Celebrities getting renamed for cartoons

[Wussycat]

Why is it that whenever a celebrity appears in a cartoon, but isn't voiced by said celebrity, they have to have a different name?

Surely a mere name change isn't going to prevent the parodied celebrity from suing them for making fun of him or her?

And why do they have to change the celebrity's name even when they aren't making fun of them?

[HellCat]

On some cases the parody becomes a recurring character, in which case it pays to cover your butt legally. Look at The Simpson's Rainier Wolfcastle.

[aalong64]

Well yeah, I'm pretty sure the reason they do it is so that they don't have to pay to use the celebrity's likeness, and pretend it's just a coincidental resemblance.
On the other hand, the Flintstones would get the actual celebrity to voice a character identical to them, but with some horrible, forced "rock" pun, ie. "Cary Granite", etc.

[tb4000]

Fairly Oddparents is notorious for it, with Britney Britney for example. There have been countless celebrity cariactures on that show, but always with another name. The 1990's WB cartoons never pulled punches when it came to naming trademarked things or people, and continued to do so well into the 2000's. Though I suspect Spielberg's name being on the shows and the fact that it was WB gave them some leeway.

[Wussycat]

Well, Britney Spears is very likely too stupid to know a parody of her when she sees one.

[Lonestarr]

Maybe it's a legal issue. This gets me to thinking about the hilarious FOP episode "Movie Magic", which featured such big names as Sylvester Calzone and Arnold Schwartzengerman. I even found myself laughing at the names.

[Crash]

The 1990's WB cartoons never pulled punches when it came to naming trademarked things or people, and continued to do so well into the 2000's. Though I suspect Spielberg's name being on the shows and the fact that it was WB gave them some leeway.

Ah, the 90s WB toons... That's a bit of mixed bag, actually. They weren't at all shy about celebrity name dropping or walk-on cameos. (Or a Clinton gag here or there.) But when the celebrity was an actual plot point, they did get changed occassionally. From the DVD I saw the other day, Siskel and Ebert were renamed "Hiskel and Eggbert" for the puposes of that episode. But it was still obviously them.

[GOB]

In "Treehouse of Horror XII" they actually included this credit at the end of the show: "Dennis Miller voice impersonated by Dan Castellaneta." I guess they were afraid that Captain Hairdo aka Dennis Miller was going to sue. Guess what folks? That's the news and I am outta here!

[Anthonynotes]

Parodies of famous people goes back many decades in animation----sure some silent cartoon must've made fun of Charlie Chaplin at some point.

Parody in the United States is a protected form of freedom of speech (per the First Amendment to the US Constitution)... as determined in various lawsuits (including IIRC one involving raunchy 80's rap group 2 Live Crew). The legal line might come when a parody becomes something that makes a bunch of money for someone or is seen as supposed out-and-out copyright infringement (a recent lawsuit was made over a "sequel" book to "Gone WIth the Wind" written by someone other than GWTW's heirs).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parody#Copyright_issues

Personally, I like seeing parodies of celebrities---- they can often be a riot (or their names turned into puns, a la the Flintstones), and sometimes more creative than just merely depicting a real famous person ... :-) One comic book example: 70s Superman comics presented everyone's favorite late-night host, "Johnny Nevada", host of "The Midnight Show"... presumably making him Earth-1's version of Johnny Carson (leading to another possible excuse for such name-changes of celebs: that "Pinky and the Brain" or "The Simpsons"'s worlds aren't exactly the same as our own, and such name-altered celebs are just their world's counterparts of our own celebs...).

-B.

[tb4000]

Oh me so bunny, oh me so bunny, oh me so bunny, me hop a long time....

I still can't believe they got away with that.

[Dee]

Well, Britney Spears is very likely too stupid to know a parody of her when she sees one.

If memory serves, there was an episode of Men In Black the Series where her name popped up---

I dont recall in what context it was used.

[ElBarto]

Well, Britney Spears is very likely too stupid to know a parody of her when she sees one.

Even if she did she couldn't sue because of the fact that it is a parody.

[moe-ron]

well, the Venture brothers got away with having David Bowie without him being actually voiced by Bowie.

Also: south park, there is this myth that even when they actually get the celebrity, they give 'em stupid roles instead of letting them voice themselves.

[Tay the Cat]

Also: south park, there is this myth that even when they actually get the celebrity, they give 'em stupid roles instead of letting them voice themselves.

Except if you're a member of Radiohead.

Or you're Joe Strummer.