Ricky Gervais set to star in Save Ralph

Ricky Gervais has lent his voice to 'Save Ralph'.

The animated short forms part of a campaign to ban animal testing and Ricky is joined in the documentary-style production by a host of big-name stars, such as Taika Waititi, Zac Efron and Olivia Munn.

The stop-motion piece has been written and directed by Spencer Susser and tells the story of the Humane Society International's spokesbunny Ralph, Deadline reports.

In the short, Ralph discusses his daily routine as a lab tester and highlights the damaging impact of cosmetic animal testing.

The team behind the production are determined to reach as broad an audience as possible and have therefore decided to dub the film into Spanish, French, Portuguese and Vietnamese.

'Save Ralph' is set for release on April 6.

Ricky, 59, has spoken out against animal cruelty for years, often using his Twitter account to make his voice heard.

The actor previously wrote on the micro-blogging platform: "Animal cruelty is wrong. "But, it's a tradition", doesn't make it right, "It's part of my religion" doesn't make it right, "It's my livelihood" doesn't make it right, and "people are more important" doesn't make it right either. You know why? Because it's just wrong. (sic)"

Ricky has also previously claimed that the world would actually be a "better place" if the human species were to be completely wiped out.

The comedy star - who played David Brent in 'The Office' - insisted that bees are more important than humans.

Ricky said: "We are part of nature - we are not above it - we are not in charge. We are not even the most important species.

"If we were wiped out tomorrow the world would be a better place ... it would go back and it would be perfect again."