Since the 2010s, many animated movies have received live-action remakes. Most of them were made by Disney, although DreamWorks did produce a live-action remake of How to Train Your Dragon.

You might notice that almost all the live-action remakes of animated films had humans in them. An exception is The Lion King.

Nearly all of them also were remaking animated features where the artistic styles are semi-realistic – or at least close enough that a live-action remake could work.

But for the list below, the animated movies mentioned are the last to deserve a live-action remake because of their more distorted artistic styles. There is also this thing called the uncanny valley effect, where something looks almost human or realistic, but not enough. And it generally creeps people out or makes them uncomfortable due to evolutionary reasons.

Note that I will be including links to images below instead of the actual pictures in order to avoid potential copyright issues (although it might be exempt as a form of fair use. Still – better safe than sorry). The images may put some viewers at unease, as well.

Anyway, here is the list;

1: The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie (2004)

Released during the time 2D animated movies were dying out, this is the only full-length SpongeBob movie entirely in 2D animation (with the exceptions of the pirates at the beginning, the “cyclops” in a land shop called Shell City, and the scene with David Hasselhoff). As cartoon characters, SpongeBob, Patrick, and everyone else appeal to both kids and adults alike – especially with their slapstick humor.

Now as a live-action remake, it would likely produce the uncanny valley effect for SpongeBob, Patrick, and Squidward. The other characters might not look so bad (like Sandy or any of the fish extras).

But here is a link to what SpongeBob and Patrick might look like in real life.

2: Any Peanuts Movie

A good percentage of you reading this probably grew up watching the Peanuts cartoons. Even if you did not, I’m sure you know what all the characters look like.

Aside from Snoopy looking nothing like a real beagle with just black and white fur, all the kids have big heads and small bodies. But hey – it’s a cartoon!

And although they look fine as cartoon characters, I don’t think they would look so good in real life.

Here is a link to what Charlie Brown would look like in real life. It is shown in the first row of Google images.

3: A Goofy Movie (1995)

We all know what Goofy looks like. His son, Max, looks like a miniature version of him.

Now, even though they look fine as cartoon characters, they would look absolutely hideous and creepy in real life. In fact, I think they bring out the uncanny valley effect the most.

Go here to see a picture of what Max would look like in real life. He is in the first result. The others are images of a realistic Goofy.

I don’t know about you, but I think if this actually became a movie, so many people would walk out of the cinemas as it plays. I even presume it would go out of theaters the day after its release. And the main reason would be because people find the character designs too creepy in real life. That probably includes people who can easily handle intense horror or NC-17 rated movies.

4: Any Mickey Mouse Movie

Just like Goofy, Mickey Mouse would probably not translate well in real life. And I don’t mean by the costume he is shown in at DisneyWorld.

I came across this idea on Facebook. Someone joked about how if Disney ran out of classics to make live-action remakes of, they would make a live-action Mickey Mouse.

And AI has different interpretations of how Mickey would look in real life. So, here is a link to Disney Fandom where you can see different versions of a realistic Mickey Mouse.

5: The Simpsons Movie (2007)

We all know that the Simpsons are yellow people. They look fine as cartoon characters and even make lots of people laugh – myself included.

But in real life? Eek! Go to this link to Google images to see what the Simpsons would look like as realistic figures.

Conclusion

Because different artistic styles can range for cartoons, not all of them translate well into live-action. And the ones with the more distorted looks are the most obvious.

What did you think of this list? Are there any that you would want to mention? Let me know in the comments if you wish.