Reddit Can't Look Away From This Live-Action Simpsons Art
The Matt Groening-created sitcom "The Simpsons" has earned a legion of fans over the course of its three-plus-decade run. The show, which acts as a satirical look into the lives of a working-class family in a fictional American city, first aired in 1989 and has since become amongst the most enduring pop cultural fixtures within our society. Not only is "The Simpsons" the longest-running animated series of all time, but it has also been the longest running scripted series (via Entertainment Weekly) with over 700 episodes and 33 seasons under its belt (via IMDb).
One of the main reasons for the show's longevity is its wide assortment of colorful characters with iconic designs. Groening's simple, yet expressive look for his characters has remained consistent throughout "The Simpsons" and his other animated series, "Futurama" and "Disenchantment." They work for a reason and continue to resonate and entertain audiences. However, a set of fan art has had fans of the series turning their heads.
You won't be able to unsee these realistic Simpsons designs
Redditor u/BigfootDynamite posted a series of hyper-realistic images of various characters from "The Simpsons." Created by artist Hidreley Diao, Milhouse Van Houten, Ned Flanders, Bart Simpson, and Moe Szyslak are shown in the artist's style that can alternately be described as bizarre or uncanny (Diao has done several other cartoon characters in this style that you can see on his Instagram). Commenters didn't hold their opinions back on the strange nature of these designs but also gave admiration for their efforts. Top-voted commenter u/nightman21721 admitted that "Moe is spot on. So spot on it's a little creepy."
However, the character that most didn't agree with was Bart. u/macjigiddy wrote that they were happy with how most of the characters came out, but that they disagreed with Bart's look. u/Wfwood similarly believes that this version of Bart "...doesn't really have great genetics..." u/H2O_Nacho_Games goes into even more elaborate detail as to what Homer's son makes him think of, commenting, "Bart's eyes looks like got into the stash again and now he is on a drug fueled 32 hour rampage."
Whether you're fond of these designs or not, seeing the efforts put in by the show's fanbase to pay homage to the beloved cartoon series is admirable, much like the work put in by the character designers of the actual show. Then again, others may never see it that way, such as u/Samurai_Rachaek, who sums up their feelings by writing, "No. No thank you." However, it's worth noting that for fans that this isn't the first time that "The Simpsons" characters were depicted in live-action.
Remember the live-action couch gag?
There was one point when "The Simpsons" itself dabbled in the live-action realm. In the Season 17 episode, "Homer Simpson, This is Your Wife," the show kicks off with a comedic live-action recreation of the famous opening couch gag that shows off the wacky city of Springfield and ends with the titular family piling around the television on their couch. The couch gags have always allowed for a wide assortment of creative depictions of the "The Simpsons" characters to be given a moment to shine, and this is no exception.
Originally meant to be a promotional clip on the British television channel, Sky1, the ad would later be placed in the show after some minor adjustments. The ad doesn't attempt to create an extremely realistic look to the original design, but rather finds actors who capture the character's descriptions and combines it with the choices in production and costume design to capture the show's spirit rather successfully.
Fans who saw the ad found the recreation rather impressive. On YouTube, commenters praised the promo, such as CJCroen1393 who said that they're "...amazed and delighted at how accurate it all is, right down to the background characters." Users such as Tygermite 2 and Liam Holton were so impressed that they even expressed interest in seeing a fully live-action episode of the show. Time will tell if such an idea comes to fruition, but in the meantime, we can appreciate the loving effort put into this delightful ad.