6 Horrifying Live-Action Versions Of Cute Cartoon Characters

6

The Today Show Cast As The Kids From Peanuts Is The Stuff Of Nightmares

In 2015, the cast of The Today Show decided to celebrate Halloween by dressing up as the characters from everyone's favorite horror franchise, Peanuts. What's so scary about a bunch of melancholic children and their dog, you ask? Well, let's start with Al Roker as Charlie Brown:

We guess ears that didn't look like they came out of a book of medical oddities were a step too far.

Not creeped out enough? Here's Meredith Vieira as either Pig-Pen or a young Jason Voorhees:

In this gritty reboot, Pig-Pen is the ghost of a kid who died in a fire.

Then we have Hoda Kotb as Snoopy and Kathie Lee Gifford as Thing That Should Not Be:

If that mouth could produce intelligible speech, it would say "KILL ME."

Meanwhile, Matt Lauer as Lucy is indistinguishable from a serial killer:

Even more than usual, we mean.

These atrocities are supposedly the product of the Saturday Night Live makeup lab, but they look more like something you'd see in a David Cronenberg movie. Even the child cast of The Peanuts Movie was quick to admit how creepy the whole thing was. We're just glad this aired while most kids were in school.

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:

ABC"It's a-me, the Antichrist!"

The silvery, glazed-over looks in the brothers' eyes never fail to make them look like they're possessed. Even Princess Peach, who's supposed to be worthy of rescue, came across like she was in need of an exorcist.

ABCWait, no nose? That's two Toads on top of each other, isn't it?

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.

Wikimedia Commons"Hey! I'm lyin' here!"

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.

Shin-Ei Animation

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.

Paramount PicturesDoes he force Alice to wear a gold bikini?

Good lord. It's like Hitler's missing gonad gained sentience and grew giant, fueled by pure evil. Did a time-displaced David Lynch direct this?

Paramount PicturesAll the king's horses and all the king's men couldn't delete this image from your brain.

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.

Loew's Inc."Yes, it is me, Mickey! Not a demon who stole his shape!"

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.

Loew's Inc.Nothing Jared Leto doesn't do in every shoot.