10 Celebrities You Didn’t Know Starred in Saturday Morning Cartoons

Before cable channels started playing cartoons around the clock, Saturday morning cartoons were a sacred time for children. A chance to start a day off from school with animated heroes like Transformers‘ leader Optimus Prime, Rainbow Brite, and Different Strokes’ Gary Coleman.

If that last one sounds odd, it shouldn’t, because there’s a long history of celebrities starring in cartoons that are largely forgotten. With stars that range from legendary sports icons to beloved comedic performers, these are just a few of the cartoons centered around surprising faces.

10

‘Mary-Kate and Ashley in Action!’ (2001–2002)

Created by Robin Riordan

When the world is threatened by evil supervillains, the most effective secret agents, Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, are deployed in Mary Kate and Ashley in Action! The series followed the sisters going on different secret missions along with their talking robot dog Quincy (Brendan Beiser), which focused more on light-hearted comedy than action. Mary Kate and Ashley in Action! focused on the twins using their brains over physical combat to save the day, keeping the action referred to in the title to a minimum.

By the early 2000s, Mary-Kate and Ashley had created an empire that included direct-to-home video movies, a successful clothing line, novelized adventures and various other products. A cartoon starring the two was inevitable, but the fan base that bought Mary-Kate and Ashley dolls didn’t seem to be as interested in watching their favorite twins be animated spies. Mary-Kate and Ashley in Action! lasted for one season of 26 episodes before the Olsen’s espionage careers came to an end.

9

‘Little Rosey’ (1990)

Created by Roseanne Barr

If there’s one thing kids loved in the late 80s and early 90s, it was Roseanne Barr, so naturally she received her own cartoon called Little Rosey. Episodes would follow Rosey as she played with her friends using the power of her imagination, with viewers seeing the world through the eyes of the children. Little Rosey adapted Barr’s caustic tone of humor into an adolescent-appropriate form, making Rosey mischievous but well-meaning.

With her sitcom, Roseanne, aimed at an older audience, the cartoon version failed to connect with audiences. Only 13 episodes of Little Rosey were produced, but two years after its cancelation a special titled “The Rosey and Buddy Show” would bring back the characters for a one-time special. While Barr didn’t voice the character of Rosey for the series, she and her then-husband, Tom Arnold, would lend their voices for the special.

8

‘The Gary Coleman Show’ (1982)

Based on The Kid with the Broken Halo by George Kirgo

One of the more forgotten cartoons in Hanna-Barbera’s lineup is the short-lived The Gary Coleman Show. The series starred Gary Coleman as the angel Andy LeBeau, whose task each week was to help a child in need in order to gain his wings. Making his life difficult was the mischievous demon (yes, this was a children’s cartoon) named Hornswoggle (Sidney Miller), who would often work to disrupt Andy’s good deeds. Helping Andy was his supervising angel named Angelica (Jennifer Darling), who did her best to keep the young angel in line.

The Gary Coleman Show was an animated spin-off of The Kid with the Broken Halo, a made-for-TV movie starring Coleman. Even though the series wasn’t intended as a parody, it strongly resembles a piece of fiction created specifically by Adult Swim. The Gary Coleman Show lasted for 13 episodes before the plug was pulled, marking an end to one of the more unusual offerings from Hanna-Barbera.

7

‘Chuck Norris Karate Kommandos’ (1986)

Created by Chuck Norris

Action star Chuck Norris couldn’t be contained to the big screen when Chuck Norris: Karate Kommandos made a brief appearance in the 1980s cartoon lineups. The series follows Norris along with his team of specialists as they fight the evil organization known as VULTURE. Along with the animated adventure, Norris would greet viewers in his live-action form to wax poetically about the nature of violence or the virtue of self-control.

1986 was the same year that Sylvester Stallone had his muscles compressed into 2D when Rambo received his own animated series. The wave of matinée action stars fighting shadowy organizations was an attempt to grab a piece of the G.I. Joe market that was selling toys faster than they could stock the shelves. Only five episodes of Chuck Norris: Karate Kommandos were made, but that didn’t stop merchandising experts from making action figures, comic books, and anything else the mustached martial artist could be printed on.

6

‘Hammerman’ (1991–1992)

Created by MC Hammer

The rapper that figured out every word that rhymes with hammer, MC Hammer, got an animated version of himself in the Saturday morning cartoon Hammerman. In Hammerman, Stanley Burrell (MC Hammer) is a kind youth center employee, but when he puts on a magical pair of talking shoes, he becomes the superhero Hammerman. As a new superhero, Hammerman still has a lot to learn, so he gets advice from the previous owner of the shoes, Gramps, who was once a superhero himself.

