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When we were kids, the cartoon characters in the shows we’d watch were absolutely flawless. We’d laugh, enjoy their hilarious antics, and get swept up in the brilliance of their storylines. But as we got older, it became a bit harder to see past the weirdness of some cartoon and anime character designs.

Some are so bad that no amount of good storytelling can hide that fact. That’s why we’re here to ruin your childhood just a little bit more with this list of abominable character designs from movies, shows, and anime.

More info: Reddit

#1

Cats - Live Action Movie

Cats - Live Action Movie

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    #2

    Spiderus From Miss Spider's Sunny Patch Friends

    Spiderus From Miss Spider's Sunny Patch Friends

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    Bored Panda has curated this list of terrible, weird, and creepy character designs that people have come across. Although a character’s design isn’t the only thing that makes the show good, it can add a lot to the overall storyline. One of the important parts of designing a good cartoon character is understanding their anatomy. 

    Designers need to first know the rules of human anatomy before they break them. Many animators don’t understand or choose to ignore anatomy rules and then end up with the oddest characters. According to Pixune, “researching a body shape’s anatomical structure, whether a human, animal, invented creature, or machine, is essential to creating a unique character.”

    #4

    Globglogabgalab - Strawinsky And The Mysterious House

    Globglogabgalab - Strawinsky And The Mysterious House

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    #5

    Becky - T.u.f.f. Puppy

    Becky - T.u.f.f. Puppy

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    #6

    Jay Jay The Jet Plane

    Jay Jay The Jet Plane

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    When it comes to misunderstanding realistic or anatomically correct character design, one of the weirdest offenders of this was Paramount Picture’s Sonic the Hedgehog. When the production company released the first trailer for their live-action movie, there was public outcry over how creepy and unsettling the character looked. Many unhappy fans found his teeth to be too detailed and his eyes not conjoined enough.

    To Paramount’s credit, they took all the fan feedback into consideration and pushed back the film’s release date by a year. By listening to what people had to say and making Sonic look more cartoon-like, they were able to find the most pleasing character design for their film.

    #7

    Tales In Mushroom Village

    Tales In Mushroom Village

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    Another interesting thing to keep in mind about good character design is having identifiable silhouettes. This means that each character’s body shape should be distinctive enough to be recognized by an audience without any other details.

    According to Walt Disney, “when designing characters, artists often use a silhouette to test whether the character’s basic design ‘reads’ to the audience. From the silhouette we are able to see a distinctive and recognizable design without details and understand what the figure is saying with its overall form.”

    #10

    The Problem Solverz

    The Problem Solverz

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    Ducki (She/Her) 明明
    Community Member
    7 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    This is what i got in those make a character with google slides things you do in elementary school.

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    #11

    Peppa's Guinea Pigs

    Peppa's Guinea Pigs

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    PhaseWitFact
    Community Member
    7 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Every character on Peppa Pig should be pictured here. That show has lazy sloppy illustrators pretending that they're edgy.

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    #12

    Fanboy & Chum Chum

    Fanboy & Chum Chum

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    Jenna Kay
    Community Member
    7 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Just their style of animation in general is not my fave ... but to each their own!

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    Some designers also make the mistake of overdesigning their characters by adding way too many details or accessories that make absolutely no sense. It can be an eyesore for viewers and even leave them feeling confused. Animators especially do this when their designs look too similar, and people need to tell the characters apart.

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    An important thing to keep in mind is that overdesigned characters can create a cluttered mess. With too many colors, body features, and intricate details, the character will look unnatural. Designers should use other distinguishing factors for their animation and give their protagonists a cleaner look.

    #14

    Billy From Monster By Mistake

    Billy From Monster By Mistake

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    Another movie that was guilty of creating unsettling characters was The Polar Express. The characters in this movie were supposed to look human and life-like, but instead, they had uncanny valley characteristics. Many people found issues with the eyes of the animated characters, which seemed crossed and unfocused.

    The film team was also one of the first to use motion capture suits and computer rendering technology on such a big scale. This might explain why the movie’s characters looked so weird while moving and speaking.

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    #18

    Buttercup From The Power Puff Girls

    Buttercup From The Power Puff Girls

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    Cartoons aren’t meant to look realistic or be perfect, but designers should definitely not just throw a bunch of things together to create a character. It’s safe to say that many of the characters in this list are nightmare fuel for that exact reason. That’s why this post received 23k upvotes and 3.8k comments with many of the most jarring examples of character design ever seen. Let us know which of these animations shocked you the most.

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    #22

    Squirrel Daredevil Dan - Foodfight

    Squirrel Daredevil Dan - Foodfight

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    David
    Community Member
    7 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Kind of looks like he has his head out the window while driving fast down the freeway.

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    #25

    Sid Phillips - Toy Story

    Sid Phillips - Toy Story

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    Red PANda (she/they)
    Community Member
    7 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Okay but to be fair people were just learning how to animate and model stuff like that when that movie came out. The design did always kinda scare me as a kid though ngl

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    #26

    Jonny - The Real Adventures Of Jonny Quest

    Jonny - The Real Adventures Of Jonny Quest

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    #27

    Groucha - Téléchat

    Groucha - Téléchat

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    Luke Branwen
    Community Member
    7 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    This looks like that kind of weird $hit you find on the dark side of Youtube.

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    #29

    Purple Monarch - Miraculous

    Purple Monarch - Miraculous

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    ImATotalTina
    Community Member
    7 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Everything about this show is just awful. No offense to the fans out there 🐞

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    #31

    Kindergarteners From Leo

    Kindergarteners From Leo

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    Red PANda (she/they)
    Community Member
    7 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    I don’t think it’s that bad of a design. It’s just unrealistic cuz it’s a cartoony style, and they look pretty funny

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    #36

    Muscle Man - Regular Show

    Muscle Man - Regular Show

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    #37

    Mr. Rzykruski - Frankenweenie

    Mr. Rzykruski - Frankenweenie

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    Ms. Mack
    Community Member
    7 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Great caricature of Vincent Price, an actor known for horror movie roles in the forties and fifties.

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    #39

    Johnny Test

    Johnny Test

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