Artist Uses A.I. To Turn Popular Cartoon Characters Into "Real" People
With the assistance of artificial intelligence, digital art will virtually have no boundaries.
Cartoon characters are built to be exaggerated, so seeing them reimagined as real people is part curiosity, part uncanny surprise. That is exactly the appeal of this project, where Brazilian artist Hidreley Leli Dião uses digital tools to turn familiar animated faces into lifelike portraits.
Dião combines Photoshop with FaceAPP, Gradiente, and Remini to create each transformation, spending about two and a half hours on every image. The result is a long lineup of characters from Disney, Pixar, The Simpsons, and more, all rendered with striking detail and a very real-world twist.
From beloved heroes to spooky villains, the recreations keep getting more surprising as the gallery goes on. Read on.
1. Camilo Madrigal From Encanto
hidreley2. Cinderella
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4. Apu From The Simpsons
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5. Ned Flanders From The Simpsons
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The first few transformations already set the tone for the whole gallery.
6. Chucky From Child's Play
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7. Joe Gardner From Soul
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8. Peter Griffin From Family Guy
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9. Maleficent From Sleeping Beauty
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10. Evil Queen From Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs
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11. Usagi Tsukino From Sailor Moon
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Even the villains look oddly believable in this style.
12. Ursula From The Little Mermaid
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13. Tiana From The Princess And The Frog
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14. Luisa Madrigal From Encanto
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15. Bruno Madrigal From Encanto
Oh, can we please talk about Bruno?
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16. Tintin From The Adventures Of Tintin
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17. Tarzan
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18. Julieta Madrigal From Encanto
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19. Princess Merida From Brave
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20. Prince Naveen From The Princess And The Frog
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21. Moana
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The mix of Disney favorites and darker characters keeps the gallery moving fast.
This is similar to real people who found their “twins” without a single DNA test.
22. Annabelle From The Conjuring
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23. Mulan
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24. Goku From Dragon Ball Series
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25. Pepa Madrigal From Encanto
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26. Lilo Pelekai From Lilo & Stitch
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27. Dash From The Incredibles
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28. He-Man From The Masters Of The Universe
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29. Violet Parr From The Incredibles
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30. Lisa Simpson From The Simpsons
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31. Raya From Raya And The Last Dragon
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32. Isabela Madrigal From Encanto
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By this point, the artist has covered just about every corner of pop culture.
33. Marge Simpson From The Simpsons
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34. Flynn Rider From Tangled
But did he get his nose right?
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35. Li Shang From Mulan
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36. Belle From Beauty And The Beast
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37. Hercules
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38. Vega (Claw) From Capcom
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39. Barbie
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40. Mirabel Madrigal From Encanto
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Hidreley Leli Dião doesn’t limit himself to just popular cartoon characters, either. He’s worked on a project recreating historical figures and has been working on another project about celebrities who passed away too soon. And be sure to spread the word about his work by sharing this with your friends and family!
It is hard not to keep scrolling once the transformations start getting this good.
Want more “real people” energy? Check out portraits of the Old Masters who were basically original influencers.