While there won’t be anyone calling Hammerman an animated classic, it’s important to note that the series has a unique style that made it visually stand out against cartoons that were still taking their cues from the Hanna Barbera style of animation. That said, Hammerman feels like a project that was fast-tracked to get on TV, with an overly long intro that explains, in great detail, a premise that is fairly straightforward. An intro from MC Hammer is common in shows cashing online ink on a celebrity, but in Hammerman they also feel like padding to over compensate for not much animation.

5

‘Bruno the Kid’ (1996–1997)

Created by Joel Madison

Big spies come in small packages in the Bruce Willis starting adventure cartoon Bruno the Kid. Willis voiced the character of Bruno, a small child who uses a computer-animated version of an adult (who looks like Willis) to operate as an elite spy. Even though Bruno is only a sixth grader, he has enough resourcefulness and intelligence to be the top agent to call on when the mission seems impossible.

Bruno the Kid wasn’t released to much fanfare, and even avid cartoon watchers of the 90s might have missed this one when it had its short run. The use of 3D technology was an emerging art at the time, which leads to an odd-looking version of Willis that’s used when Bruno is trying to conceal his age and identity. Fans of Willis who aren’t familiar with the cartoon might enjoy catching an episode for the novelty of it, but it’s doubtful it will lead to a binge of all 36 episodes.

4

‘ProStars’ (1991)

Created by Andy Heyward and Douglas Booth

If Michael Jordan, Bo Jackson, and Wayne Gretzky weren’t dominant enough in their respective sports, the cartoon ProStars saw them fight crime as well. In ProStars, the three sports stars help children and take on super villains with the help of gadgetry that is usually tied into the athletes’ individual expertise. The three stars didn’t hit the recording booth to voice their own characters, but they would appear as talking heads in each episode.

Even though the concept of ProStars is over the top, the series has a kitschy fun that represents the 1990s better than it ever probably intended. Anyone looking at the cartoon for the first time will find it absurd, but 90s kids will feel a certain amount of nostalgia for the presentation. ProStars won’t be entered into the cartoon hall of fame, but Jordan, Jackson, and Gretzky still did pretty well for themselves anyway.

3

‘Life with Louie’ (1994–1998)

Created by Louie Anderson

Stand-up comedian Louie Anderson may have been an unlikely choice to star in a cartoon, but Life with Louie ended up being a bright spot in the 90s cartoon lineup. Inspired by Anderson’s childhood, Life with Louie followed an 8-year-old version of Anderson as he grew up in the fictional town of Cedar Knoll, Wisconsin. The series tackled real issues like money issues, first crushes, and tension within a family, especially in regard to Louie and his strict father, Andy.

People who grew up in the era of Fox Kids on Saturday mornings will no doubt remember Life with Louie, but younger animation fans should make a point to check out the show. The cartoon doesn’t necessarily have adult sensibilities, but it approaches topics children understood or were dealing with in an emotionally honest way that made it stand out from its contemporaries. Life with Louie has aged well, being both funny, timeless, and immensely relatable.

2

‘Camp Candy’ (1989–1992)

Created by Joel Andryc, Ellen Levy-Sarnoff and John Candy

Funny man John Candy extended his streak of successful projects when he took on the job of an animated camp counselor in the cartoon Camp Candy. Candy played himself as the counselor of a small sleepaway camp filled with an eclectic group of adolescent campers. While Candy taught the kids safety lessons, he also had to be on the lookout for the villainous Rex DeForest III (Lewis Arquette), who wanted to demolish the camp.

Candy didn’t make a career out of starring in kid-friendly comedies, but his persona lent itself well to a cartoon. It’s common for experienced actors to still struggle with adapting their expressiveness to voice work, but Candy was one of the best comedic performers of his generation and he did fantastic work with Camp Candy. He was smartly used as well, giving him plenty of moments to shine, but spreading the focus to his youthful campers so it wasn’t a one-man show.

1

‘Wish Kid’ (1991)

Created by Andy Heyward

Saturday morning cartoons were primarily aimed at children, but they rarely starred children. One major exception was the fantasy comedy Wish Kid with Home Alone megastar Macaulay Culkin causing animated mischief. Wish Kid saw Culkin living with a fictional version of his family and in the possession of a baseball glove that granted the young boy anything he wished. A typical episode would see Macaulay’s wish becoming more than he could handle, with the powers from the granted wish expiring at the worst possible time.

People who weren’t children in the early 90s will never understand how big Home Alone and Culkin were to the under-10 crowd. There’s a generation of parents who hurt their feet on micromachines placed as traps at the foot of their stairs, and they had the popularity of both to blame. Having Culkin star in a cartoon made logical sense, but the fantasy element didn’t resonate with the fan base and Wish Kid didn’t last past 13 episodes.

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