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This Person Used AI To See What These 23 Popular Cartoon Characters Would Look Like IRL
Ever wondered what cartoon characters in real life would look like? Yes, they’re fictional sketches, which means we’ll never know their human looks in our world. But what if cartoon characters were real?
The subject of cartoon characters IRL is fascinating, so Bored Panda’s pro member Hidreley delved into experimenting with AI-generated cartoon characters. That’s what digital art is about—blurring the lines between fantasy and reality on screen!
Surprisingly, some cartoon characters as humans look even better than the originals. See if your favorite cartoon characters are on this list, and scroll further to witness 23 pictures of real-life cartoon characters!
Note: The original article was written by Hidrėlėy and later edited and updated by the Bored Panda team.
More info: Instagram
This post may include affiliate links.
Hidreley did all the work on AI-generated cartoon characters by himself: “I’ve done some similar posts by other authors here on Bored Panda. I wanted to try something out myself, and so I dove into the world of AI. This time, I challenged myself to try to do one on the theme of cartoon characters. For this project, I used Photoshop and three mobile applications, FaceApp, Gradient, and Remini.
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The Simpsons were the most challenging when making realistic cartoon characters. “In terms of how they all turned out, I’m more and more pleased with the results with each post I make. I really liked how Moe Szyzlak, Ned Flanders, and Milhouse Van Houten turned out because initially, I thought that the Simpsons drawing style would be very hard to emulate on ‘real life’ terms. Still, they are actually very easy to recognize,” Hidreley explains.
#4
Moana
Final score:
341points
Orange Is Aging 2 years ago (edited)
“I am Moana of Moto’nui. You will board my boat, sail across the sea, and restore the heart of Te’fiti.”
#5
Ariel
Final score:
329points
“This post inadvertently brought back some good memories from my childhood. Like every kid in my generation, I loved watching cartoons. I really loved the Simpsons and Hanna Barbera classics, and I can safely say that they’ve made a huge impact on my life,” adds Hidreley.
“I’ve been exploring the world of artificial intelligence recently, and I can tell you, it’s a world without limits! With the rise of AI-assisted art generation, there are virtually (no pun intended) no boundaries for digital art; you just have to be creative and know how to guide the blind hand of the machine,” explains Hidreley.
#8
Jasmine
Final score:
313points
#9
Ned Flanders
Final score:
312points
At some point, we’ve all wondered if cartoon characters were real. Were they inspired by celebrities or real-life events? Hidreley explains that he’s also intrigued by this concept:
“I don't want to tease anything too early, but currently, I’m working hard on a project where I’m trying to show what some prematurely deceased celebrities would have looked like if they were still alive. I hope it will turn out great, and I’ll be able to share this with you soon!”
#10
Milhouse
Final score:
310points
Kristina Meyer 2 years ago
He looks like a guy I went to elementary School with (except the haircolor). His Name was Sten.
#11
Rapunzel
Final score:
288points
#16
Lady Tremaine
Final score:
243points
Orange Is Aging 2 years ago (edited)
Wrong hair. Her butt hair has always been very important to me
#18
Kristoff
Final score:
212points
Orange Is Aging 2 years ago
He kinda looks like some kind of 2000’s Disney Channel character from a show that takes place in a summer camp
#19
Elsa
Final score:
210points
Ak artist 2 years ago
Disappointed with this one, no braid, purple eyeshadow, or glitter. Still pretty though
Zofia Mrozek 2 years ago
Both mouth and nose. It's like "my first Photoshop project!"
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James Nicholls 2 years ago
Definetly a Nordic/northern salvic look going here, but you can see the AI doesnt take to the "side-on" profile very well. The eyes always look a little mismatched in size.
Jenny Takala 2 years ago
And the nose is showing from the wrong angle in comparison to the face.
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sebastian nye 2 years ago
my thoughts exactly. she stinks like mean girl.
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Abri Correa 2 years ago
Ummm first off, WHY is her head like that? I mean i can see the resemblance, but still
Martin Pal 2 years ago
Actually, Elsa was made by animating an... Adult-movie actor named Elsa Jean. She has a real life copy already : D
Micah Chips 2 years ago
kinda reminding me of Dove Cameron and someone else I can't quite put my finger on? Someone help me
Luke Fortune 2 years ago
Elsa is based on the very real adult star Elsa Jean, the creator has confirmed.
