Isn't this why the Internet was invented?

November 12, 2003 11:41 AM

Bad Toon Rising - Think you remember what Mickey Mouse looks like? Daffy Duck? Bart Simpson? Ok - grab a scrap of paper and draw that character. Right now. (No peeking!!) Some other people already have, and these are the results.....
posted by anastasiav (21 comments total)

I've seen this before, and still think that the difference in the characters is inability to draw, rather than inability to remember. I know I couldn't draw Mickey Mouse, but I know what he looks like.
posted by Orange Goblin at 11:48 AM on November 12, 2003

So.... this just proves that the majority of people can't draw.


Hooray?

[on preview: what OG said]
posted by krazykity16 at 11:50 AM on November 12, 2003

I think stuff like this is interesting because if some kind of hand-made visual representation is the only way I could communicate something to someone else ... I'd completely flail at it, whether it be a map or a picture of Bart.
posted by WolfDaddy at 12:01 PM on November 12, 2003

but do you really know?

I doubt I could create a decent efit likeness of my wife (Matt, can MeFi automatically replace 'fiancee', please?). Equally, I recognise her voice instantly, but I can't change words into her voice in my head.

Or am I just fucked up?
posted by twine42 at 12:02 PM on November 12, 2003

It doesn't have to mean they're bad artists... I can draw fairly well, but not from memory. The difference between a mediocre artist and a "gifted" one often lies in their visual memory capacity.

I thought the site was kinda neat. I would never have guessed what some images were supposed to be if it wasn't for the title.
posted by degnarra at 12:09 PM on November 12, 2003

I had a great time visiting this site. Fun stuff and it could make a great party game - well for the kind of boring parties I go to, anyway. It would be fun for me, at any rate.
posted by Joey Michaels at 12:10 PM on November 12, 2003

"I can't believe how bad these pictures suck-"
"I know. Somebody should do something about it, but what?"
"Maybe if we called Karate Snoopy, he would go to some of these damn artists and hurt them badly."
"That would totally rock...but I don't think I could stand the sight of all that blood..."
posted by Smart Dalek at 12:12 PM on November 12, 2003

This is pretty comical, but I can't help but think that some of these are kids drawings, which makes me feel kind of bad for laughing. They look an awful lot like what I would try to draw as a kid. Cool site though.

Fun stuff and it could make a great party game - well for the kind of boring parties I go to, anyway. It would be fun for me, at any rate.

Pictionary, man.
posted by Ufez Jones at 12:17 PM on November 12, 2003

It has been brought to my attention
that there is no Chinese Alphabet.

Okay. The FPP was amusing, but Smart Dalek's link-full-of-karate-goodness is great!
posted by grabbingsand at 12:21 PM on November 12, 2003

I can draw Mickey Mouse fairly well, but only because I practiced over and over and over when I was six or seven. Donald Duck was always easier - his proportions and connections seemed to make more sense, and were easier to fudge.

So yeah, there is a point to this. Even those of us who are excellent fully competent cartoonists may be able to picture the cartoon perfectly, but without it in front of us, our versions of a character may be indistinguishable from, say, Wolfdaddy's.
posted by soyjoy at 12:35 PM on November 12, 2003

I agree with the Orange Goblin. This exercise would've been far more interesting if given to actual artists or cartoonists to see how good their memory is. Something tells me half of the artists on this site would've drawn just as poorly if given something to copy.
posted by Robot Johnny at 1:26 PM on November 12, 2003

I noticed that the better the technique of the drawing was, the better the resemblance tended to be. But I do think if given something to copy, everyone's work would have improved a lot.
posted by orange swan at 1:31 PM on November 12, 2003

I saw a similar memory test where they had people try to draw famous logos. The Louis Vuitton L and V overlap, but how?
posted by whtsherbkt at 1:38 PM on November 12, 2003

How about this one: (I had to do this in a class once)

Take out a piece of paper, and draw the heads side of a penny (or some other common coin, for non-US folks) You handle them every day, you would recognize one instantly, and you would recognize if you were handed a fake with some detail changed.

So, overlooking your ability to draw... Which way is Lincoln facing? Where is the text? What does it say?
posted by antimony at 2:02 PM on November 12, 2003

I saw a similar memory test where they had people try to draw famous logos. The Louis Vuitton L and V overlap, but how?

Louis Vuitton is a "famous logo"? I would call it fairly obscure.
posted by kindall at 3:38 PM on November 12, 2003

Louis Vuitton is a "famous logo"? I would call it fairly obscure.

Yeah, maybe if you live on Tonga. Dude even in Poland every other girl is carrying a (fake) Louis Vuitton pocketbook.
posted by degnarra at 4:10 PM on November 12, 2003

Oh, it's one of those things you have to have a vagina to know about. Never mind...
posted by kindall at 4:25 PM on November 12, 2003

Yeah, maybe if you live on Tonga. Dude even in Poland every other girl is carrying a (fake) Louis Vuitton pocketbook.

Dude, maybe in Poland, but certainly not in Portland.
posted by anastasiav at 4:57 PM on November 12, 2003

All these people can draw better than me. ; )
posted by SisterHavana at 5:13 PM on November 12, 2003

I don't know what my memory of an image has to do with my ability to draw it. I could flail at tracing a famous cartoon with predictably awful results. It's a test of drawing ability, not of memory. Also, I have no idea even who Louis Vuitton is, let alone if he has a logo. "Famous" is relative.
posted by majick at 8:05 PM on November 12, 2003

posted by delmoi at 12:04 AM on November 13, 2003