From Ariel as Botticelli’s Venus, to Belle as the Mona Lisa: Artists re-imagine Disney princesses as classic paintings
For anyone who grew up with Walt Disney’s Little Mermaid, Princess Ariel may seem as much of a cultural reference as the famous Venus being born in Botticelli’s masterpiece Renaissance painting.
Those people will probably enjoy the makeovers from the DesignCrowd’s community pages, where cartoon characters have replaced the original subjects in classic works of art.
Whether you’re a Beauty and the Beast fan who loves the Mona Lisa or you preferred The Pink Panther as a child and enjoy expressionist works such as Edvard Munch’s renowned Scream painting, there’s a Photoshopped and digitally enhanced classic for every artistic taste.
Classic update: Artists have digitally inserted cartoon characters in to famous works of art
Mona Lisa twist: The works feature Belle from Beauty and the Beast moonlighting as the Mona Lisa
Dumbo delight: Famous elephant Dumbo is re-imagined as Ganesha in all his finery
Nature visit: Bambi and friends appear in the Rest at Harvest painting, by William Adolphe Bouguereau
Highlights from DesignCrowd include the Looney Tunes and the Simpsons dining at Leonardo da Vinci’s Last Supper, Snow White posing in Eugene de Blas’s Flirtation and Dumbo moonlighting as Ganesha in all his gold and finery.But these re-imagined paintings aren’t the only blurrings of the classical and the digital.
As well as Kim Kardashian posing as the Mona Lisa and Kanye West replacing a classic portrait of Henry VIII, we’ve recently seen Star Wars characters invading famous works, famous Disney characters such as Princess Elsa and Anna from Frozen re-drawn as humans and even paintings updated with famous magazine covers on the subjects’ heads.
Expressionist panther: The Pink Panther features in Edvard Munch’s renowned Scream painting
Last supper: Leonardo da Vinci’s Last Supper is given a Simpson-shaped twist
Looney party: The Looney Tunes get similar treatment to the Simpsons in da Vinci’s classic Renaissance work
Flirty fun: Snow White blends in seamlessly to Eugenie de Blas’s beloved Flirtation painting
And while it might be hard to imagine that celebrity photographs and cartoons might draw their inspiration from some of our most historically famous pieces of art, some of the similarities and references are uncanny.
If you thought the world had reached peak Photoshop when artists started turning Disney princesses into everything from pin-up girls to hot dogs, then you might think you’ve seen enough re-imaginings for one lifetime.
But these endearing projects that feature everyone from Tweety Pie to The Pink Panther as well as the Disney girls and are definitely the sort of thing you could hang on your wall.
Who said ancient paintings and modern cartoons have nothing in common?
Mixing up maids: Diego Velázquez’s Las Meninas (The Maids of Honor) look well placed with Cinderella
Birds of a feather: Tweety perches happily in René Magritte’s La Thérapeute
Hero hunt: Loony Tunes go on the hunt with Mr and Mrs Andrews, a work by Thomas Gainsborough
Coyote cool: Wile E. Coyote attempts to defy gravity in Golconda, by René Magritte