Peter Pan
Though it isn’t unusual to have voice actors pose as models for the characters they are playing in animated features, the “Peter Pan” team went above and beyond. The filmmakers shot a live-action reference of Bobby Driscoll in the film to help make sure they got every single detail right.
If you watch the film now, you’ll notice the fine attention to detail. Perhaps that’s what makes this animated film so timeless; the fact that under the animation lies a real boy!
Princess Tiana
Talk about paying attention to detail! In "The Princess and the Frog," animators wanted actress Anika Noni Rose and Princess Tiana to look as identical as possible. Rose was worried that they would make Tiana into a cookie-cutter princess, but when she saw her for the first time, she realized how much the two looked alike.
The actress served as a form of visual reference for the supervising animator, Mark Henn. Henn videotaped her as she recorder her lines, including some of her distinct characteristics, like her left-handedness and dimples, into Tiana's character.
Carl Fredricksen
Carl Fredricksen's creators depict him as a "grouchy old man," while Ed Asner always has a smile on his face. The two older men look like they could be related, that is, if one of them wasn't actually a drawing.
"Up" animators physically modeled Carl's character, at least partially, on the actor Ed Asner, who provides the voice of the grumpy old man. To get a well-rounded grandfather figure, producers also used Spencer Tracy and Walter Matthau as inspiration for Carl's character.
Wesley
It seems to us that "Boardwalk Empire" producers watched one too many cartoons with their kids before creating their characters. Buscemi plays Wesley in Disney's 2004, "Home on the Range," and Nucky Thompson on "Boardwalk Empire," and the resemblance between them is uncanny.
When you compare Thompson and the evil cattle wrangler Buscemi portray's costume, it almost feels like you're seeing double.
Genie
Aladdin animators made it very clear that the Genie was designed to look a lot like the man who voiced him, Robin Williams! They were so intent on Williams playing the part; they animated some of his old stand-up to be performed by the Genie. With a gesture like that, how could Williams say no?
The actor got so into the part, he improvised 16 hours of material for the Genie, and we're so glad that he did. The Genie is one of everyone's fondest childhood memories, a character that has stuck with us for years!