The distinctive voice of John Ratzenberger has graced almost every single Pixar movie to date and is one of the many easter eggs devoted Pixar fans wait to see (or hear) in each film.
In this guide, we’ll dive into why John Ratzenberger appears in nearly every Pixar film, as well as some background about his continued involvement with the company!
Questions We’ll Answer About John Ratzenberger:
- Who Is John Ratezenberger?
- Why Is John Ratzenberger In Every Pixar Movie?
- Why Did John Ratzenberger Stop Appearing In Pixar Films?
- What Character Did John Ratzenberger Voice In Each Pixar Film?
Who Is John Ratzenberger?
Born on April 6, 1947, in Bridgeport, Connecticut, Ratzenberger is an American actor, director, and voice artist.
While he’s been in nearly 200 live-action and voice acting roles, he is perhaps most famous for portraying Cliff Clavin, the lovable in the iconic TV series “Cheers.”
Ratzenberger has been nominated for a handful of awards throughout his acting career, most notably two Emmys for, you guessed it… playing Cliff in Cheers.
Second to his role in Cheers, he’s also well known for the popular series Made in America, which ran for four seasons on the Travel Channel, and for being the voice actor behind Hamm the Piggy Bank in the Toy Story films.
Why Is John Ratzenberger In Every Pixar Film?
Ratzenberger’s journey with Pixar began with the release of “Toy Story” in 1995.
Toy Story was Pixar’s debut feature-length film, introducing the world to a revolutionary form of computer-generated animation.
Toy Story would become one of the most influential films in history as it reshaped how animated films were created and was also a major stride forward for the eventual use of CGI in live-action films.
John Ratzenberger appeared in Toy Story as the character Hamm, a wisecracking piggy bank who quickly became one of the many beloved characters from this legendary film.
A Pixar Tradition
Pixar films are known for including recurring easter eggs such as the Pizza Planet truck, A113, and even John Ratzenberger’s voice in their films.
But John Ratzenberger is a bit more than an easter egg to those at Pixar…
Ratezenberger is often viewed as Pixar’s “good luck” charm. After the massive success of Toy Story, including Ratzenberger in subsequent films became an easter egg and a bit of a joke at Pixar. However, after a string of box office hits, Pixar started taking his inclusion in their films a bit more seriously.
However, John Ratzenberger’s appearance in every Pixar movie would end with Soul in 2020.
While he didn’t voice a character in Soul, John Ratzenberger appeared as an animated character this time; little did anyone know at the time it would be his last contribution to a Pixar film to date.
Why Did John Ratzenberger Stop Appearing In Pixar Films?
To this day, it’s not 100% certain why John Ratzenberger no longer appears in Pixar films, but it’s likely due to scheduling and business relationships.
John Ratzenberger is still an in-demand talent, and it’s easy to believe he may have been busy with other projects when he was asked to voice a character in Pixar’s Luca (the film that followed Soul), and they couldn’t make time for him to get into a recording studio.
From there, John’s relationship with Pixar likely grew distant, and he and Pixar decided to move on to focus on other things.
What Character Did John Ratzenberger Voice In Each Pixar Movie?
Below is the list of Pixar movies John Ratzenberger has appeared in, along with the characters he voiced:
| Movie Title | Character Name |
|---|---|
| Toy Story (1995) | Hamm (the piggy bank) |
| A Bug’s Life (1998) | P.T. Flea |
| Toy Story 2 (1999) | Hamm (the piggy bank) |
| Monsters, Inc. (2001) | Yeti (Abominable Snowman) |
| Finding Nemo (2003) | The School of Moonfish |
| The Incredibles (2004) | The Underminer |
| Cars (2006) | Mack (the truck) |
| Ratatouille (2007) | Mustafa |
| WALL-E (2008) | John (human) |
| Up (2009) | Construction Worker Tom |
| Toy Story 3 (2010) | Hamm (the piggy bank) |
| Cars 2 (2011) | Mack (the truck) |
| Brave (2012) | Gordon |
| Monsters University (2013) | The Abominable Snowman |
| Inside Out (2015) | Fritz |
| The Good Dinosaur (2015) | Earl |
| Finding Dory (2016) | Bill |
| Cars 3 (2017) | Mack (the truck) |
| Incredibles 2 (2018) | The Underminer |
| Toy Story 4 (2019) | Hamm (the piggy bank) |
| Onward (2020) | Construction Worker Felix |
| Soul (2020) | Guy On Subway |
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