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Fox will take us through animation past and present in special, TV’s Funniest Animated Stars

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Is it Bart Simpson? Stewie Griffin? Perhaps good ‘ol Donald Duck? Who would be considered the funniest animated television character? Fox plans to tell us via a two-hour special that will celebrate the funniest of the funniest in the world of TV animation, reports Variety.

Scheduled to air on December 7, TV’s Funniest Animated Stars: A Paley Center for Media Special will rank the top 40 characters created over the past few decades.

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The special will also include interviews with some notable names in voice acting, including Nancy Cartwright, aka Bart Simpson; Tony Anselmo, the iconic voice of Donald Duck; Todd Barbee, who voices Charlie Brown; H. Jon Benjamin, the voice of Bob Belcher and Sterling Archer in Bob’s Burgers and Archer respectively, Mike Judge himself, who played Hank from his show King of the Hill; as well as voice actors from Family Guy, Robot Chicken, and more.

That’s a pretty all-star cast when it comes to voice actors.

Not surprisingly, top characters from shows like The Simpsons and Family Guy will be profiled heavily, along with iconic TV animated characters, like Mickey Mouse, Bugs Bunny, Donald Duck, and Scooby-Doo. Who else might make the list? Just knowing that 40 names will be included brings forth the realization of just how big a part animation has been in the TV world over the past several decades.

Paley Center for Media specializes in a number of list-format specials, having recently also run TV’s Hottest Comedies (CBS, 2014), TV’s Funniest of the Funniest (NBC, 2013), and TV’s Greatest Holiday Moments (Fox, 2010).

It’ll be nice to see the hilarious, cute, awkward, and weird characters get the recognition they deserve, along with the talents who handle the voices behind them. But most exciting: who will snag the number-one spot? We’ll have to wait and see.

Christine Persaud
Christine has decades of experience in trade and consumer journalism. While she started her career writing exclusively about…
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