John Ratzenberger
John Ratzenberger made his name as Cliff Clavin in hit sit com Cheers but in recent years he has been the constant voice of the Pixar movies.
Yes John has voiced a character in every one of Pixars' releases, starting back as Hamm in Toy Story in 1995.
And Pixar's latest movie Up sees him return once again I caught up with him to chat about the movie and his career with the animation giant.
- You are voicing yet another character in a Pixar movie with Up so far anyone who hasn't seen the movie yet can you tell me a little bit about it?
Well the interesting thing to me is the first ten minutes of Up they give you the secret of life but without dialogue, the first ten minutes of Up is silent. But by the end of those ten minutes there is not a dry eye in the house so bring a bag of tissue with you for this one.
- So what interested you about the character of foreman Tom?
With Pixar it's not so much the characters that I get to play it's the fact that I get to work with Pixar, they are the best at what they do.
Every film that they make they make history because they give themselves a different challenge each film whether it's technology, animation or otherwise and they conquer it.
They know the story so well and they know what they do so well that it's just a pleasure working with them so it doesn't make a difference to me what character I play.
- Up is a very different project for Pixar it's a human based story that focuses on old age and death so what did you think when you read the script for the first time?
If you or me or anybody else took this story to any other studio in the world they would show us the door within the first five minutes because of what you have just said it's story of an eighty two year old man, a cub scout and a floating house.
So taking those elements and making it into a movie Pixar were the only people on earth that could have done it. Not only did they do it they get nominated for an Academy Award for it.
- Some called this movie a risk for Pixar because of those elements how far do you agree/disagree with that?
They are not calling a risk anymore (laughs). I stopped second guessing them a long time ago they said 'well we are going to make a film about ants' or 'we are going to make a film about a rat who wants to be a gourmet chef'. But they just pull it off so I don't second guess them.
- And what is it about these movies that keep you coming back film after film?
Because the stories are so well crafted.
- So do Pixar just ring you up and say 'hi John we have another part for you?...
Yes (laughs)
- Or do they write parts and characters with you in mind?
Well it's a little bit of both. In Cars they made me the Mack truck because my father drove a Mack truck. So sometimes it's personal, I think Tom the construction worker (the character he voices in Up) they may have given me that one because I was a carpenter before I became an actor.
- How does the voice recording process work and what is it about it that you enjoy so much?
Well it's indoor work (laughs) you are not getting snowed or rained on. Again it's the people that you are working with they just love their work, they have such a passion for it and they do it so well that it just becomes infectious.
When you walk into the studio to do your recording it's just like being invited into someone's fanbox that has the coolest toys.
- Toy Story 3 is next for you, which sees you return to the character of Hamm, so what have you done for that so far?
I think I have finished the recording, I might have one or two sessions left, but I'm pretty sure that I have finished. Toy Story 3 is going to be just as good, if not better than all the other films.
- Now you are well known for your role as Cliff in Cheers so how surprised are you by the longevity of the sitcom?
It doesn't surprise me at all because the writing, like Pixar, is just so good if the writing is well crafted then it is going to stand the test of time but if the writing is an afterthought then in a year or two you are going to be forgotten.
If you notice on Cheers, compared to most sitcoms, you never saw the joke coming, never! But in most movies and sit coms you see the joke coming three or four pages before it happens so it doesn't surprise me that Cheers still works today.
In fact if you turn off the picture on your television when you are watching Cheers it even works as a radio show it's that well written, try it.
- Away from acting you have set up the Nuts, Bolts and Thingamajigs Foundation so can you tell me a little bit about that?
I did that in response to a crisis that seems to be looming, not just for America but for the entire Western civilisation, is that we are running out of people who can build things, mend things, fix things.
The average age of a skilled worker, here and the United States, is about fifty six years old so in six to ten years when they retire it's going to be very difficult to find a plumber or a welder.
How many young people do you know in your life, or the lives of anyone you work with, that knows how to use tools? Thirty years ago every kid knew how to use tools but now, because of computer games etc, now none of the kids can't use tools, most of them can't even read a ruler or measure something.
And this is the work force of the future and there isn't one so in answer to that crisis I established this foundation and we fund camps and give scholarships to kids who have an interest in that.
