It is rare these days to see big-name celebrities agree to provide guest appearances and cameos on children's programming. Then again, maybe it was always rare. After all, there is a reason why so many big named actors have turned down offers to show up on The Simpsons. Time is money, and stars rarely have the time to detour from their big-time Hollywood professions to do a small-time kids show.
But for the times that we have seen recognizable famous faces grace our kids' television sets (or perhaps our television sets when we were kids during our childhood), it made for some incredibly cute moments.
10 Gordon Ramsay On Phineas & Ferb
Gordon Ramsay's cameo for the Phineas & Ferb episode "Thanks But No Thanks" is both adorable and outright hilarious for anyone who has seen him produce a boiling rage on his staff in any one of his Kitchen shows.
Playing a polar opposite version of himself and somewhat casting against type, Ramsay plays Chef, an incredibly nice chef who loves his job, delivers compliments to anyone who simply walks into his restaurant, and even offers free dessert at the drop of a hat. But of course, it wouldn't be Gordon Ramsay if the punchline wasn't that at the very end, he angrily fires someone.
9 Jack Black On iCarly
The iCarly episode, "iStart a War," is centered around World of Warlords (an in-story parody of the real-life game, World of Warcraft) and sees our cast travel to a convention, where they run into Jack Black in an Aspartamay costume before challenging Spencer to a duel.
As far as Carly herself is concerned, she quickly deems this duel between Jack Black and her brother to be taking too long. So, to put a swift end to it, she rips off Black's jewelry, "killing" his character - well, his character's character, Aspartamay - in the process.
8 David Bowie On Spongebob Squarepants
At every age and stage of his life, David Bowie always felt like a larger than life personality that would be timeless in any era. Almost five years since his death, the world just has not felt as lively since he left this world.
Thankfully, one of his final contributions to the entertainment world was a voice cameo in Spongebob Squarepants' "Atlantis Squarepants" special where he played the emperor of Atlantis, Lord Royal Highness. Amusingly, the character is just as eccentric and strange as Ziggy Stardust was in his prime.
7 The Backstreet Boys On Arthur
If you grew up as a teenager in the early 2000s, there's a good chance that you already thought that The Backstreet Boys were the cutest thing on the planet. Animate them in the style of PBS' Arthur, and suddenly, they're cuter than a muffin button.
When the band all played themselves in their guest appearance on the show's It's Only Rock 'N' Roll special, not only did they perform a special rendition of "I Want It That Way" for the show, but they helped Muffy realize her dream of wanting to grow up to become their manager one day.
6 Tim Curry On Regular Show
In the prime of his youth, Tim Curry was Hollywood's go-to guy when it came to playing campy characters in campy films. Like when he played Dr. Frank-N-Furter on Rocky Horror Picture Show or Pennywise the Clown in It. As an older man, his career found a second life as a voice actor.
One of his more recent voice acting performances came in playing an evil cannibalistic hot dog in Regular Show. Get it? Hot Dog? Frank? Frank-N-Furter? The inside joke/pun there is cute enough to justify a cannibal hot dog being a terrifying concept.
5 Shakira On Wizards Of Waverly Place
During the season three episode of Wizards of Waverly Place, called "Dude Looks Like Shakira," we get to see a special guest appearance from the "Hips Don't Lie" singer herself. The episode also guest stars comedian Jeff Garlin as the family's Uncle Kelbo who, as it turns out, is Shakira and can't control when he switches back and forth between the pop star.
It's such a bizarre concept for an episode, but it's cute to see Shakira agree to be a part of a storyline that's just so out there.
4 Neil deGrasse Tyson On Gravity Falls
Waddles the Pig had always been an endearing part of the Gravity Falls character line-up, but in the episode "Little Gift Shop of Horrors," the pig spoke its first words after a bite of some brain goop turned him into a hyper-intelligent sentient creature. And what better man to play such a creature than famous astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson?
When asked by Dot and Line why he would even want to be a part of something like this, he answered, "I have a very soft spot for artists, especially [since] my brother is an artist ... If an artist reaches out and says, 'I want to put some science into what I’m creating, will you help me?' I’m there for you."
3 Evander Holyfield On Phineas & Ferb
Evander Holyfield has had some of the toughest opponents in boxing history. After all, this is the same man who had his ear chewed off by Mike Tyson, but nothing could have prepared him for his biggest challenge yet: training the title character for a thumb war on Phineas & Ferb.
In the episode, "Raging Bully," Phineas is challenged to a thumb wrestling match by the local bully, and to train for the big match, he receives help from none other than Evander Holyfield. Holyfield tests Phineas to the limit through rigorous tasks like punching sausages and playing Dance Dance Revolution.
2 Destiny's Child On The Famous Jett Jackson
On the season three episode "Backstage Pass" of Disney Channel's The Famous Jett Jackson, a show that intertwines scenes of a teenage actor thriving for a normal life with the action star he plays on TV, Jett Jackson's Silverstone character is trying to obtain microfiche unknowingly being harbored by the R&B group.
Meanwhile, in real life, Jackson is attempting to date Beyoncé, though she only sees him as a little brother. After seeing her play the cool queen as the leader of the Bey Hive for so long, it's cute to see her be vulnerable and bubbly for once while pining for someone other than Jay-Z.
1 John Cena On Hannah Montana
In more recent years, former wrestling champion John Cena has made the full transition into Hollywood movie superstardom, but his acting career with one of his earliest roles being a short cameo on Hannah Montana.
The "Love That Lets Go" episode of Hannah Montana sees the title character's brother, Jackson, procrastinating reading a book. Instead, he'd rather read a wrestling magazine. Things take a turn when John Cena literally leaps out of its pages to convince Jackson to read his book. No better way to convince him by performing wrestling moves until he submits (literally) into agreeing.
