First look: Jon Stewart's a cartoon kitty in 'Gravity Falls'

Brian Truitt | USA TODAY

All those years on The Daily Show led to Jon Stewart now holding court as an animated feline judge.

Stewart guest-stars as the voice of Judge Kitty Kitty Meow Meow Face-Shwartstein in a new episode of Disney XD's Gravity Falls airing Nov. 23 (8 p.m. ET/PT). The cartoon is usually full of various mysteries for twin kids Dipper (voiced by Jason Ritter) and Mabel Pines (Kristen Schaal) to deal with in Gravity Falls, Ore., but the current second-season story line is particularly weird. The apocalypse has come to town courtesy of the mind demon Bill Cipher and his monsters, and in a half-hour titled "Weirdmageddon 2: Escape From Reality," Dipper and his Mystery Shack pals Wendy and Soos have to save Mabel from the kind of strange world where some pink cats wear judge wigs.

"Jon Stewart has been the voice of reason in my head for a long time, so it seemed appropriate he would be one in Mabel's mind, too," says creator/executive producer Alex Hirsch. Stewart's character "gets hairballs frequently but doesn't let it interfere with his work."

Hirsch found out that Stewart was a fan of Gravity Falls two years ago when the first season was winding down and Hirsch attended a live taping of The Daily Show.

"After it was over, a woman with a clipboard came up to me and said, 'Wait around a while, Jon would like to speak with you,' " Hirsch recalls. "Jon and I talked in the Daily Show coffee room for 15 minutes, and he told me he loved watching Gravity Falls with his kids and even does a Grunkle impression around the house.

"I've been obsessed with The Daily Show since high school so to call it a dream come true was an understatement. I've been looking for an excuse to get him on the show ever since."