Julie Chen In Toon Land

Dave Price isn't the only one from The Early Show you'll see in primetime this week.

Last summer, as part of a series called "I Always Wanted To...," each of the anchors had the chance to do something they'd always dreamed of doing.

For Julie Chen, it was transforming herself into a cartoon character, or at least loaning her voice to one. She had the opportunity to go behind-the-scenes and visit a recording booth to make a special guest appearance on Nickelodeon's "The Fairly Oddparents."

Well, the episode airs Friday night, so now might be an appropriate time for a look back at Chen's time in toonland.

Nickelodeon is owned by Viacaom, as is CBSNews.com.

In "The Fairly Oddparents," Timmy Turner's every wish can be granted with the wave of wand.

Butch Hartman, the show's creator, helped Chen bring her character to life.

In this episode, Chen's character, "The Starlet," is hired to distract King Kong. But before the starlet can move, she needs her voice -- Chen's voice.

"All I'm going to ask you is to be as big as you possibly can be, because you're acting with your voice," Hartman explained to Chen. "You have four lines;, make them the greatest four lines of your life."

Chen was ready: "I don't know what kind of girl you think I am, but I don't hang around with just any monkey!"

Hartman was pleased. "How about a round of applause? That was pretty good, I think, fantastic," he said to the crew.

"This is fun, but it's not easy," Chen said.

Her job was done, but the rest of the process was just beginning. Hundreds of artists spend months on everything from the look of each scene to the actual animation, which can take months to complete. But when it's done, every character comes to life.

You can catch "The Fairly Oddparents" at 6 p.m., Friday.

"Thanks to director Butch Hartman and to all of our friends at Nickleodeon for my 15 minutes of animation fame," Chen says.