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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.
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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.
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.
Moana
“I am Moana of Moto’nui. You will board my boat, sail across the sea, and restore the heart of Te’fiti.”
Ariel
“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.
Jasmine
Ned Flanders
Ned’s a cartoon. His glasses ARE drawn onto his face.
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Feels like I'm wearing nothing at all. Nothing at all. Nothing at all.
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I mean, you could just use Mike Wozniak haha mike-woz-6...8b6a3f.jpg 
mhm definitely.........but am i the only one that is bothered by his glasses
Not bad. Missing the half sideburns and hair could be a little higher and combed back.
fun fact: there is actually a real life version of Ned, as he was based on a neighbour Groening had - Dean Sherman, who happens to be a preacher and author... I expected his image here, from back in the 90s...
I always saw Flanders with brown eyes. Why are so the whites blue eyed?
idk why but at first I thought this was just an image of Ron Swanson. Don't see it anymore tho
Hens love roosters! Geese love ganders! Everyone else loves Neeeeeed Flanders!
Don't know why but I always see zach galifianakis' character in Keeping up with the Joneses
Whoa. If Simpsons was live action, I'd definitely would have a crush on him.
And Harry Potter and all his wizard friends went to hell for practicing magic!
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!”
Milhouse
He looks like a guy I went to elementary School with (except the haircolor). His Name was Sten.
Rapunzel
Lady Tremaine
Wrong hair. Her butt hair has always been very important to me
Kristoff
He kinda looks like some kind of 2000’s Disney Channel character from a show that takes place in a summer camp
Isabela Madrigal
WELCOME TO THE FAMILY MADRIGAL! THE HOME OF THE FAMILY MADEIGAL! WHERE ALL THE PEOPLE ARE fAnTaStIcAl AnD mAgIcAl!
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... amazing! keep up the good work my good sir/ma'am (i aint tryna assume genders here)
Somewhere in the world there is someone that looks like each and every one of these guys.
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.
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.
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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!
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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Very nice photoshop worl, but it's pretty clear most of these weren't entirely done by ai.
These are quite good but for some of them.. guess AI need some more training
Do you think the AI programs could do non-human characters? Or like how non-human characters would look like as humans?
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.
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... ❤️
I like them! Most of them are excellent! But there were some that...that were a bit wonky. Other than that. Perfect!
most of them are good other than small details like hair, eyes, stuff like that
BRU so good but where is sponge bob i would like to see him in here hehe..........
Excellent article but i'd like to share it with friends. The How?
These human representations of cartoon characters are spot on I would say. Brilliant! Perfection!
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),
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),
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!!
They're really good, but I wish I could know what app or website this is.
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
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.
Would you make it with animal characters? Bet would be incredible beautiful too. You're very skilled!
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
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!
This isn't AI it's just "people that look like cartoon characters" lol
I wonder were training data set came from? To have such good result lots of examples is needed.
These are really good. I enjoyed this thread. Thanks for sharing your talent
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.
FALSE ADVERTISEMENT!!!!! JUST PICTURES OF REAL PEOPLE FOUND ON THE INTERNET!🤥
They are clearly AI-generated (plenty of AI artifacts). But I do question how they generated these images.
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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... amazing! keep up the good work my good sir/ma'am (i aint tryna assume genders here)
Somewhere in the world there is someone that looks like each and every one of these guys.
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.
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... 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!
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... Very nice photoshop worl, but it's pretty clear most of these weren't entirely done by ai.
These are quite good but for some of them.. guess AI need some more training
Do you think the AI programs could do non-human characters? Or like how non-human characters would look like as humans?
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.
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... ❤️
I like them! Most of them are excellent! But there were some that...that were a bit wonky. Other than that. Perfect!
most of them are good other than small details like hair, eyes, stuff like that
BRU so good but where is sponge bob i would like to see him in here hehe..........
Excellent article but i'd like to share it with friends. The How?
These human representations of cartoon characters are spot on I would say. Brilliant! Perfection!
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),
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),
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!!
They're really good, but I wish I could know what app or website this is.
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
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.
Would you make it with animal characters? Bet would be incredible beautiful too. You're very skilled!
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
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!
This isn't AI it's just "people that look like cartoon characters" lol
I wonder were training data set came from? To have such good result lots of examples is needed.
These are really good. I enjoyed this thread. Thanks for sharing your talent
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.
FALSE ADVERTISEMENT!!!!! JUST PICTURES OF REAL PEOPLE FOUND ON THE INTERNET!🤥
They are clearly AI-generated (plenty of AI artifacts). But I do question how they generated these images.
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