Justin Timberlake did 'Yogi Bear' for kids

Justin Timberlake has revealed that he decided to voice Boo-Boo in the new animation Yogi Bear because he feels guilty for releasing "explicit" music.

The singer and actor explained that he played the character to make up for his raunchy music that young children have listened to.

When asked why he took on the role, he replied to the Daily Mail: "Guilt. I've had parents come to me and say, 'My daughter really loves the song 'SexyBack''. I say, 'Oh great. How old is your daughter?' expecting them to say she goes to university. They say, 'She's 9'.

"So that made me feel really bad as a person. And I felt it was irresponsible of those parents - my music is explicit. So I did this film so that I would feel better about myself."

The 30-year-old further admitted that he's been practising the voice of the cartoon Boo-Boo since he was a child.

He said: "I liked to entertain. I'm an only child and I was obviously really bored, so I would imitate Scooby-Doo and Boo-Boo for my parents. Yogi and Boo-Boo are iconic characters - a duo like Batman and Robin. I laughed at them as a kid, so I think nostalgia is the ­biggest reason I did the film."

Timberlake also joked that he sees similarities between himself and the character.

He added: "Well, I like to wear bow ties, I like the colour blue and I'm furry in places. The sense of humour would be something we have in common. And I didn't hit my growth spurt until late, so I was short for a large ­portion of my life."