The Best Cartoons Based on Real Celebrities

Perhaps one of the strangest tropes in television is when an animated series stars a real-life celebrity as themselves. It’s happened more than most may think. Sometimes the series put the celebrities in the role of some sort of mystical hero while others just focus on their everyday lives. Let’s take a look at some of the best cartoons that were based on real-life celebrities and how they rank against each other.

8) Mary-Kate and Ashley in Action!

Is this series particularly great? Not at all, and that goes to show how rough most cartoons that star celebrities as themselves are. That being said, this one is so silly it provides plenty of unintentional entertainment. The Olsen Twins lived their normal lives in the acting and fashion industries, but were also secret agents who battled paranormal threats for some reason.

Mary-Kate and Ashley were extremely popular in the 90s and early 2000s and were in tons of movies and TV series. It’s no surprise they got their own animated series. If you were someone who was the target audience for any of their straight-to-home-video films and enjoyed them, you probably would have enjoyed this enough. Otherwise, you can probably find the only season of the show somewhere online and get a few laughs.

7) Chuck Norris: Karate Kommandos

The existence of Chuck Norris: Karate Kommandos is funnier than anything in the actual series, but it does offer some entertaining moments. It was a 5-episode mini series, making the whole series an easy binge. Chuck Norris plays himself, but as an American government operative who leads a team of warriors called the Karate Kommandos as they take on the evil organization known as VULTURE.

If you couldn’t tell, it was a total rip-off of G.I. Joe. So, if you’re a fan of the G.I. Joe animated series, you’d probably enjoy this shorter version with Chuck Norris.

6) Hulk Hogan’s Rock ‘n’ Wrestling

This is easily one of the wackiest shows on this list. WWF wrestler Hulk Hogan led a team of “face” wrestlers, like Captain Lou Albano, André the Giant, Jimmy “Superfly” Snuka, and Wendi Richter, as they frequently competed against “heel” wrestlers led by “Rowdy” Roddy Piper, including the Iron Sheik, the Fabulous Moolah, and Mr. Fuji. While each episode was focused on a good team versus a villainous one, there was very little wrestling involved and they weren’t depicted as superheroes or secret agents like other similar cartoons.

Instead, they just sort of competed in random tasks, like who gets to have their car featured in a new movie. The wrestlers found themselves in plenty of ridiculous situations, like being abducted one by one from a cruise ship so pirates can use their strong muscles to carry treasure. This is the kind of silliness that led to plenty of laugh-out-loud moments.

5) Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi

Puffy AmiYumi is a Japanese pop rock duo who have recorded over a dozen albums and have toured all over the world. They got big in the United States after recording the theme song to 2003’s Teen Titans, which inevitably led to the pair getting their own animated series on Cartoon Network.

The series had Puffy AmiYumi touring the world in their tour bus that was comically larger on the inside. It focused on situational comedy and didn’t do a ton to stand out from other early-2000s cartoons, but it was bright, colorful, funny, and a really fun time. It was even entertaining enough to get its own GameBoy Advanced game.

4) Class of 3000

Outkast’s André 3000 made a show on Cartoon Network in which he played a music teacher for some of the most gifted music prodigies at a performing arts school. It was actually a really fun way to encourage young audiences to be creative.

One of the coolest elements of the show was that each episode featured an original song that was accompanied by a music video. Every music video was animated by a different studio with a unique animation style. This series almost definitely got some kids interested in the arts, and that’s simply spectacular.

3) Life with Louie

Life with Louie was an animated sitcom that followed the life of comedian Louie Anderson as a child. Despite it focusing on Louie’s childhood, Anderson provided the voice of his younger self.

It was more or less a basic sitcom, but it was a good one. It was hilarious, had big heart, and Louie’s family members were all memorable characters. Every kid who has ever watched this show has absolutely related to Louie at some point throughout its 3-season run.

2) Mike Tyson Mysteries

Mike Tyson Mysteries is definitely a weird idea for a series, but it knows it and leans heavily into it. The show followed boxer Mike Tyson, his adopted daughter, the ghost of the Marquess of Queensberry, and an alcoholic talking pigeon as they solved mysteries around the world. It was heavily inspired by Scooby-Doo, but was made for more mature audiences and was somehow even more bizarre than most of what has been seen in the Hanna-Barbera classic.

The dynamic between the ragtag cast of characters and the situations they would find themselves in led to comedy gold. Some mysteries were so out-there that they were never even properly solved as part of the joke. Mike Tyson even voiced himself throughout the series, making it even funnier.

1) Jackie Chan Adventures

Jackie Chan Adventures is easily one of the greatest cartoons around, regardless of the celebrity integration. In the series, Jackie Chan works as an archeologist who raises his niece while battling demons, evil sorcerers, and other mystical beings. It sounds silly, but it’s unironically fantastic.

The action, humor, and characters make it an especially entertaining watch. Jackie Chan even appeared in live action segments at the end of some episodes to answer fan mail and give advice to young viewers. Even if you replace Chan with an original character rather than using a celebrity, it would still work as an excellent animated series.

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