Artist Creates Dark Versions of Beloved Cartoon Characters

Digital concept artist Daniel LuVisi has re-imagined numerous famous animated characters, most-notable a few familiar faces from The Simpsons, in a spoof called “Grand Theft Otto.”

The only thing darker than these pictures are the story snippets that go with them, describing a heist plan involving the depicted individuals and a few others.

As much as these pieces disturb me deep down, I honestly think they’re great. The passion for these animated icons shows through in the quality of the work, especially in the subtleties: Carl is wearing a Kwik-E-Mart t-shirt, Homer is drinking a duff, and the money has Jebediah Springfield’s face on it.

The detail is so engrossing that it almost makes you forget the subjects are actually based on cartoons. Of course, in The Simpsons characters’ case, the yellow skin & big eyes & wide mouths keep the figures floating in some limbo between human and non-human, which make them my favorites of the bunch. (They also happen to be based on my favorite show, so that helps too.) The Muppet/No Country For Old Men one is quite good as well.

The collection on his blog also features caricatures of Buzz Lightyear, Tigger, and Mickey & Minnie Mouse, to name a few. The artwork will appear as part an upcoming book called Popped Culture, for which there will be a Kickstarter campaign (so be on the look-out for that!) His site has a bunch of additional famous characters, all produced with his own flair, as well as an endless amount of unique ones.

Based in Los Angeles, LuVisi has been drawing since the age of 3, and is a former employee of DC Comics, Hasbro, FOX, Universal, and Microsoft, among others.