Animated Celeb Comedy Cameos, Ranked
There have been so many celebrity cameos in animated comedies over the years that it’d be near impossible to remember all of them, let alone feature them all in a single article (this is what 21st-century book deals are for). But there are some cameos by famous people in shows with talking animals and drunken space robots that have been able to defy our terrible memories as they’ve nestled themselves in the Great Hall of Remembrance inside our ever-declining skull meat universe. Here’s 10 of the best…
Daniel Radcliffe, Bojack Horseman
Sure, most lists about the countless celebrity cameos in the show about a man who is depressed because he’s an effin’ horse will likely feature Jessica Biel making fun of her career or “Weird Al” Yankovic playing a dog that is super into plaid. All good and well, but let’s not cast aside the one where Harry Potter-turned-“Weird Al” himself made an appearance as the famous star that he is, only to irk Bojack to no end because he couldn’t remember the guy with the long face.
Elon Musk, Rick and Morty
Ugh, yeah. This guy, we know. What makes this cameo featuring an alternate universe Musk with tusks so significant, though, is that Rick and Morty totally nailed the volatility of the guy who managed to all but destroy Twitter in a mere month of its purchase. Did the cameo embolden both Musk and his juvenile army to become even more insufferable? Indeed. Did they fail to see the blatant and extremely accurate criticism the show threw at the guy who is apparently incapable of dealing with criticism? You betcha.
Dennis Hopper, King of the Hill
It’s true that the episode in which Dennis Hopper plays himself also features the likes of Willie Nelson, but Hopper is the funny one here — not just for hitting on Peggy while eating a watermelon, but for that melon seed getting stuck on his chin right at the end. Sometimes, a moment is the most memorable. Sometimes, it’s just Dennis Hopper.
Sonny and Cher, Scooby-Doo
Taft Broadcasting
This cameo appearance poked fun at Cher for seemingly living in the shadow of Sonny Bono. They played it out, however, to humorous and self-deprecating effect, which we’d come to expect from the duo known for their collective songs with some form of infant synonym in the titles. They quibble throughout the scenes linked here, and Sonny comes across as a real dork who thinks he can travel incognito by simply wearing some sunglasses.
Al Gore, Futurama
A real classic, this one, because the former VP of the United States known for his environmentalism proved on one of the greatest animated shows of all time that he is, in fact, a humorous environmentalist. So good was Al “The Inventor of the Environment” Gore that he appeared in multiple episodes, and gave us the hilarious and evergreen line, “I have ridden the mighty Moon Worm!”
Larry King and Coolio, Gravity Falls
Alex Hirsch’s wonderful two-season series about twins Dipper and Mabel Pines might just be the animated show that deserves its own movie the most. Wildly entertaining with its quirks and light spooky qualities, it features a proper list of guest stars, with notable cameos from Larry King and Coolio as wax dolls out for revenge because Gruncle Stan locked them up and forgot about them. It’s great, because let’s face it: Who wouldn’t want a wax figure of Coolio?
As for King, Gruncle Stan hilariously introduces him as “I don’t know, some kind of goblin man?” King is then reduced to just an animated head because this is how you write that joke.
Al Roker, The Proud Family
The animated series of the aughts that saw a new revival on Disney+ this year follows a Black suburban family and the zany things that happen in their day-to-day lives. One such bonkers moment happens in “Tween Town” when famous weatherman and Best Charlie Brown Get-Up Al Roker made an appearance to open a nightclub for teens, because it’s just that kind of show. Roker soon goes from nightclub owner to some sort of genie entity who can possess computers and TV screens, and make teenagers’ parents disappear.
Roker went on to appear, again, in the new revival, The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder, because there’s nothing like being immortalized as a bananas cartoon villain.
Ryan Reynolds, Family Guy
In which Ryan Reynolds becomes obsessed with Peter in that classic Reynolds bromance fashion, only Peter thinks the affection is more than just platonic. The best thing about Deadpool’s cameo is that the actor leans into his open-minded approach to sexuality while poking fun at Hollywood’s love for ethereal philosophies.
Johnny Cash, The Simpsons
In what was most definitely Johnny Cash’s final form, this cameo saw him voice a space coyote spirit, there to help Homer navigate a hallucination while he's tripping balls. Matt Groening said on the eighth season’s DVD commentary that this cameo was “one of the greatest coups the show has ever had.”
Kumail Nanjiani, Big Mouth
It’s hard to say what the best part is of this cameo featuring the jacked-up new Marvel star in an animation about kids discovering puberty. Is it the fact that Kumail Nanjiani calls his fans “Kumaniacs”? Is it that he talks about being a “slave to his seed”? Is it that his gym room is decorated with both posters of his movies and also pics of abs blown up?
No, it’s definitely the ending of his “No Nut November” pep talk video. One for the books.
