Cartoon character designers generally start designing a character based on a single personality attribute that the character will portray throughout the animation. For example, if the character has a dorky personality, the character designer will try to portray this by creating a dorky-looking character. For villains and heroes, the character designer will give the character's physical appearance the appropriate attributes.
Sometimes character designers need inspiration, and so they'll look around and observe people, finding facial shapes and physical characteristics that incorporate the essence of the character they are creating. These attributes of real people find their way not only into the character design, but into the animation, personifying the characters and making it easy for audiences to empathize with them. People who Look Like Pixar Characters Pixar animations are known for having lovable, believable characters, and now people are discovering that Pixar artists have a knack for creating characters that resemble living people. These people have taken pictures of themselves with their look-alike characters and posted the pictures online.
Carl Frediricksen, a Pixar character from the movie "Up" is shown on the left, and on the right, a real man who looks just like the animated character. [source]
This Asian kid looks identical to the cartoon character Russell from Pixar's lovable animated movie "Up". The only difference is the real life kid's boy scout scarf. [source]
On the left is the character Linguini from the animated Pixar film "Ratatouille". The real guy on the right looks just like his cartoon doppelganger, right down to the sweet-hearted smile. [source]
Beavis and Butthead in Real Life
Beavis and Butthead are two cartoon characters that were created by Mike Judge in 1992. The characters found a home on MTV, which popularized the duo. Within weeks, Beavis and Butthead had found their way into the hearts and homes of millions of people. Their dorky laughs and dumbass catch phrases could be heard in school and college campuses across the world.
The characters are essentially caricatures of two below-average American teenagers who constantly get themselves into trouble with teachers, law keepers, criminals and pretty much every person they come across. The characters are so highly stylized that it's almost impossible to visualize them as real human beings, but here they are, in the flesh:
One of Beavis's most recognizable traits is the size of his head. Although Chris Kemp's nostrils could use some stretching, he totally looks like Beavis in many other ways. [source]
Zach from "Little People, Big World" looks just like the cartoon character Butthead. [source]
Here are some other Famous Cartoon Characters in Real Life:
This muscle man looks just like the Cartoon Network animated character Johnny Bravo. He even has the same hairstyle, sunglasses and t-shirt as Johnny Bravo. [source]
Mr Burns from The Simpsons tv series has a real life twin. [source]
By putting on the same pink beanie and t-shirt, this girl looks just like the cartoon character Meg Griffin from Family Guy. [source]
On April 2 2011, Christopher Torres uploaded a video to YouTube. The video showed a pixelated pop tart cat character that flies through space while a rainbow shoots out of its bum. The simple animation was later set to music by saraj00n,another YouTube user, and posted online on April 5 2011. The video quickly gained popularity and now has more than 70 million views.
Above: The original Nyan Cat video, featuring the "momo momo" version of the Japanese pop song, "Nyanyanyanyanyanyanyanya!" and a pixelated pop tart cat character.
Nyan Cat Fan Art
Memes start out as the inspiration for fan art works. When a character, phrase or idea becomes popular, it is shared via the internet, inspiring other people to create fan art of the popular subject. This art is then uploaded to the internet and shared online. The term "meme" refers to a media item or idea that spreads from one person to another in a viral manner.
The Nyan Cat is a prime example of a meme. The video has had tens of millions of views, yet it wasn't advertised. The popularity of the video is due to internet users sharing the video, passing it along from one viewer to the next. As the video gained popularity, artists from around the world began creating fan art works. Many of these found their way into YouTube videos of their own.
Above: Nyan Cat from Hell, an illustrated fan art work that stands in contrast to the sweet innocence of the original video. [source]
Above: A yarn art painting of the meme Nyan Cat, making it (wait for it) The Nyarn Cat. [source]
Above: This van has been pimped to be a Nyan Cat fan art work. Perhaps the pop tarts are inside? [source]
Above: A saturated digital art cartoon version of the Nyan Cat [above]
Pop Tart Cat becomes Nyan Cat
Christopher Torres originally named his character the Pop Tart Cat, but once the animation was set to music, it became known as the Nyan Cat. Torres says that he will personally continue to refer to the character as the Pop Tart Cat, but that the internet has reached a decision to call it the Nyan Cat and he's happy with that choice too.
