Trying to improve upon classic comic and cartoon characters is like messing with Mother Nature. Still, there’s nothing wrong with re-imagining a character from a different point of view. Tools like Photoshop make it easier than ever to give texture and shadow to plain line drawings, so converting our favorite cartoon characters into a more realistic style is too tempting to pass up. This is sometimes called “un-tooning.”
Artist Tim O’Brien drew his more worldly version of Charlie Brown and named it Chuck Brown. This was created for a show called “Monsters”.
Movie makeup effects artist Rick Baker designed Popeye as a real, as in really scary, person. Kinda makes you wonder what he’d do with Olive Oyl!
Pixeloo has done a lot of untooning. Possibly his most popular image is of a real life Jessica Rabbit.
His Mario is pretty well-known also. Pixeloo has also untooned Stewie, Homer Simpson, and a gallery of other animated icons.
Polish surrealist Jaroslaw Kukowski created the painting The New Millenium in 2008. Another site called it “the Teletubbies on their home planet”. The Teletubbies are costumed characters instead of cartoons, but a painting still makes them look more real!
Tycho is a character in the webcomic Penny Arcade. This Worth1000 Photoshop entry by JinxRLM made him more realistic. See other untooned characters in the Reality Toons Photoshop contest.
Toronto artist Adnan Saleem of Destination Creation pictured what The Simpsons would look like in a three-dimensional style. There’s not a whole lot you can do to make Marge’s blue hair look at all real! Saleem later redid Homer Simpson in a manner that was a little more faithful to the cartoon.
Photoshop artist Mata Leone untooned Stan Smith of the show American Dad, among many other cartoons, comic book characters, and even paintings.
In season nine of South Park, the main characters are wanted by the police. A witness made a sketch of them, and this is what it looked like. It is a bit jarring to see a drawing that looks more true-to-life than the actual characters, especially right there on the show!
Other artists have taken the abstract South Park characters and redrawn them more realistically. The above set of family portraits is by Deviant Art member NorthernBanshee.
And another version of the same boys from Deviant Art member Kuroi-Tsuki.
This is just a small sampling of the many cartoon and comic characters getting the realism treatment. More are popping up every day!
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These are EXCELLENT! I especially like Jessica Rabbit, Popeye, and the South Park pics. I’d love to see Peter Griffin or Boomhauer from King of the Hill.
posted by IP on 9-29-2009 at 9:31 am
Except for Jessica Rabbit…eeewwww.
posted by Bubba on 9-29-2009 at 9:39 am
Popeye is scary, I wish Chuck Brown would have been drawn smiling, and is it me or have I seen a picture of Angelina Jolie that is very reminiscent of the Jessica Rabbit picture.
No matter, she is still easy to look at.
posted by TXCherokee on 9-29-2009 at 9:41 am
In a similar vein, this DeviantArt artist took well-known actors and turned them into my favorite web comic characters from Questionable Content.
Here’s the reality version:
http://shokxone-studios.deviantart.com/art/Questionable-Content-29802906
and here’s (most of) the characters in comic form: http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=492
posted by nutmeag on 9-29-2009 at 9:44 am
IP, if you check out the Stan Smith work, there is a Peter Griffin there, and it’s fabulous!
posted by CH on 9-29-2009 at 9:50 am
Egads. I’m going to have nightmares now. And they’ll all involve Popeye…
posted by Allison on 9-29-2009 at 10:26 am
Homer Simpson is not as attractive in the non-cartoon as in the cartoon version.
posted by Bionic on 9-29-2009 at 10:51 am
On Southpark’s website they have a wallpaper of the sketch of Cartman, Kyle, Kenny and Stan. It’s a much better picture, not a screen shot of a television.
I love the picture of Tyco, and Penny Arcade! Awesome find.
posted by Christina on 9-29-2009 at 11:16 am
I saw Peter Griffin at an Indian restaurant this past Saturday in Harrisburg, PA.
posted by BMC on 9-29-2009 at 12:33 pm
I must be old school. I admire, relate and cherish the 2D drawings more than the photoshopped versions. The new versions do not have the persona or character of the old.
posted by kno1 on 9-29-2009 at 1:13 pm
Nutmeag – Sven isn’t hot enough. Other than that, I like!
posted by Leah on 9-29-2009 at 2:28 pm
While Jessica Rabbit is inspirational , I always thought that part of the joy of cartoons was the unrealistic nature of the medium.
posted by Chris on 9-29-2009 at 2:30 pm
Me likey that Jessica Rabbit! I wonder though – what would a non-cartoon version of Snoopy look like (besides a real beagle, that is)?
posted by Steve from San Diego on 9-29-2009 at 3:13 pm
Creepy especailly the Charlie Brown and Popeye ones
posted by Kari on 9-29-2009 at 4:40 pm
There is Jaroslaw Kukowski’s painting Teletubbies:
http://surrealizm.files.wordpress.com/2009/08/teletubbies.jpg
posted by Ters on 9-29-2009 at 4:59 pm
Popeye and those Teletubbies could be in some bizarre horror movie. All together.
Not that I actually want to see that movie or anything.
posted by Lidian on 9-29-2009 at 5:08 pm
all of them are creepy! except the homer simpson one
posted by Karl on 9-29-2009 at 9:42 pm
Awesome!!! Pikachu, Dungeon MAster, Kratos (god of war) and LINK!!!
http://www.mataleonebr.blogspot.com
posted by Julius on 9-30-2009 at 8:45 am
The 3d ones aren’t photoshop (though I’m sure the images were manipulated in photoshop) They’re from a program called ZBrush from Pixologic.
posted by CartoonGuy on 9-30-2009 at 9:28 am
lol, why is popeye so old? I always pictured him as one of those newly-retired unshaven sailor types (in his 50′s and having just grown in gray hairs) that still has fight in him…not a creepy homeless man aged in his late 70′s.
posted by djfjhdfxklcjhlsad on 9-30-2009 at 9:02 pm
Awesome entry! I loved the pop eye rendition. BAD ASS! :-)
posted by Ryan on 9-30-2009 at 10:46 pm
Some of these pictures are old (at least to me!). But I’ve never seen the last 2 South Park one.
posted by Comet Arcade on 9-30-2009 at 10:52 pm
I like original cartoons. If you want modern, make up new ones. If you want realism, watch it. Leave Peanuts, Popeye, Pluto & pals alone. Don’t F around with God or Walt!
posted by duke on 10-1-2009 at 12:39 pm
I got into these as well. I did Leela from Futurama and Cartman from South Park.
Leela
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kermitwoodall/2870800791/in/set-72157606952341790/
Cartman
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kermitwoodall/3001776488/
posted by Kermit Woodall on 10-1-2009 at 5:20 pm
Speilberg is now doing this to Tintin without a trace of irony.
posted by Donn on 9-15-2011 at 11:13 pm