15 Cartoon Characters Based on Real People

Cartoon designers creating their characters often use some real people as models. Sometimes these are actors or actresses doing the voiceover, and sometimes they hire a professional model whose facial expressions, body language and other features are copied onto the screen.

Peter Pan (an animated movie from 1953) spoke the voice of Bobby Driscoll. The American actor was 16 when he dubbed the boy who never grew up.

Edna Mode (‘The Incredibles’) looks a lot like Linda Hunt, an actress and Edith Head, a fashion designer. It’s all because of the fringe and round glasses.

Genie, from the first animated movie about Alladin, was modeled on Robin Wiliiams. It was him who gave his voice for the blue spirit in 1992 and 1996.

In 1951 Disney released an animated movie called ‘Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland’. Ed Wynn dubbed the Mad Hatter and in fact the cartoon character looks very much like the actor, even in terms of the gestures.

The witch from the Disney adaptation of ‘The Sleeping Beauty (1959) speaks the voice of Eleanor Audley. The cartoonists had been watching the actress to give the cartoon character some of their facial features.

The cartoonists had been watching Hans Conried, dressed as a pirate with a hook instead of one hand, for two years before they copied his facial features onto the animated character of Captain Hook, in the 1953 production.

The first animated movie about Winnie-the-Pooh (‘Winnie-the-Pooh and the Honey Tree’) In case of both the movie and the book it was Christopher Robin Milne, the son of Alan Alexander Milne (the author of Winnie-the-Pooh) who the character was based on.

The world famous Alice in 1951 spoke the voice of Kathryn Beaumont, an actress. The girl was 10 years old and acted out all the scenes from the movie so that the cartoonists could more easily picture everything.

Dr Facilier (‘The Princess and the Frog’) did not imitate the voice of Michael Jackson. However, he did imitate his dance moves while singing his songs

Little Mermaid was released in 1989. The character of Ursula was based on a drag queen called Divine. In fact it was an actor, Harris Glenn Milstead. Ursula’s make-up, hairstyle and jewelry were modeled on this drag queen.

Disney released this production in 1959. The character of Aurora (facial features, dance moves) were based on Helene Stanley, an actress.

In the animated movie titled ‘Aristocats’ there is a cat playing the trumpet called Scat-cat. This character was inspired by Louis Armstrong. The animal has got a gap between his teeth, just like the famous musician. Unfortunately the musician could not lend his voice to the cartoon character – he was replaced by a Scatman Brothers, an actor and a singer.

Mortimer appeared on the screen in 1936. It’s a rival of Mickey Mouse who wants to win the heart of Minnie. He is rumored to have been inspired by Walt Disney himself. One of the cartoonists allegedly created a funny caricature of Disney who liked it so much that he decided to use it in a movie. However, these are just rumors.

The animated version of the Jungle Book was released in 1967. It was also when the Beatles were enjoying the peak of their career. The authors of the cartoon introduced four vultures who were based on the appearance of the Fabulous Four. They also wanted the Beatles to sing a song in the movie but John Lennon said ‘no’.

Snow White and Seven Dwarfs was released in 1937. Disney Studio hired Marge Champion, a dancer, to act out some scenes from the cartoon. The girl was 14 at that time and thanks to her charm and elegance the cartoon character moves just as wonderfully.