Above: A tattoo of the Nyan Cat, complete with the pop tart and rainbow. [source]
Above: A fluffy Nyan Cat key chain that uses embroidery to add detail to the furry fleece that is used throughout the design. [source]
Above: Nyan Cat nails. This girl has used different colors of nail varnish to paint her own version of Nyan Cat onto her nails. [source]
Above: A digital artist created this photoshop painting of the Nyan Cat in the style of Vincent van Gogh's famous painting, "Starry Night." The artist calls it "Starry Nyan by Vincat Nyan Gogh" [source]
The Nyan Cat video is one of the fastest spreading viral videos on YouTube. The simple animation and cute music are endearing at first but watch out - after several hours it can be mind-numbing.
Artists and sculptors have found a new use for cheese – cheese sculpting. Cheese is an easy material to sculpt in, as it is firm and holds its shape well.
The art of cheese sculpting is commonly used as a promotional display, for events, sports teams and famous landmarks. Cheez-it, an American brand of crackers, is one company that has produced a number of cheese carving displays to promote their products. The Cheez-it carvings mostly represent famous landmarks, US presidents and other scenes and characters from American history.
The Cheez-It cracker brand carved this orange cheese sculpture of the four American presidents as they are in the giant Mount Rushmore sculpture. They've included a baked crispy cheese cracker in the shape of the American flag to add to the patriotic nature of this promotional art. [source]
This life-sized cheese carving of former US president Abraham Lincoln was sculpted out of three huge blocks of cheese. Cheddar cheese is the cheeese of choice for carving because it if firm and can hold its shape well. [source]
The video above shows another of Cheez-It's promotional cheese-carved art works; a replica of John Trumbull's iconic painting of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, created from a one-ton block of cheese. [youtube]
Cheese can become edible art
To prevent the dairy-based carving from drying out, cheese carvers spray cooking oil on the finished artwork to preserve the cheese. Using cooking oil has the added benefit of giving the sculpture a glossy shine. By using pasteurized cheese, sculptors can be assured that their artworks won’t melt. However, cheese sculptures need to be kept fairly cool, because if they’re left for too long in the blazing hot sun, they will eventually begin to fall apart.
This skillful cheese carving boasts an acoustic guitar sitting among the petals of a delicate cheese flower. The cheese artist had to scoop out the cheese between the flower petals to create the finished art work. The shine is from a glaze of cooking oil. [source]
In England, one block of cheese became a tasty nativity scene for Christmas, depicting the birth of Jesus in edible art. The artist has added lights into the cheesy scene, a daring move considering the heat of the lights will soften and eventually crumble the cheese. [source]
This beautiful bird carving of a pelican perched on a pole is made entirely from tasty cheese. This cheese sculpture was made for a wine company's promotional display. Such promotions are a common use of food art, and it is where many food artists make their living. [source]
Food art that smells and sells
The color and texture of cheese sculptures, along with the tantalizingly cheesy smell, make cheese art pieces a popular attraction when displayed in a store front or on a buffet table. The size of cheese sculptures are limited only by the size of the blocks of cheese that are available. Even so, some cheese sculptures stand in excess of 10ft, an impressive height for a food carving.
In this cheese sculpture, 3D animation legend Shrek holds New York state close to his heart. You can tell from how the sculptor is holding it that this piece of food art is very heavy. [source]
Winnie the Pooh holds a piece of cheese instead of a honey pot in this cute and delicious cheese carving. Both Winnie the Pooh and the Shrek carving about were created by Sarah Kaufman to promote New York cheeses. [source]
In another cheese sculpture by Sarah Kaufman, Santa Claus wishes cheese festival goers a merry Christmas. [source]
Cheese as a claymation clay
Edible cheese sculptures can be a unique gift, or they can be used as a promotional item. They can also have personalized messages carved into the sculpture as a center piece for a celebratory dinner such as on Christmas or a birthday. Because the sculpture is edible, the cheese can be cut up and served with crackers, dips and preserves, but who knows if anyone ever ate one of the dozens of cheese sculptures of Wallace that were made while creating this stop motion animation:
