John Ratzenberger, A Bug's Life (1998)

Ratzenberger, best known as mailman Cliff Clavin for 11 seasons on Cheers, is Pixar’s lucky charm: the only vocal talent to appear in all 10 of the studio’s features. Aside from his P.T. Flea here, he played Hamm the Pig in the Toy Story pictures, the Abominable Snowman in Monsters, Inc., part of the fish school in Finding Nemo, the supervillain Underminer in The Incredibles, a whole fleet of vehicles (including such self-referential characters as Hamm Truck, P.T. Flea Car and the Abominable Snow Plow) in Cars, Mustafa in Ratatouille, a lovestruck man in space in WALL-E and a construction foreman in the new Up. Usually Ratzenberger plays the plebeian skeptic, but in A Bug’s Lifehe lends an entrepreneurial zest to a flea who’s always angling to get rich quick. “I’m gonna be the richest flea in the land,” he sings. “Ka-ching! The streets will be paved with golden retrievers!”
Next: Tim Allen, Toy Story II (1999)
Tim Allen, Toy Story II (1999)

John Lasseter could have cast a “real” action-movie star as Buzz Lightyear, action-figure toy; but he needed a sweet doltishness that was nicely vocalized by Allen, who starred as a not-as-smart-as-he-thinks-he-is Mr. Fix-it on TV’s Home Improvement. There’s a tinny tone to Allen’s heroic declarations, suggesting an emptiness inside, at least inside the skull. In the first Toy Story sequel (another is due out next year), Buzz leads a commando squad to find the kidnapped Woody — he’s finally on the kind of mission he was born, or rather built, to carry out. In true action-hero form, Buzz also has paternity issues. In a tense chat with the space villain Emperor Zurg, Buzz intones: “I’ll never give in. You killed my father!” Zurg replies, “No, Buzz. I amyour father!” To which Allen-Buzz screams an incredible, Oedipal, “Noooooooooo!”
Next: Mary Gibbs, Monsters, Inc. (2001)
More Best & Worst Lists
View AgainMastering the Art of Vocals
- Tom Hanks, Toy Story (1995)
- John Ratzenberger, A Bug's Life (1998)
- Tim Allen, Toy Story II (1999)
- Mary Gibbs, Monsters, Inc. (2001)
- Ellen DeGeneres, Finding Nemo (2003)
- Brad Bird, The Incredibles (2004)
- Paul Newman, Cars (2006)
- Patton Oswalt, Ratatouille (2007)
- Ben Burtt, WALL-E (2008)
- Bob Peterson, Up (2009)
- Timothy Dalton, Toy Story 3 (2010)

























