5 Actors Who Secretly Gave Us TWO Iconic Cartoon Characters (Not Just One)

Eddie Murphy Basically Invented The 'Loud Sidekick' Genre — Twice

Before Donkey ever opened his mouth in Shrek (2001), Eddie Murphy had already stolen an entire Disney movie as the motor-mouthed dragon Mushu in Mulan (1998) — his very first animated voice role ever. The connection wasn't lost on the animators themselves: Mushu's supervising animator has said DreamWorks reportedly studied Mushu's footage while developing Donkey, since the two characters share so much comedic DNA.

Robin Williams Did Two Legendary Comedy Bits In The SAME YEAR — And One Was A Bat

Everyone remembers Robin Williams improvising his way through 16-plus hours of material as the Genie in Aladdin (1992), a performance so massive that Disney had to transcribe every take just to sort through it. But seven months earlier that same year, he'd already unloaded similarly unhinged energy as Batty Koda, the lab-tortured fruit bat in FernGully: The Last Rainforest — a performance director Bill Kroyer has said was agonizing to edit because Williams's every improvised take was brilliant.

Jack Black Went From 'Minor Shark' To Actual Dragon Warrior

Long before he was Po, Jack Black's entire animated resume was two blink-and-you-miss-them parts: Zeke the saber-toothed tiger in Ice Age (2002) and Lenny the vegetarian shark in Shark Tale (2004). He was reportedly hesitant to headline Kung Fu Panda (2008) until DreamWorks boss Jeffrey Katzenberg told him he didn't need to invent a new character — he just needed to be himself, and even used a clip of one of Black's live-action movies set to test animation to prove it.

John Goodman Went Straight From A Peruvian Peasant To A Furry Blue Monster

John Goodman voiced the kindly farmer Pacha in The Emperor's New Groove in 2000, and just one year later became one of Pixar's most beloved characters ever as Sulley in Monsters, Inc. Despite his comedic pedigree, Goodman has admitted Pacha was tougher to nail than expected, proving that even a seasoned voice actor can find animated line-readings more physically demanding than people assume.

Bill Murray Voiced A Cat By Accident And A Bear On Purpose

Bill Murray has said he agreed to voice the title role in Garfield: The Movie (2004) after mistaking screenwriter Joel Cohen for filmmaker Joel Coen, later joking about his regret in a Zombieland cameo — though he still returned for the 2006 sequel. Just over a decade later he brought real warmth to Baloo in Jon Favreau's The Jungle Book (2016), a part Favreau said he wrote with Murray in mind from the start because of his natural rebellious charm.