Did You Know That These Cartoon Characters Feature The Voices Of Famous Musicians?
We hear them sing but can we recognize these musicians when their voices are behind a cartoon character?
For instance, did you know that Busta Rhymes was in Rugrats? What about Gene Simmons and David Bowie in SpongeBob SquarePants?
If you think about it, it does make sense. Rappers, rockers and pop stars, it doesn’t matter. All of their careers are based totally around their voice.
Here are some musician cartoon voiceovers you may have missed.
Iggy Pop
Lil’ Rummy in Lil’ Bush: Resident of the United States
Iggy Pop has a habit of voicing cartoon characters. In 1983, he lent his voice for the “demon from another dimension” in the animated film Rock & Rule. He then voiced a newborn baby in The Rugrats Movie. Adding to his resume, Iggy voiced Jerry in a 2007 episode of American Dad! as well as Uncle Anouche in Persepolis. He then took a two-year stint as Lil’ Rummy in Cartoon Network’s Lil’ Bush: Resident of the United States. Most recently in 2010, Iggy was the voice of Darkos in the third installation of Arthur and the Invisibles.
Busta Rhymes
Reptar Wagon in The Rugrats
In The Rugrats Movie, Tommy Pickle’s dad, Stu, builds a Reptar wagon, which is essentially a Reptar-themed car with its own voice, provided by none other than Busta Rhymes. He voices the wagon when it appears in additional TV episodes released after the film, as well.
Flea
Donnie in The Wild Thornberrys
Flea from the Red Hot Chili Peppers voiced Donnie, Eliza’s feral little brother, in The Wild Thornberrys. Something tells us this role suited him very well.
Fergie
Sally in Peanuts
Before the Black Eyed Peas, Fergie got her start doing voice-over as Sally in the Charlie Brown cartoons from 1984 to 1986. Good grief.
Will.i.am
Pedro in Rio
Rapper, producer, fashion designer, TV talent show judge and activist Will.i.am added another item to his resume when he voiced a rapping parrot named Pedro in the Rio films. Who knows what type of role he'll do next.
Snoop Dogg
Smooth Move in Turbo
Snoop has actually appeared in a few TV cartoons, including Futurama, King Of The Hill and The Cleveland Show. He most recently appeared in the 2013 racing snail movie Turbo, where he, of course, voiced a character named Smooth Move.
Method Man and Redman
Pixies on Fairly Odd Parents
Red and Meth appeared in a special musical episode of Nickelodeon’s Fairly Odd Parents, of all things. Holding the roles of two bureaucratic pixies, the rappers sing two original songs in the episode. And, they’re actually pretty dope.
Ozzy Osbourne
Fawn in Gnomeo & Juliet / Vicar in Robbie the Reindeer
Ozzy Osbourne took a break from his reign as the Prince of Darkness to take on a few lighter roles as animated deer. In 2007, he voiced Vicar in Robbie the Reindeer in Close Encounters of the Herd King. Then in 2011, he was Fawn in Gnomeo & Juliet.
Drake and Nicki Minaj
Ethan and Steffie in Ice Age: Continental Drift
We all knew Queen Latifah was Ellie, the lead female mammoth, in the Ice Age movies, but for the fourth movie, Fox decided to beef up the cast a little more. Drizzy plays a teenage mammoth who tries to woo Manny’s daughter, voiced by Nicki Minaj, which TBH, sounds like some freaky Tumblr fantasy.
Nicki Minaj
Sugilite in Steven Universe
In Cartoon Network’s superhero series Steven Universe, a monstrous fusion gem named Sugilite debuts in the “Coach Steven” episode. In the show, she has four arms and five eyes, but since she is voiced by Nicki, we’re confused why the character is purple instead of pink.
Tom Petty
Lucky in King of the Hill
It should come as no surprise that, from 2004 to 2009, the voice behind King of the Hill’s Lucky Kleinschmidt was Tom Petty, seeing as the character looks just like him. His catchphrase on the show was, “I done slipped on pee-pee at the Costco,” naturally.
Gene Simmons
Jessie in King of the Hill / Sea Monster in SpongeBob SquarePants
In a 2003 episode of King of the Hill titled “Reborn to be Wild,” KISS “demon” Gene Simmons voiced a biker named Jessie. Then in 2007, he returned to the cartoon world as a hamburger-loving sea monster in Spongebob’s “20,000 Patties Under the Sea” episode. Strangely, neither of these characters appeared to have an abnormally long tongue. Of course, who could forget the time he played himself in the classic episode of Family Guy?
David Bowie
Lord Royal Highness in SpongeBob SquarePants
In 2006, David Bowie voiced a character in the SpongeBob episode “Atlantis SquarePantis” to please his six-year-old daughter, a huge fan of the show. He wrote in his blog that he’s “hit the Holy Grail of animation gigs.” Dad of the year? We think so.
Ringo Starr
Duck Brothers in Courage the Cowardly Dog
Ringo is no stranger to children’s television (see his classic appearance on Shining Time Station), but his appearance in Cartoon Network’s Courage the Cowardly Dog took me by surprise. In 2002, he voiced three evil alien ducks, otherwise known as the “Duck Brothers.”
Miley Cyrus
Penny in Bolt
Back when she was the sweet Disney channel star who led a double life as Hannah Montana, Miley Cyrus voiced a girl named Penny in the 2008 animated film Bolt. The crime fighting canine, which the movie is named after, is voiced by John Travolta.
Jarvis Cocker
Petey in The Fantastic Mr. Fox
Pulp front-man Jarvis Cocker showed up as Petey in The Fantastic Mr. Fox with a banjo in hand, where he played his exclusive “Petey’s Song” for the animated film.
James Hetfield and Lars Ulrich
Dragons in Dave the Barbarian
Metallica’s James Hetfield and Lars Ulrich showed up as punk, leather-clad, teenage dragons in Disney’s Dave the Barbarian episode “Here there be dragons.” In the episode, Hetfield offers up some rock star advice, “A dragon don’t work for the man. You wanna be a real dragon, right? You wanna be cool, right?”
Sting
Zarm in Captain Planet and the Planeteers
In Captain Planet and the Planeteers, The Police frontman was the first to voice Zarm from 1990 to 1992. In 2007, Sting ironically appeared as himself in Bee Movie. How appropriate.
Selena Gomez
Mavis in Hotel Transylvania
Selena Gomez voices Mavis Dracula, a headstrong and adventurous 118-year-old “teenage” vampire, in the computer-animated film Hotel Transylvania. The sequel will focus more on Selena’s character and will open in theaters Sept. 25.