Apparently, celebrities are just like everyone else when it comes to holiday shopping. They have the same trouble coming up with the right gifts.

At least that's what Danny DeVito says.

The star figured out a way to get around the holiday gift-buying problem this year. He agreed to be part of the NBC animated special "Little Spirit: Christmas in New York."

DeVito joins Lucy Liu, Freddy Rodriguez, Brian Williams and Brenda Song as the voice talents for the holiday show.

DeVito says during a telephone interview that his shopping habit has always been to get the gifts last for the person who means the most to him. So when co-director and story creator Leopoldo Gout contacted him about being part of a holiday television special, he knew he had found the right present.

"I immediately responded. My children are grown. They're in their 20s now. But I do have an extended family of young kids. This is a Christmas present to them," DeVito says.

DeVito provides the voice for a friendly New York cabbie who tells two young sisters the story of a boy named Leo.

While adjusting to living in the big city, Leo loses his dog Ramona in Central Park. The young boy is devastated until a magical creature named Little Spirit appears.

It wasn't a big adjustment for DeVito to see himself as an animated character. The actor has been a longtime fan of animation, especially Disney movies.