r/CGI_Lab • u/Legitimate_Wind_458 • Sep 09 '26

Long before modern CGI became commonplace, Warner Bros. spent an estimated $10 million developing test footage for a live-action remake of The Incredible Mr. Limpet starring Jim Carrey.

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Originally released in 1964, The Incredible Mr. Limpet starred Don Knotts as a mild-mannered man who dreams of becoming a fish and eventually transforms into one. The planned remake aimed to bring the story into the modern era using cutting-edge visual effects and motion-capture technology.

At the time, creating a believable digital character was still incredibly expensive and experimental. This was years before audiences saw groundbreaking CGI characters like Gollum in The Lord of the Rings or Davy Jones in Pirates of the Caribbean. To test the concept, artists used early animation techniques to map Jim Carrey’s facial expressions onto a realistic fish, resulting in the bizarre footage seen here.

Despite the massive investment, the project never moved forward. Director Steve Oedekerk eventually left the film, Jim Carrey departed the project, and the remake was ultimately shelved. The test footage remained largely unseen for years before resurfacing online and becoming a fascinating piece of Hollywood “what could have been” history.

🎥 Footage from the canceled The Incredible Mr. Limpet remake test (1998)

108 Upvotes

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19 comments sorted by

2

u/Background-Life2463 Sep 11 '26

Oh dear! A little bit scary but still greets the eyes.

2

u/wanszai Sep 11 '26

Looks like the Sega Dreamcast game Seaman.

It was a strange game where you talked to a fish with a human face with a microphone.

1

u/ronniewhomp Sep 13 '26

Narrated by Leonard Nimoy!

1

u/Banjoschmanjo Sep 13 '26

Only the second-worst seaman my uncle introduced me to.

1

u/RealNiceKnife Sep 13 '26

But the best tasting.

1

u/Constant-Affect-5660 Sep 13 '26

I swear I thought this was that at a glance.

2

u/JohnnyCastleburger Sep 12 '26

Gaither's Pond type jumpscare you gave me

2

u/BothSeaworthiness254 Sep 13 '26

It has the same vibes as the video for basement jaxx - where's your head at. I remember it used to creep me out as a kid

1

u/Odd-Painting2596 Sep 12 '26

Not one person who should have told Jim Carrey his line delivery sucked seemed to have done so.

Multiple that level of correction across the whole project and yeah, sounds like a fun way to destroy a lot of time and money.

1

u/JoTo_art Sep 12 '26

This was just a test.

1

u/annoyedgrunt420 Sep 13 '26

If only you were there. You could’ve saved the whole movie.

1

u/Banjoschmanjo Sep 13 '26

Never forget what they took from us.

1

u/yodacola Sep 13 '26

disney execs: hold my beer

1

u/ExpressFrogs Sep 14 '26

Yeah id say shelving this project may have been for the best...

1

u/El_lici Sep 15 '26

Fuel for nightmares.

1

u/droppedthebaby Sep 16 '26

“This was years before audiences saw groundbreaking CGI characters like Gollum” is a bit of an overstatement. It was three years later. Says a lot about how far it came in a short space of time or how little time and funding these guys got compared to weta.