Animated movies have a way of worming their way into our hearts. The stories are timeless, and the lovable and entertaining characters and their famous lines are remembered “to infinity and beyond” (Thank you, Buzz Lightyear!).

And as cute or funny as the characters look, it's the “voices” behind the on-screen depictions who breathe life into them. We can all agree that our beloved animated friends wouldn’t be the same without the personality, charisma and charm of the actors voicing them who add that Midas touch to studios’ fictional characters.

We think no one could have voiced Scar in a more sinister way than Jeremy Irons in Disney’s The Lion King. And the gaudy talking donkey named Donkey (of course) in DreamWorks’ Shrek franchise had viewers in love with Shrek’s "valiant steed" (cough)  thanks to Beverly Hills Cop, Eddie Murphy.

But sometimes there are some voices” that you never expected to hear in animations. We were amazed to read that these celebs "lent" their voices to our favourite characters.

1.    Katy Perry




The Wide Awake singer voiced the pint-sized Smurfette in The Smurfs movie. Katy is sometimes a cartoon herself, in her crazy stage costumes.

2.    Elijah Wood




The blue-eyed star is better known as the hobbit Frodo character in The Lord of the Rings trilogy. His new gig is voicing Beck in the newest Disney XD cartoon series, Tron:Uprising!

3.    Peter Dinklage




The Game of Thrones’ star is an award-winning actor but we were shocked to hear he voiced the gritty Captain Gutt in Ice Age Continental Drift.

4.    Kristin Wiig



Kristin became our favourite funny girl after her “Help me! I’m poor” line in Bridesmaids. What we didn't know was that Kristin played the horrible Miss Hattie from the girls’ orphanage in Despicable Me.

5.    Ed Helms



The Hangover star is better known to you as Stu, who pulled out his own tooth and ended up with a facial tattoo like Mike Tyson’s. Ed became a Once-ler in Dr. Seus’ The Lorax.

Keep your ears open as you watch the latest animated shows and movies. You may be pleasantly surprised by the famous voices behind the most unlikely characters.

Don’t miss Katy Perry as the darling Smurfette in The Smurfs on Friday, 12 October on M-Net Movies Premiere at 18:00 on channel 103.