Curiosity is natural, but sometimes it might be best to not see how the sausage gets made, at least when it comes to your favorite animated movies. As a result, we’re going to give you the opportunity to look away before you gaze upon the stuff of nightmares that run the risk of ruining animated movies for you forever.


Okay, have the wimps left? Good. Fortunately for the rest of us, a couple of animators at Disney and Pixar have shared some behind-the-scenes (or behind-the-screen? I’m not sure) images of what animated movies look like while they’re still in progress, and they sure are something.



Take this image of Mirabel Madrigal from Disney’s Encanto. It looks like a screenshot from a video game made in the late 1990s; a step up from 1996’s Tomb Raider, but still a far cry from the final product. And what the hell is going on with her arms?



Fortunately, artist Tony Bonilla was kind enough to follow up with an explanation, since everyone was asking the same question. Even that explanation wasn’t sufficient for some people, though, with one person writing, “I don’t understand but I’m amazed, This is like magic for me.” Ah, the magic of the movies!



More recently, Pixar animator Cody Lyon shared even more disturbing images of the characters in Luca eating, in an effort to highlight just how much work goes into what looks like fairly simple shots of people opening their mouths. Evidently, it’s not just hard work that goes into them, but also malevolent energies, since both of those images are cursed as hell. I’m not sure that I needed to see the inside of an animated character’s mouth in such high resolution, but I thank you for the education, Cody.



Other Twitter users shared more examples of similar behind-the-scenes images, including some of Snoopy sporting an absolutely insane grimace — seriously, he looks constipated. Please get Snoopy some prunes, stat.



Hopefully animators sharing the most disturbing behind-the-scenes images from their work catches on, assuming The Mouse allows such things. People really do love seeing how the things they love get made, even if they’re left with a few little nightmares afterwards. It’s worth it!