Soul Who John Ratzenberger Plays (And Where To Spot Him)

Soul: Who John Ratzenberger Plays (And Where To Spot Him)

John Ratzenberger has been in every Pixar movie, but he is not credited in Soul and his part is not immediately apparent. So who could he be playing?

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Soul Who John Ratzenberger Plays (And Where To Spot Him)

Soul has made its Disney+ debut on Christmas Day, and on first viewing it seems as though seasoned Pixar voice actor John Ratzenberger doesn’t have a part in the film – but he does. Many voices in Soul are easily recognizable, but it’s somewhat difficult to make out Ratzenberger’s signature gruffness anywhere. After several fans commented on not being able to discern his voice, director Pete Docter confirmed in an interview this weekend with CinemaBlend that Ratzenberger does indeed make a very brief appearance in Soul, but declined to give specific details.

While older generations remember John Ratzenberger as Cliff the mailman on the television classic Cheers, younger generations may know him best from his roles – both major and minor – 23 Pixar films. He’s been lending his voice to the studio since 1995’s Toy Story, in which he played Hamm the piggy bank. Since then he’s played a ringmaster flea in A Bug’s Life, John in Wall-E, Yeti in the Monsters, Inc. movies, and construction worker Fenwick in Onward, among others. That’s why fans were worried when Ratzenberger was seemingly absent from Pixar’s latest feature.

Soul follows Joe Gardner, a down-on-his-luck pianist who teaches music but longs to perform with the Dorothea Williams Quartet. Just as what he thinks might be his big break lands at his feet, he falls down a manhole. A charming adventure through the Great Beyond and the Great Before ensues, as Joe bonds with a stubborn soul named 22 who doesn’t want to go to Earth, and what the meaning of his life is. Though it remains unconfirmed and uncredited, there is a character in Soul whose voice sounds very similar to John Ratzenberger’s. Of course, actors can mask and alter their voices to fit their onscreen characters, but Ratzenberger has a very distinctive cadence that remains unchanged in many of his roles. The blink-and-you’ll-miss-it scene in Soul occurs when Joe bumps into a fellow passenger on the subway. The passenger, a quintessential annoyed New Yorker, shoots, “Hey, take it easy, eh?” The character sounds like John Ratzenberger, and it may very well be him. If that’s the case, it’s the smallest part he’s had yet in a Pixar film.

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There are other characters John Ratzenberger might have voiced throughout the course of the movie, like 22’s famous mentors or people Joe encounters on the street. It is unlikely though, considering none of them sound even remotely like Ratzenberger. Apart from Ratzenberger, Soul also features the vocal talents of Jamie Foxx as Joe, Tina Fey as 22, Phylicia Rashad as Joe’s mother, and Questlove as Joe’s friend Curly.

Hopefully, John Ratzenberger gets the credit he deserves for his very minor role in Soul. Perhaps his appearances will become Easter eggs, like the Pizza Planet truck, in future Pixar films, and it will take multiple viewings to uncover which character he voiced. Whatever Pixar decides, John Ratzenberger will remain a welcome part of its heartwarming tales for years to come.

Link Source : https://screenrant.com/soul-john-ratzenberger-cameo-explained/

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