5 Animated Cameos From the Artists You Love
posted in: Features
There are two super important pieces of information that you may have missed as you frantically finished buying, wrapping and trading your presents this holiday season. First: The Powerpuff Girls is getting a reboot in 2014, returning to Cartoon Network for a one-night special on January 14th. AWESOME. Second: Ringo Starr will make an appearance in the show as a character named Fibonacci Sequins, “Townsville’s most famous flamboyant mathematician.”
Bubbles, Blossom, Buttercup, and Beaucoups of Blues? Ringo Starr? Math puns? CGI?! The creators of this special thought of literally everything. But really, putting any beloved musician behind an animated character is a recipe for success and at least somewhat decent ratings, which is why showrunners are doing it all the time. Here are five other artists who lent their voices to cartoons “ either as a fictional character or as a stylized version of themselves.
1. Busta Rhymes as Reptar
While he wasn’t the man behind Reptar in the animated series, Busta Rhymes voiced the Reptar Wagon the precocious tots take to run away from their parents in the first full-length Rugrats movie. The rapper also recorded a song for the film’s soundtrack called “On Your Marks, Get Set, Ready, Go.” It’s no “Break Ya Neck,” but it is pretty adorable.
2. Tom Waits in The Monster of Nix
The Monster of Nix is a fantastical short film created by Dutch artist Rosto. Largely unheard of, at least in the U.S., the 30-minute musical featured Tom Waits as the voice of a giant, horrifying black swallow named Virgil. The creepy role was a perfect fit both for Waits’ gravelly drawl and his generally solemn demeanor.
3. KISS on Family Guy
KISS has appeared on Family Guy several times . Sometimes they’re part of a quick cutaway joke, like the one below where they save Santa with the power of rock, but they’ve also been prominently featured in episodes like “Road to Europe.” These appearances have led to a very lucrative licensing deal for the KISS members, because apparently there’s a market for Family Guy/KISS crossover merchandise. Go figure.
4. The Simpsons and James Brown, The Ramones, Smashing Pumpkins, U2…
Pretty much anyone who’s anyone has guest starred on the Simpsons at one point or another. From the White Stripes to Lionel Ritchie, tons of artists have appeared as themselves on the beloved series. Buzzfeed has compiled a list of 66 musicians who played themselves on the series, but for my money the best appearance is “New Kids on the Blecch.” The classic episode finds the members of NSYNC starring not as themselves, but as an evil boy band called The Party Posse that’s trying to recruit people to join the navy with their hit songs.
5. Chris Kirkpatrick as Chip Skylark
He might have been the least well-known NSYNC member, but Chris Kirkpatrick’s one claim to fame (besides having Eminem tell him he could get his ass kicked in “Without Me“) was his recurring role as teen pop sensation Chip Skylark on The Fairly Oddparents. With classics like “Icky Vicky” and “My Shiny Teeth and Me,” Skylark captivated the residents of Dimmsdale in a way that Kirkpatrick never could IRL.
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