6 Horrifying Live-Action Versions Of Cute Cartoon Characters

5 Super Mario Characters Looked Straight-Up Demonic At The Ice Capades

The success of the Super Mario Bros. video games has led to many a side hustle for everyone's favorite Italian stereotypes, the least logical one being their appearance at the 1989 Ice Capades. Since Mario and Luigi are ostensibly human, you might think they simply slapped some mustaches and overalls on a couple of professional skaters and called it a day. But no. There's nothing human about the look they went with:

4 Pinocchio Should Never Be A Real Boy

Movie studios have been trying to turn Pinocchio into a live-action boy for over a century, and it never works, for some reason. Could it be because his nose resembles a reproductive organ? Impossible to tell. He was first portrayed on film way back in 1911 by Ferdinand Guillaume, who wore what appears to be a duck costume from a school play.

Pinocchio went on to be played by Mickey Rooney in a 1957 TV version that really went all-in on the phallic imagery. Rooney looked like a Bavarian boy who was captured by the Nazis and subjected to deranged experiments.

When Paul Reubens crept his way into children's television as Pee-Wee Herman 30 years later, TV executives naturally couldn't resist snatching him up to play a character with a schlong for a snout. So we ended up with this unneeded visual in a 1984 episode of Faerie Tale Theatre:

And of course, no list of creepy Pinocchios could ever be complete without Roberto Benigni's 2002 adaptation, in which he looked like ... Roberto Benigni, with a giant nose. It's the most disturbing one so far.

You'd think the meager returns and poor reviews would discourage more directors from trying this again, but Guillermo del Toro is currently working on yet another adaptation. Get ready to find out what Doug Jones looks like with a dildo strapped to his face.

3 Ninja Hattori: From Adorable Cartoon To Mass Murderer

You may know Ninja Hattori from his manga series, his multiple anime shows, or from Nickelodeon's viral dabbing video that was remixed a couple million times too many. Usually, he looks like a kid in a ninja costume.

We say "usually" because there's one notable exception: the 1966 live-action TV series where they inexplicably chose to depict him as an adult. More specifically, an adult who's about to tie you up in his basement.

Mind you, this is only when the character's mouth isn't required to be open. Because when it is, he looks more like Leatherface with a mask made from a demon baby:

And you haven't even seen him in action yet! Truth be told, all you need to see is the eyes in motion. It makes him about as lovable as a Kit-Cat Clock come to life. A human-size Kit-Cat Clock. Armed with a sword.

Again, this was meant for children. It was not something intentionally calculated to deprive you of sleep. This marks the one and only instance in history in which the anime qualifies as the least creepy version.

Related: 6 Terrifying Children's Cartoons From Around The World

2 Humpty Dumpty Reached Peak Creepiness In 1933

Legendary comic actor and celebrated alcoholic W.C. Fields landed his one and only voice-acting role as Humpty Dumpty in the 1933 movie version of Alice In Wonderland. And while his contribution was as amusing as expected, the character is even more unnerving than you'd expect.

1 Mickey Mouse Was Played By A Masked Monkey In A Laurel & Hardy Movie

Unnecessary live-action Disney adaptations feel like a recent thing, but Mickey Mouse got his first real-world role in 1934, when he starred as "himself" in Laurel & Hardy's Babes In Toyland. But, figuring a single animated character in a live-action movie might prove distracting, they opted for the more subtle route: They dressed up a trained monkey in overalls and a creepy mouse mask and threw him in front of the camera.

And apparently they were cool with letting their star improvise, because they decided not to cut the random footage of their costumed monkey plopping himself on the floor and begging for release from the Mickey Prison.

And now here's monkey Mickey again, who somehow gains access to a miniature flying ship thing that he loads up with tiny torpedoes. Because that's what this abomination needs, more weapons.