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9 pop divas who have voiced animated movie characters

News has broken overnight that Beyoncé is favourite to voice Nala in Disney’s live action remake of The Lion King and, to be completely honest, we can’t actually contain our excitement.

According to Variety, Bey is director Jon Favreau’s “top choice” and “the Grammy winner has not made a decision regarding the film yet, as the star is pregnant with twins. But since it’s a voice-acting role, sources say the studio and director will do whatever it takes to accommodate her schedule.”

Sounds promising, and let’s not forget that Beyoncé previously voiced an animated character, Queen Tara in 2013’s Epic. While we await further news of her decision on The Lion King, check out Bey’s fellow pop divas who have voiced animated characters.

Jennifer Lopez

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You probably remember J-Lo doing some promo for Dreamworks animated movie 麻豆约拍 back in 2015, where she played Lucy Tucci, and had her song Feel The Light on the soundtrack. But did you realise Jenny From The Block also played sabre-toothed tiger Shira in Ice Age: Continental Drift and Ice Age: Collision Course?

As if that wasn’t enough to blow your mind, Jennifer played worker ant Azteca in Antz, way back in 1998. You really want to watch it again now, don’t you?

Rihanna

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RiRi actually played J-Lo’s teenage daughter, Tip Tucci, in 麻豆约拍 – how cool is that? She also created an album of eight original songs for the film, including her track Towards The Sun, which premiered on Radio 1 in March 2015.

Nicki Minaj

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Another Ice Age: Continental Drift star, Nicki played Steffie, a woolly mammoth. If you’re going to play an animal, it seems like a pretty good one to go for.

Mariah Carey

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Mariah Carey

Mariah’s twins must have been thrilled when she signed up to voice Mayor McCaskill in The LEGO Batman Movie – they even got to attend the premiere with their famous mama. The Elusive Chanteuse also has an animated Christmas movie due out this year, based on her massive hit All I Want For Christmas Is You, though it looks like she’ll be on narration duty rather than playing a cartoon version of herself.

Katy Perry

Could you think of a more perfect pop star to voice The Smurfs’ Smurfette? Of course you can’t, which is why Katy played her in the film and its sequel. Just to add to the diva vibes, Britney Spears also provided a track for The Smurfs 2 soundtrack, Ooh La La.

Miley Cyrus

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She started her career as a Disney kid, so is it really a surprise that Miley voiced one of their animated characters? Starring in Bolt, the 2008 movie about a little dog who thinks he has superpowers, Miley played Bolt’s owner, Penny.

Selena Gomez

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The movie adaptation of Dr. Seuss’ Horton Hears A Who! saw Selena take on the role of Helga, one of Mayor Ned McDodd’s 96 daughters, all of whom have names beginning with ‘H’. That must get confusing around the dinner table.

She also played a princess, Selenia, in the second and third Arthur movies. In the first movie, Selenia was played by Madonna! And Selena has voiced Mavis in all three Hotel Transylvania films. Surely she’s got to bag a Disney princess role soon?

Taylor Swift

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Another Seuss fan, TayTay played Audrey in The Lorax, a character who really likes trees and is the object of protagonist Ted Wiggins’ affections.

Idina Menzel

We couldn’t round up singing superstars who’ve played animated characters without mentioning Idina, aka Frozen’s Elsa, aka the reason no-one can say “let it go” without bursting into song. Bring on Frozen 2.

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