Kathleen Ferber 2 years ago
These are all lovely people that are meant to look like popular cartoon characters that most people know on sight. Not even being critical here, but there are quite a few that just do not. Some are lacking an important detail, ie: braids and sideburns, and some just aren't right at all. We should be able to see the cartoon character right away and not have to study and analyze to figure out who it is. It is obvious that a lot of time and work went into this project though.
Catherine Stevens 2 years ago
ok this is obviously some famous celebrity/youtuber that got photoshopped into oblivion
Jake Wheeler 2 years ago
Poor thing. And she was locked up in thst room all those years. I'd walk up that mountain to her ice palace and give her her glove back.
Elina Wachtmeister 2 years ago
When I was little I went to a tea party (fake) with "THE REAL ELSA". Halfway through I saw a wig on and she had black hair underneath.
Chatgirl#1 2 years ago
That comment got meh in trouble I laughed sooooooo hard
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Nicole Miller 2 years ago
I like it better when the illustrations are realistic. Not this one so much
Lola-Beans Moores 2 years ago
Anna faith is an Elsa look alike, I think does more justice than this image. You can look it up she has a YouTube interview.
Tomas Anshelm 2 years ago
Why does she look absolutely nothing like Anna done by the same computer? They do look alot alike as animated.
Marita Berndt 2 years ago
Elsa should look smarter/ stronger/ mischievous...and where is the braid?
goth mouse (they them) 2 years ago
her braid apparently, either let go or went into the UnKoWn InTo ThE UnKoWWWWnnn
Scourge McCloud 2 years ago
Very pretty 🙂 not everyone's face is perfect and there's nothing wrong with that.
GollyRojer 2 years ago
What did you do... tell the AI, "It's a young female with a face and blonde hair"? There's no resemblance at all here.
#20
Isabela Madrigal
Final score:
210points
Orange Is Aging 2 years ago
WELCOME TO THE FAMILY MADRIGAL! THE HOME OF THE FAMILY MADEIGAL! WHERE ALL THE PEOPLE ARE fAnTaStIcAl AnD mAgIcAl!
Add New Image
What do you think ?
Aliquid 2 years ago
I agree with the "surprisingly" part. Normally I roll my eyes at this type of post, but this time I was impressed.
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goth mouse (they them) 2 years ago
amazing! keep up the good work my good sir/ma'am (i aint tryna assume genders here)
Nunya Business 2 years ago
Somewhere in the world there is someone that looks like each and every one of these guys.
Gary 2 years ago
How exactly is this achieved, I feel like 'ai' means you hit a button and it happens? I am sure its not like this but there is no context.
Isaac nicholson 2 years ago
No they use something, maybe artbreeder, to make a face that looks like the character. this is why some features weren't recreated bc ai has a hard time with some stuff.
Load More Replies...
Stephanie Keith 2 years ago
These are amazing! I absolutely love the work into this. You can really tell how passionate the creator is about this. Stunning work! Well done to you!
Lissanie Scott 2 years ago
Definitely not Snow White! That is not accurate at all. She's not white enough or pretty enough to fairest of them all, unless everyone else is ugly.
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RonJonae Felder 2 years ago
Very nice photoshop worl, but it's pretty clear most of these weren't entirely done by ai.
Raghav Shrestha 2 years ago
These are quite good but for some of them.. guess AI need some more training
Ben Berlin 2 years ago (edited)
Do you think the AI programs could do non-human characters? Or like how non-human characters would look like as humans?
Karina Hammer 2 years ago
Wow those are beautiful. 😍 I would them to do a live action with the pictures if they can find anyone even remotely similar. You did a truly fantastic job. I love you work.
Huzzir Zakaria 2 years ago
I m face-blinded (google it) thus cant see r differentiate most of the faces featured here. Still, some of them (ones I can recognized to an extend) r similarly impressive... ❤️
KyletheWolf 2 years ago
I like them! Most of them are excellent! But there were some that...that were a bit wonky. Other than that. Perfect!
Fabrice Taveau 3 weeks ago
Magnifique, j'aimerais transformer un dessin en image ia si vous pouvez m'aider
Gay-Trash-Panda 1 year ago
most of them are good other than small details like hair, eyes, stuff like that
Just here for laughs 2 years ago
BRU so good but where is sponge bob i would like to see him in here hehe..........
kenneth Boos lamy 2 years ago
Excellent article but i'd like to share it with friends. The How?
Chris Ann Taylor 2 years ago
These human representations of cartoon characters are spot on I would say. Brilliant! Perfection!
