voices and music.
Project settings
Script: A full screenplay, shown in full below
Language: English
Aspect ratio: 16:9 (landscape, for YouTube)
Scene pace: Fast
Style: Indie Web Cartoon
Image model: Automatic
Video model: Automatic
Resolution: Automatic
The input script
This is the script exactly as it was pasted into Atlabs. It’s written in plain English: who the characters are, what happens in each scene, and what the narrator says.
The style: Indie Web Cartoon
Sprout Finds Home uses the Indie Web Cartoon style in Atlabs: the bright, simple look of independent web animation and YouTube cartoons.
Bold outlines and simple shapes. Sprout is basically a crooked triangle with eyes, which makes him instantly readable, even on a phone.
Bright, flat color. White snow, green trees, Millie’s pink hair and sky-blue sweater pop against every background.
Big expressions. Comedy lives in faces, and the style pushes every gasp, pout and blush.
Indie Web Cartoon is one of more than 50 styles in Atlabs. Others that suit funny story videos:
Retro Saturday Cartoon. Classic TV cartoon comedy.
Adult Satire Flat. Sharp, internet-style humor.
3D Cartoon. Bright, Pixar-style family stories.
Storybook Illustration. Gentle bedtime stories.
Claymation. Stop-motion style holiday fun.
Whimsical Gouache. Retro, Mary Blair inspired holiday art.
Meet the cast: characters and locations that stay the same in every scene
Atlabs designed Sprout, Millie and all three locations from the script, then reused them in every scene, so Sprout stays the same tiny, crooked tree from the farm to the fireplace.
Sprout
A tiny, crooked Christmas tree with twig arms, root feet and big bean-shaped eyes. Too small for any family, so he goes looking for one.
Millie
A cheerful 7-year-old with pink hair, a sky-blue sweater and a yellow scarf, who thinks Sprout is perfect.
The locations
Snowy Christmas Tree Farm
Rows of pine trees, a wooden sales shed and a timber fence on a bright winter morning.
Snowy Town Street
A cobblestone street with decorated shop displays and a cast-iron streetlamp in falling snow.
Cozy Living Room
An armchair, a stone fireplace and twinkling lights on Christmas Eve.
Because the character sheets are made once and reused, Sprout’s crooked shape and Millie’s pink hair are the same in scene 1 and scene 10.
Sprout Finds Home, scene by scene
Ten scenes across three acts, one narration line each.
Act 1: The tree farm
Scene 1: Nobody wanted Sprout (7.4s)
Narrator: “Every Christmas tree wanted a home. Except Sprout… nobody wanted Sprout.”
The setup in one wide shot: families carry off huge, perfect trees while tiny Sprout waves his twig arms, desperate to be noticed.
Scene 2: Too small, too crooked (6.7s)
Narrator: “He was too small, too crooked, and honestly… a little ridiculous.”
Sprout stretches to look taller and a branch springs back and slaps him in the face. The narrator’s deadpan line makes the joke.
Scene 3: The FREE sign (5.3s)
Narrator: “So Sprout decided to find his OWN family!”
The farmer plants a big FREE sign next to him. Sprout gasps, pulls his roots out of the ground and runs. The adventure starts here.
Act 2: Christmas town
Scene 4: Making himself beautiful (5.3s)
Narrator: “First, he tried making himself beautiful.”
In a snowy town, Sprout waddles down the street in a stolen golden ribbon, trying very hard to look fancy.
Scene 5: That went terribly (5.2s)
Narrator: “That went… terribly.”
Too much ribbon, an out-of-control spin and a crash into a stack of presents. The narrator’s pause before “terribly” is the punchline.
Scene 6: The gift box plan (5.2s)
Narrator: “Then he tried becoming a Christmas present. Nobody wanted that either.”
Plan B: Sprout hides in a giant gift box and jumps out at a family, waving. They walk right past.
Scene 7: Alone under the streetlamp (5.2s)
Narrator: “Poor Sprout was beginning to think he’d spend Christmas all alone.”
The low point. Sprout sits under a streetlamp while snow piles up on his drooping branches. The music and the pace slow down.
Act 3: Millie’s living room
Scene 8: Millie (5.2s)
Narrator: “Until one little girl found the perfect Christmas tree.”
Millie, a little girl with pink hair and a yellow scarf, finds Sprout, scoops him up and carries him home.
Scene 9: Perfect to her (6.6s)
Narrator: “She didn’t care that he was tiny or crooked. To her, he was perfect.”
By the fire, Millie decorates him with buttons, paper snowflakes and a crooked yellow star. Sprout blushes. The heart of the story in one shot.
Scene 10: Achoo! (6.6s)
Narrator: “And that’s how the world’s weirdest Christmas tree found the world’s happiest home.”
The final gag: Sprout puffs out his chest, sneezes, and every ornament flies off and lands back on him, except the star, which lands on Millie’s head. She bursts out laughing.
Frequently asked questions
How do I make an animated story video with AI?
Write your story as a short narration script, one line per shot, paste it into Atlabs and pick a style. Atlabs designs the characters and locations, animates each shot, records the narrator and adds music. Sprout Finds Home is a 58-second, 10-scene story video made this way.
What is a narration-led animated video?
It’s a story told by a narrator, with each line of narration paired with one shot. There’s no dialogue to lip sync, so it’s fast to make, easy for young kids to follow, and well suited to short-form video.
How long should an animated story video be?
For YouTube Shorts, Reels and TikTok, 30 to 60 seconds works well. Ten short lines of narration is about a minute, which is enough for a full story with a beginning, a low point and a happy ending.
How do I make an animated story funny?
Let the pictures and the narrator disagree. Show something going wrong while the narrator says it calmly, use a short pause before the punchline, and end on one last visual gag.
Can I make a story video for kids with AI?
Yes. Narration-led stories with simple shapes, bright colors and one clear message, like “you’re perfect the way you are”, are ideal for kids. Atlabs keeps the characters consistent so the same hero can come back in new episodes.
Do the characters stay the same in every scene?
Yes. Atlabs creates a character sheet for Sprout and Millie before animating and reuses it in every scene, so Sprout’s crooked shape and Millie’s pink hair never change.
Do I need animation skills?
No. If you can write ten sentences, Atlabs handles the design, animation, narration and music, and the AI editor handles any changes.
Make your own animated story video
Sprout Finds Home started as ten lines of narration about a tree nobody wanted. Atlabs turned it into a one-minute animated Christmas comedy with consistent characters, a narrator and music, all in one place. Your story can start the same way.
