The Craziest Early Concept Art Designs From Your Favorite Movies

Ask any artist, rarely does the final product turn out just as it was imagined. The same goes for everything we see on screen in movies. Often characters, scenery, and costumes begin one way, only to morph into something entirely new as actors, directors, and producers influence what the film will look like.

Concept art happens in the earliest stages of creating a film, where designers brainstorm what characters will actually look like. As their personalities grow, so too do the artists' initial designs. We've collected a list of The Craziest Early Concept Art Designs From Your Favorite Movies. See what Buzz Lightyear, Yoda, and Spider-Man were supposed to look like when they first appeared on paper.

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Artist: Lucasfilm
Year released: 1977

Before Yoda was green with long pointy ears, he was designed to look like a gnome. Perhaps the artists over at Lucasfilm realized that no one would take his words of wisdom seriously if Yoda looked like a garden decoration and decided to alter his appearance. Smart move, this was.

Artist: Constantine Sekeris
Year released: 2007

The main character from Fantastic 4: Rise of the Silver Surfer was, of course, the appropriate color in the first versions of his appearance. Although the concept art is similar to the final product, in the original drawing, the Silver Surfer is more alien-like and slender.

Artist: Eddie Yang
Year released: 2012

Spider-Man is swift and likes to climb on walls, all of which would have been difficult if he had a cape. While planning Spider-Man's appearance, designer Eddie Yang included cape made out of a spider's web along with his iconic red and blue outfit. However, filmmakers decided to keep him the way he is in the comics: cape-free.

Artist: 20th Century Fox
Year released: 2009

Neytiri, the main female Na'vi from the film Avatar, has dreadlocks, ears, and a very prominent nose. In the concept art, created and planned by 20th Century Fox, Neytiri's hair lights up in orange, and she has no ears—or if she has any, they're covered. According to Scott Patton, one of the concept artists for the movie, his team of designers added more details to the Na'vi as director James Cameron told them more about Pandora and its environment.

Artist: Michael Kutsche
Year released: 2010

Michael Kutsche, the artist behind Alice in Wonderland's Mad Hatter, made the first drawing of the giggly character greener than the Johnny Depp version we now know. Both look equally devious and insane, but Kutsche's version has at least something tamed: the Hatter's hair. Costume designer Colleen Atwood said in an interview that director Tim Burton gave her the character sketches but did not require her to follow every little detail to a tee. As a result, Depp's character came to life differently from the original drawings.

Artist: Disney and Pixar
Year released: 1995

Many of the characters in Toy Story were edited multiple times before the movie premiered. Buzz Lightyear, who was originally named Lunar Larry, and Woody, who was originally a ventriloquist dummy rather than a stuffed cowboy, varied in weight, height, and personalities. The early designs for Woody and Buzz were soon changed after the head of Walt Disney Studios wanted the movie to be more adult, making it a movie everyone could relate to.

Artist: Eddie Yang
Year released: 2012

It's impossible to disassociate Catwoman with the color black, and Eddy Yang's concept designs were no exception. With the knowledge that Anne Hathaway was going to be Catwoman for The Dark Knight Rises, a lot of Yang's first drawings were of her wearing slick black clothing.

Artist: Luca Nemolato
Year released: 2013

The Annabelle doll in The Conjuring movie is nowhere near as scary as the original doll that artist Luca Nemolato dreamed up. Nemolato's original sketches included an Annabelle that has no eyes with a veil covering her face and splats of blood all over her white dress.

Artist: Disney
Year released: 1992

We all know Aladdin's Genie for his goofy personality. But before he was that big, blue smiley character, he looked very different. In one drawing, he has three heads, and in another he looks quite sinister. In the end, the artists finally created Genie with Robin Williams' voice in mind.

Artist: Warner Bros.
Year released: 2007

Production designer David Lazan and director Francis Lawrence decided to go with a more familiar look in I Am Legend instead of the original designs of a post-apocalyptic environment. Lazan said that in an interview that he wanted the world to look like nature was taking over. In the end, the designers even changed the way Will Smith dressed. Instead of his black jacket, he would have been covered from head to toe—including goggles and gloves.

Artist: Ralph McQuarrie
Year released: 1977

Conceptual designer Ralph McQuarrie designed characters and scenes for the Star Wars movies, and they were adapted almost exactly the way he imagined them. McQuarrie actually thought the film was too expensive to get made, so he "didn't have to limit" himself with his designs. As so happens, George Lucas loved his concepts.

Artist: Disney
Year released: 2012

Ralph from Wreck it Ralph can be described as a gentle giant, but his original concept art was far from this personality. The artists at Disney actually started off with Ralph as a red, furry monster rather than a person wearing overalls. Director Rich Moore said that as the story developed, Ralph ended up being a big brother figure, and the artists modified Ralph's look to reflect this. "It's a long process and a lot of exploration. If it happens overnight then we're doing something wrong," Moore said.

Artist: Andrew Williamson
Year released: 2001

The concept art for this magical franchise is just as detailed as the actual Harry Potter movies. One of the film's artists, Andrew Williamson, created scenes that really brought the movie series to life, from the Weasley's home in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets to the rooms inside Hogwarts.

Artist: Barry Jackson for DreamWorks
Year released: 2001

Before Shrek was a bulky, bright green, simple-living ogre, DreamWorks designer Barry Jackson had him looking a little sillier. His head resembled a cone, similar to the one based off of the book, and he was missing a few teeth. His wardrobe was different, too, with sandals instead of his durable boots.

Artist: Jerad S. Marantz
Year released: 2011

Artist Jerad S. Marantz originally designed the character Azazel with horns coming out of his head and protruding out of his chest, more devilish than the look they ultimately went with for X-Men: First Class.

Artist: Aaron McBride
Year released: 2011

Disney planned to make the mermaids in Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides look more like fish, gills included, before going with the beautiful and seductive mermaids you see on the screen. Aaron McBride, the art director, said in an interview that he worked closely with Rob Marshall, the director, to find a good balance between the mermaids as both beautiful and vicious creatures.

Artist: Jerad S. Marantz
Year released: 2010

Artist Jerad S. Marantz said that the Kraken took the longest to design out of everything in Clash of the Titans. Marantz used immense detail for each individual sketch of the Kraken, which helped define the final version.

Artist: Pixar
Year released: 2004

Concept artist Lou Romano did a few early development sketches for Brad Bird's The Incredibles, including their home, work, and battle scene environments. In Romano's original design, a large creature accompanies the family of four. However, he has called this his "gag drawing" and said that, in the beginning, anything goes. Bird ultimately kept it to the original four, including a baby.