Rafiki Cai 2 years ago
It would be nice to have you diversify your character exposure. Princess Tiana (Disney), Franklin (Charlie Brown / Snoopy), Boondocks (Huey Freeman), Black Panther, Storm (X-Men), South Park (Token Black), The Simpson (Carl Carlson), Roberta Tubbs (The Family Guy), Cleveland Brown (The Family Guy), Oscar Proud (The Proud Family), Dr. Hibbert (The Simpsons),
Rafiki Cai 2 years ago
It would be nice to have you diversify your character exposure. Princess Tiana (Disney), Franklin (Charlie Brown / Snoopy), Boondocks (Huey Freeman), Black Panther, Storm (X-Men), South Park (Token Black), The Simpson (Carl Carlson), Roberta Tubbs (The Family Guy), Cleveland Brown (The Family Guy), Oscar Proud (The Proud Family), Dr. Hibbert (The Simpsons),
Molly Spurgeon 2 years ago
I really enjoyed these and I'd love to learn the technology for myself, because I've always been fascinated by the nature of how they make composite sketches and similar illustration like this! I think there are a couple noses that lacked connection to the animation they're based on (and maybe some pronounced jawline on John Smith), but ultimately they're very hypnotic to look at!!
Savannah Playz Games 2 years ago
They're really good, but I wish I could know what app or website this is.
Elliot Parrish (he/him) 2 years ago
I think maybe the characters who were already humans should be left alone. You should try pets and low-quality cartoon characters though, like the ones that people would enjoy seeing as human
Josh McJunkin 2 years ago (edited)
I don't think that those are truly A.I. constructs. The humans are too good looking. Especially when the animated characters are unrealistic. For example, Olive Oyl looks nothing like what her cartoon face resembles. I'm not saying that there is no A.I. involvement, but there has to be more involved than just showing it a cartoon picture.
Thaís Amorim 2 years ago
Would you make it with animal characters? Bet would be incredible beautiful too. You're very skilled!
Ethan Medaugh 2 years ago
I think that some are actually pictures of people, if you look at the backgrounds of some for example #16 Lady Tremaine. That background looks like a house of some ai generated background. Also the hair is messed up for a lot of them, which for how well the ai can do some of these (Simpson characters) it should have no problem with the hair, like on elsa with the braids
Bubba Jones 2 years ago
Wow, impressive. Most intriguing is that the characters personalities really seem to show through. I can totally see bart spray painting "skinner is a tool" on a wall, or ariel defiantly storming out of a room. Impressive indeed!
Bryan With A Why 2 years ago
This isn't AI it's just "people that look like cartoon characters" lol
Marek Ruszczak 2 years ago
I wonder were training data set came from? To have such good result lots of examples is needed.
Lovin' Life 2 years ago
These are really good. I enjoyed this thread. Thanks for sharing your talent
Rob Kneepkens 2 years ago
I hate these i used ai to recreate blablabla posts so much. Woooow so inspired... Lets use ai on the next project and post it again.
Isabella St.Angelo 2 years ago
FALSE ADVERTISEMENT!!!!! JUST PICTURES OF REAL PEOPLE FOUND ON THE INTERNET!🤥
Daniel Ryan 2 years ago
They are clearly AI-generated (plenty of AI artifacts). But I do question how they generated these images.
Load More Replies...
Aliquid 2 years ago
I agree with the "surprisingly" part. Normally I roll my eyes at this type of post, but this time I was impressed.
Load More Replies... goth mouse (they them) 2 years ago
amazing! keep up the good work my good sir/ma'am (i aint tryna assume genders here)
Nunya Business 2 years ago
Somewhere in the world there is someone that looks like each and every one of these guys.
Gary 2 years ago
How exactly is this achieved, I feel like 'ai' means you hit a button and it happens? I am sure its not like this but there is no context.
Isaac nicholson 2 years ago
No they use something, maybe artbreeder, to make a face that looks like the character. this is why some features weren't recreated bc ai has a hard time with some stuff.
Load More Replies... Stephanie Keith 2 years ago
These are amazing! I absolutely love the work into this. You can really tell how passionate the creator is about this. Stunning work! Well done to you!
Lissanie Scott 2 years ago
Definitely not Snow White! That is not accurate at all. She's not white enough or pretty enough to fairest of them all, unless everyone else is ugly.
Load More Replies... RonJonae Felder 2 years ago
Very nice photoshop worl, but it's pretty clear most of these weren't entirely done by ai.
Raghav Shrestha 2 years ago
These are quite good but for some of them.. guess AI need some more training
Ben Berlin 2 years ago (edited)
Do you think the AI programs could do non-human characters? Or like how non-human characters would look like as humans?
