A Man Used AI to See What Disney Characters Look Like as Real People, and We Compared Them to the People They Were Based On

Hidreley Diao is a digital artist who uses artificial intelligence to create his artwork. He has multiple projects, including one where he attempts to recreate what celebrities looked like in childhood, but today, we would like to focus on his series of Disney characters as real people. But the catch is that some of the characters actually have a prototype in the real world.

We at Bright Side did our research on the people that Disney characters were originally based on, and then we decided to compare how much or how little the “people” created by AI actually look like them.

1. The Little Mermaid’s Ariel is based on Alyssa Milano.

The actress served as a base for the character’s design without her own knowledge. She found out about being the prototype of the Disney princess after the movie’s release.

2. Up’s Carl is modeled after Ed Asner.

The actor, Ed Asner, provided the voice for the character, Carl, who he was at least a partial prototype for.

3. Pocahontas is based on Irene Bedard.

The actress served as a model for the Disney character, and she also provided a voice for her.

4. Cinderella’s Lady Tremaine is based on Eleanor Audley.

The actress, Eleanor Audley, was also a voice actress for Lady Tremaine, so the production studio drew the character with as many of Audley’s features as possible.

5. Snow White’s model is the actress, Marge Champion.

Marge Champion worked closely with the Disney production studio when Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was being made: the animation team studied her movements closely on the sound stage to make the character more realistic.

6. Sleeping Beauty’s Maleficent is based on Maila Nurmi.

While some believed that Maleficent, just like Lady Tremaine, was also based on Eleanor Audley, there were also rumors flying around that the real prototype for the Disney villain was the actress, Maila Nurmi. This was confirmed after the actress’ death — her old diaries were discovered, where she wrote about working with Disney to create Maleficent.

7. Aladdin was based on Tom Cruise.

While it may be surprising, it’s true — the lead animator of the cartoon said that Cruise was used as a prototype for Aladdin due to his confidence in “all of his attitudes and his poses.”

Can you see the similarities? Were you surprised to find out any of these characters were based on real people?