Can YOU guess who they are? Artist uses AI to imagine what popular cartoon characters would look like in real life
- Artist created images of what some cartoon characters would look like in real life
- Hidreley Leli Diao, from Brazil, used artificial intelligence software to make them
- He created ‘human’ portraits for Ned Flanders, Rapunzel, Moana and Peter Pan
- Also made images of Moe from The Simpsons, Aladdin, Pocahontas and Mulan
They are some of the most popular cartoon characters ever created and known the world over – but just what would the likes of Ned Flanders, Rapunzel and Moana look like in real life?
Well, the images below offer a glimpse after being created by a digital artist who used artificial intelligence (AI) to help imagine what a host of characters from Disney films to The Simpsons might be like if they were ‘human’.
Hidreley Leli Diao, from Brazil, who grew up watching The Simpsons, Hanna-Barbera shows, and Disney animations, experimented with a piece of software that creates photo-realistic portraits of people who do not actually exist.
A digital artist from Brazil has used artificial intelligence software to create photo-realistic portraits showing what popular cartoon characters might look like in real life. Pictured is Ned Flanders from The Simpsons
Brought to life: This image (left) shows what Rapunzel (right) might look like if she was human
‘Since I discovered artificial intelligence, I’ve been challenging myself to do things I would never have imagined doing,’ Diao told PetaPixel.
‘With several studies and a lot of practice, I thought it was time to bring some Disney characters to human life.’
Among the characters Diao created portraits for were Homer Simpson’s well-meaning next-door neighbour, Ned Flanders, and owner of Springfield bar ‘Moe’s Tavern’, Moe Szyslak.
Diao has also published a human-like vision of Peter Pan and Tinkerbell, Aladdin and Princess Jasmine, Rapunzel, Pocahontas, Ariel from The Little Mermaid, Mulan and Moana.
And there’s even images of Joe Gardner from the Disney movie Soul, as well as grumpy old man Carl Frederickson from Up.
‘When we watch some animation, it is natural to accept the cartoonish proportions of the characters without any problems, after all, we are quite used to this type of trait,’ Diao wrote on Bored Panda, where he is a contributor.
‘But what if, as in a spell, they became real, flesh and blood? I tried to bring them into our world through artificial intelligence.’
To create lifelike portraits of some of his favourite characters, Diao used Photoshop and three mobile AI photo editing apps: FaceApp, Gradient, and Remini.
FaceApp is a photo-morphing app that uses what it calls artificial intelligence and neural face transformations to make alterations to faces.
The app can use photos from your library or you can snap a photo within the app.
Gradient became the talk of the town after the Kardashians began posting their look-a-like selfies, with Kim being compared to Cher, while Remini is a photo restoration and enhancement app.
Diao has also published a human-like vision of Peter Pan and Tinkerbell, Aladdin and Princess Jasmine, Rapunzel, Pocahontas (pictured), Ariel from The Little Mermaid, Mulan and Moana
Diao’s idea didn’t materialise overnight, however.
It was a meticulous process that involved searching the internet for different portraits of people with facial features to match the cartoon characters, before these were then put together to come up with the final image.
‘I look for images in banks and overlay the image starting with the eyes,’ Diao said.
‘The hardest part is finding an image that matches the character I’m working on.’
He added: ‘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, but they are actually very easy to recognise.’
You can see more of Diao’s work on his Instagram account.