Pop Quiz: What's The Best Song By A Fictional Character?

The TRL Pop Quiz works like this: our editors are posed a music-related question and have only 15 minutes and just 100 words to statistics, pick and explain their answers. This week's question: what's the ideal song by a fictional character, cartoon musician or otherwise?


Who doesn’t feel for a squirrel stuck under the sea? Sandy Cheeks’ nation crooning in Season 1’s “Texas” episode of Spongebob Squarepants is a highlight of the whole series, as she emerges from her underwater biodome to sing a song that tears at every heartstring in Bathing suit Bottom. Press play, put on your cowboy hat, and let your inner-Texas be noticeable. – Gus Turner


My preference fictional bop is “Hex Girl” by the Hex Girls from Scooby Doo and the Witch’s Ghost, better known by its chorus, “I’m gonna put a spell on you.” The Hex Girls--Thorn, Luna and Dusk--are witchy “eco-goth” girl categorize icons who joined the Scooby gang a couple of times immediately after their beginning appearance in Witch’s Ghost, and their catalog also boasts the anthemic “Earth, Wind, Fire, and Air”. Nevertheless nothing beats the catchy, empowering, magical bop that introduced them; I still consistently get this song stuck in my head, especially as spooky season approaches. – Leah Williams


Often once someone wants to show off their singing skills, they sing “And I’m Telling You I’m Not Going” by Effie in the movie Dreamgirls, played and sang by Jennifer Holliday in the 1981 Broadway show and Jennifer Hudson in the 2006 movie. Jennifer Holliday won Tony plus a Grammy for her efficiency, and Jennifer Hudson won a Oscar for hers. There really is merit in their awards because this is a truly hard song to sing, and it’s conveniently the most recognizable song from the production. – Landyn Pan


So several good fictional musicians come to mind (Protozoa from Zenon: Girl of the 21st Century, Lizzie McGuire), yet I have to go with my heart: Powerline from A Goofy Movie! Nothing beats Max Goof hijacking a school assembly to perform the a standing ovation-worthy lip sync rendition of Powerline’s “Stand Out” or joining the pop star on stage at his concert to perform “I2I” as he does one of the OG viral dances, The ideal Cast. Certainly, the man, the myth, the legend in back of the Powerline vocals deserves a shout out: Tevin Campbell! – Kristen Maldonado


I’m at a loss; not because I can’t think of anything, although since I can’t narrow down which SpongeBob SquarePants bop reigns supreme. There’s the Krusty Krab pizza anthem, the campfire song, the halftime show performance… although there’s nothing as emotional as “Without You,” when SpongeBob and Mr. Krabs admit “a oven is just a stove” although “this grill isn't a home.” I cried every time I watched this episode as a kid, and I still cry to this song right now. I feel precisely no shame. – Matt Gehring