Animated shows and movies open all kinds of doors to the prospect of delivering unique and clever humor. And in many cases, they can execute meta jokes about voice actors with incredible success.
To make the most of these meta jokes, shows vary between placing a visual cue that could easily go unnoticed by the audience, a subtle piece of dialog that gives a nod to the VA's other roles, or sometimes, they go all in, and have the character make obvious, overt connections with the people who voice them.
The Simpsons is one of the most beloved and long-running animated shows on TV. And with the show including several recurring bits that are only slightly changed on a weekly basis, like the opening scene chalkboard gag, they need to get creative with what to include.
Interestingly, one of these gags from season 2's episode "Dead Putting Society" had Bart Simpson writing out "I am not a 32-year-old woman" over and over, which could go over the audience's head. But this joke actually came about because the actor behind Bart's voice was, in fact, a 32-year-old woman at the time of airing.
A meta laugh?Futurama is a show filled with visual Easter Eggs and silent humor alongside the bits and jokes that fill out the runtime in every episode.
In "A Head In The Polls", Leela can be seen walking through a museum with Bender's head in her arms, but interestingly, this scene also features the real-life voice actor of Leela, Katey Sagal.
On one of the shelves in the background, Sagal's head can be seen along the bottom, giving a subtle nod to Leela's voice actor in a blind and you'll miss it moment.
A meta laugh?
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Mila Kunis is a popular Hollywood actress who has established herself as a star on both the big and small screens. However, she has also been the voice of Meg Griffin from Family Guy for the show's entire duration.
With that in mind, there is a scene in Family Guy when Meg recommends people watch Bad Moms 1 and 2, which Mila stars in. Then Peter pushes back against the flagrant self-promotion, addressing Mila rather than Meg, telling her not to promote her movies on the show.
A meta laugh?Phineas and Ferb tends to put the focus on the kids having all the adventures, but in one brief moment where Ferb's dad is the central focus, the show takes the opportunity to draw a connection between this character, voiced by Richard O'Brien, and a previous project from the same actor.
Richard O'Brien also played Riff Raff in The Rocky Horror Picture Show, which he co-created. Which makes this Easter Egg a treat for fans in the know.
A meta laugh?!['Cars' Gets Clever With Its Cameos]()
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John Ratzenberger was a staple of the Pixar franchise. In most every film released before 2020, Ratzenberger played meaningful and often significant roles throughout.
However, in Cars, during the credits, they draw attention to this fact in a hilarious way. Ratzenberger's character from the film, a truck that transports Lightning between races, is seen watching a series of Pixar movies that have been altered to fit the Cars universe, but he eventually notices a pattern and calls it out.
"Wait a minute, they're using the same actor over and over. What kind of cut-rate production is this?"
A meta laugh?Looney Tunes: Back in Action saw cartoons from across Warner Bros. enter the real world, which led to several meta jokes.
However, the very best meta moment in this movie has to be when Shaggy and Scooby confront Matthew Lillard for the way he made Shaggy sound in the cartoons.
A meta laugh?
