We saw Dinner For Schmucks on DVD last night. Not great. I usually avoid anything marketed as “screwball” or “zany” but this time my guard was down. That’s because the film is the most recent remake of a French film, Le dîner de cons, so adored that multiple adaptations have appeared in other languages.

But the 114 minute run time was worth it for each glimpse of the mouse dioramas created by Steve Carell’s “idiot” character. The rodent versions of The Last Supper and Mona Lisa, among many others, were created by special effects artists (and siblings) Charles, Stephen, and Edward Chiodo.

These pieces don’t represent Outsider Art (one of my many obsessions) but if taxidermists are out there bringing forth their own version of reality using dead animals, it might come close. So I strolled through the interwebz for a quick investigation. Not surprisingly, such artwork is out there. It’s creepy but interesting. Here are a few examples.

Top Hat Taxidermy offers what appears to be a steampunk guinea pig vehicle.

Loved to Death creates scenes such as Chop Shop.

Jeanie M. transforms roadkill into imaginative figures.

Funeral home director Sam Sanfillippo has an entire museum of animal scenes. Mr. Sanfillippo, according to an article in Extreme Craft collected squirrels and other creatures that perished by accident, then with the help of taxidermist Vito Marchino, repurposed them to make themed displays.

Sarina Brewer follows her own strict ethical guidelines. She runs Custom Creature Taxidermy offering a wide array of taxidermy-based art.