It wasn’t much of a leap for Jim Carey, the Man with the Cartoon Face, to appear in actual cartoon form in the animated series, Ace Ventura: Pet Detective. Only his likeness graced the small screen though, because another actor, Michael Hall, supplied the character’s voice.  

The show ran for two seasons on CBS from 1995 to 1997, and then was picked up by Nickelodeon for a third season plus reruns. Just like in the eponymous movies, wacky private eye Ace Ventura solves mysterious cases involving pets and other animals. Most of the characters that appeared in the movie turn up in the cartoon as well, including Ace’s sidekick, Spike the monkey. The show was developed by Seth McFarlane—of Family Guy fame—so potty jokes and surreal gags were thick on the ground. Luckily, Ace was already in the habit of talking out of his butt so it wasn’t too much of a stretch for him.

All in all, three of the Carey’s movies made the transition to animated series: Ace Ventura, The Mask and Dumb and Dumber. In fact, Ace Ventura: Pet Detective aired right after The Mask animated series but the Jim Carey power hour failed to attract many viewers. Both series were cancelled though a few episodes of Ace Ventura: Pet Detective accompany the two Ace Ventura movies in the DVD set.