There’s an old saying: your first idea is never your best idea. There’s a lot of research, sketching and experimenting that goes into designing the characters we know and love from our favourite movies – and a lot of them have changed since their original designs.
Here are 7 original movie character designs that underwent huge makeovers before hitting the big screen:
Cats
By now, most of us are well and truly aware of the hot mess that was last year’s screen adaptation of Cats. Not only was the film met with scathing reviews and a bomb at the box office, but the original CGI of the furry critters was altered after receiving a savage response online. Director Tom Hooper explained, “When you watch the finished film, you’ll see that some of the designs of the cats have moved on since then, and certainly our understanding of how to use the technology to make them work has gone up, too.”
Sonic the Hedgehog
Another widely publicised character design was that of Sonic the Hedgehog. Last year, the Internet reacted with such disgust to the live-action CGI of Sonic that Paramount Pictures were sent back to the drawing board and forced to delay the film. Fast-forward to this month and Sega fans are collectively breathing a sigh of relief – Sonic has been redesigned and looks slicker than ever before.
Love Baby Yoda? Listen to the GOAT team breakdown his 2020 plans on It’s Been A Big Day For…below:
Voldemort
If you’re a Harry Potter fan, you’d be familiar with ‘he who must not be named’ AKA Voldemort. Turns out he looked very different in the original design – I’m talking the stuff of nightmares. Luckily, Warner Bros. weren’t keen on inciting childhood trauma and toned down Voldemort’s devilish design before he hit the silver screen.
Sulley
If you saw Monsters Inc. back in 2001 there’s no doubt that one of your favourite characters was gentle giant, James P. ‘Sulley’ Sullivan. In the film, he’s a huge, furry blue ogre with horns, a tail and purple spot – but on paper, he was a fat lump with five eyes and a couple of measly horns. A huge improvement if you ask me.
Wreck-It Ralph
The concept of Wreck-It Ralph was first developed at Disney in the late 1980s under the working title High Score. It was reconsidered and redeveloped several times, and even took on the name Joe Jump in the late 1990s. Ralph himself underwent quite the makeover, from angry animal-like monster, to the more human-like Ralph we know today.
Shrek
Shrek is by far one of the most iconic characters of the 00s. However, he wasn’t always so big, green, and Shrek-y. In 1997, Shrek was a cone-headed skinnier version of his 2001 self – and far less marketable to small children. Apparently, the OG Shrek didn’t even have a Scottish accent. Wouldn’t have been the same film, if you ask me.
Yoda
Before we were all gushing over Baby Yoda, Yoda was the name on everybody’s lips. He’s wise, he’s wrinkly, and wise he incredibly is. But in The Empire Strikes Back Sketchbook published in 1980, Yoda was a far cry from his current self. An early concept of the Star Wars character showed him as a creepy bearded garden gnome. No, thank you.
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