Not everybody wants or needs to go university and we have forgotten those kids and these kids are actually more important because they build the universities, they maintain it.
- So what was it that triggered this interest?
I think the lives of my children and my grand children. Six to ten years, if no one does anything about this, we will basically, and I'm talking about England as well, will become a third world country.
People think that that is impossible but if, for example, the water system failed and there's nobody there to fix it, you have to be highly skilled to put brake pads on a car, weld a piece of metal or build a house and we are literally running out of these people and no one is doing anything about it.
- Finally back to acting what's next for you?
For me? Lets see I'm doing some recording as soon as I get back on another project and then I start filming a second project the Saturday after I return.
Up is available on Disney Blu-ray, Disney DVD and Disney Combi pack, from 15th February
FemaleFirst Helen Earnshaw.
John Ratzenberger made his name as Cliff Clavin in hit sit com Cheers but in recent years he has been the constant voice of the Pixar movies.
Yes John has voiced a character in every one of Pixars' releases, starting back as Hamm in Toy Story in 1995.
And Pixar's latest movie Up sees him return once again I caught up with him to chat about the movie and his career with the animation giant.
- You are voicing yet another character in a Pixar movie with Up so far anyone who hasn't seen the movie yet can you tell me a little bit about it?
Well the interesting thing to me is the first ten minutes of Up they give you the secret of life but without dialogue, the first ten minutes of Up is silent. But by the end of those ten minutes there is not a dry eye in the house so bring a bag of tissue with you for this one.
- So what interested you about the character of foreman Tom?
With Pixar it's not so much the characters that I get to play it's the fact that I get to work with Pixar, they are the best at what they do.
Every film that they make they make history because they give themselves a different challenge each film whether it's technology, animation or otherwise and they conquer it.
They know the story so well and they know what they do so well that it's just a pleasure working with them so it doesn't make a difference to me what character I play.
- Up is a very different project for Pixar it's a human based story that focuses on old age and death so what did you think when you read the script for the first time?
If you or me or anybody else took this story to any other studio in the world they would show us the door within the first five minutes because of what you have just said it's story of an eighty two year old man, a cub scout and a floating house.
So taking those elements and making it into a movie Pixar were the only people on earth that could have done it. Not only did they do it they get nominated for an Academy Award for it.
- Some called this movie a risk for Pixar because of those elements how far do you agree/disagree with that?
They are not calling a risk anymore (laughs). I stopped second guessing them a long time ago they said 'well we are going to make a film about ants' or 'we are going to make a film about a rat who wants to be a gourmet chef'. But they just pull it off so I don't second guess them.
- And what is it about these movies that keep you coming back film after film?
Because the stories are so well crafted.
- So do Pixar just ring you up and say 'hi John we have another part for you?...
Yes (laughs)
- Or do they write parts and characters with you in mind?
Well it's a little bit of both. In Cars they made me the Mack truck because my father drove a Mack truck. So sometimes it's personal, I think Tom the construction worker (the character he voices in Up) they may have given me that one because I was a carpenter before I became an actor.
- How does the voice recording process work and what is it about it that you enjoy so much?
Well it's indoor work (laughs) you are not getting snowed or rained on. Again it's the people that you are working with they just love their work, they have such a passion for it and they do it so well that it just becomes infectious.
When you walk into the studio to do your recording it's just like being invited into someone's fanbox that has the coolest toys.
- Toy Story 3 is next for you, which sees you return to the character of Hamm, so what have you done for that so far?
I think I have finished the recording, I might have one or two sessions left, but I'm pretty sure that I have finished. Toy Story 3 is going to be just as good, if not better than all the other films.
- Now you are well known for your role as Cliff in Cheers so how surprised are you by the longevity of the sitcom?
It doesn't surprise me at all because the writing, like Pixar, is just so good if the writing is well crafted then it is going to stand the test of time but if the writing is an afterthought then in a year or two you are going to be forgotten.
If you notice on Cheers, compared to most sitcoms, you never saw the joke coming, never! But in most movies and sit coms you see the joke coming three or four pages before it happens so it doesn't surprise me that Cheers still works today.