Karina Hammer 2 years ago
Wow those are beautiful. 😍 I would them to do a live action with the pictures if they can find anyone even remotely similar. You did a truly fantastic job. I love you work.
Huzzir Zakaria 2 years ago
I m face-blinded (google it) thus cant see r differentiate most of the faces featured here. Still, some of them (ones I can recognized to an extend) r similarly impressive... ❤️
KyletheWolf 2 years ago
I like them! Most of them are excellent! But there were some that...that were a bit wonky. Other than that. Perfect!
Fabrice Taveau 3 weeks ago
Magnifique, j'aimerais transformer un dessin en image ia si vous pouvez m'aider
Gay-Trash-Panda 1 year ago
most of them are good other than small details like hair, eyes, stuff like that
Just here for laughs 2 years ago
BRU so good but where is sponge bob i would like to see him in here hehe..........
kenneth Boos lamy 2 years ago
Excellent article but i'd like to share it with friends. The How?
Chris Ann Taylor 2 years ago
These human representations of cartoon characters are spot on I would say. Brilliant! Perfection!
Rafiki Cai 2 years ago
It would be nice to have you diversify your character exposure. Princess Tiana (Disney), Franklin (Charlie Brown / Snoopy), Boondocks (Huey Freeman), Black Panther, Storm (X-Men), South Park (Token Black), The Simpson (Carl Carlson), Roberta Tubbs (The Family Guy), Cleveland Brown (The Family Guy), Oscar Proud (The Proud Family), Dr. Hibbert (The Simpsons),
Rafiki Cai 2 years ago
It would be nice to have you diversify your character exposure. Princess Tiana (Disney), Franklin (Charlie Brown / Snoopy), Boondocks (Huey Freeman), Black Panther, Storm (X-Men), South Park (Token Black), The Simpson (Carl Carlson), Roberta Tubbs (The Family Guy), Cleveland Brown (The Family Guy), Oscar Proud (The Proud Family), Dr. Hibbert (The Simpsons),
Molly Spurgeon 2 years ago
I really enjoyed these and I'd love to learn the technology for myself, because I've always been fascinated by the nature of how they make composite sketches and similar illustration like this! I think there are a couple noses that lacked connection to the animation they're based on (and maybe some pronounced jawline on John Smith), but ultimately they're very hypnotic to look at!!
Savannah Playz Games 2 years ago
They're really good, but I wish I could know what app or website this is.
Elliot Parrish (he/him) 2 years ago
I think maybe the characters who were already humans should be left alone. You should try pets and low-quality cartoon characters though, like the ones that people would enjoy seeing as human
Josh McJunkin 2 years ago (edited)
I don't think that those are truly A.I. constructs. The humans are too good looking. Especially when the animated characters are unrealistic. For example, Olive Oyl looks nothing like what her cartoon face resembles. I'm not saying that there is no A.I. involvement, but there has to be more involved than just showing it a cartoon picture.
Thaís Amorim 2 years ago
Would you make it with animal characters? Bet would be incredible beautiful too. You're very skilled!
Ethan Medaugh 2 years ago
I think that some are actually pictures of people, if you look at the backgrounds of some for example #16 Lady Tremaine. That background looks like a house of some ai generated background. Also the hair is messed up for a lot of them, which for how well the ai can do some of these (Simpson characters) it should have no problem with the hair, like on elsa with the braids
Bubba Jones 2 years ago
Wow, impressive. Most intriguing is that the characters personalities really seem to show through. I can totally see bart spray painting "skinner is a tool" on a wall, or ariel defiantly storming out of a room. Impressive indeed!
Bryan With A Why 2 years ago
This isn't AI it's just "people that look like cartoon characters" lol
Marek Ruszczak 2 years ago
I wonder were training data set came from? To have such good result lots of examples is needed.
Lovin' Life 2 years ago
These are really good. I enjoyed this thread. Thanks for sharing your talent
Rob Kneepkens 2 years ago
I hate these i used ai to recreate blablabla posts so much. Woooow so inspired... Lets use ai on the next project and post it again.
Isabella St.Angelo 2 years ago
FALSE ADVERTISEMENT!!!!! JUST PICTURES OF REAL PEOPLE FOUND ON THE INTERNET!🤥
Daniel Ryan 2 years ago
They are clearly AI-generated (plenty of AI artifacts). But I do question how they generated these images.
Load More Replies... 
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