Ah, Pixar films. If you are an adult person with children or an adult with any kind of familial access to children, chances are you’ve seen at least a few Pixar films. Or maybe you are a younger person who grew up watching these films, like Gen Xers grew up watching Disney animated movies with evil queens poisoning princesses, princesses cavorting with hard-working dwarfs, princesses administered too many sleep-inducing drugs, and jive-talking crows. And maybe you watched THAT Disney film featuring Uncle Remus – the one that Disney would like to forget they ever filmed? Zippity Doo-dah? Br’er Rabbit?

Br’er Rabbit and Uncle Remus in The Song of the South, aka “Disney’s Dirty Little Secret.”

Yes, animated films were a bit different back in the days before Pixar! They were darker, far more crudely animated, and featured scary themes. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs’ scene involving the forest near the beginning of the film was so scary that some children watching at Radio City Music Hall peed on the seats with fright. What else about Disney films? We watched Bambi’s mother die. Those bad boys from Pinocchio were kind of…roguish! Sleeping Beauty had kind of a scary sequence with a dragon. The mean, greedy butler tries poisoning cats in The Aristocats.  The Fox and the Hound, A 1981 Disney animated film, was sad enough to make my mom bawl when she took my brother and I to see it in theaters! Sure, it doesn’t take much for a movie to make her cry, but still…  A bit of trivia here, famed film director Tim Burton worked as an animator on this film, which explains why The Fox and the Hound movie had some pretty dark subject matter for a kid.

Pixar films are a bit kinder…and gentler than some of the Disney animated films of old.  Now let’s go through a list of all of the Pixar films (with a very brief synopsis) that have been made to date. PLEASE NOTE box office numbers listed with each title are worldwide box office numbers, and were current as of the Nov. 20, 2017 posting of this blog, to view current box office numbers, visit boxofficemojo.com:

Toy Story, 1995; $373.6 million

First of the Pixar films released, Toy Story features a boy with lots of toys, including a cowboy toy named Woody, voiced by two-time Oscar-winner Tom Hanks. A spaceman toy, with whom Woody has a friendly, yet adversarial relationship, is Buzz Lightyear, voiced by Michigan native Tim Allen. Other supporting players include the Slinky Dog, voiced by Jim Varney; Mr. Potato Head, voiced by the recently departed Don Rickles and Hamm, voiced by John Ratzenberger. Who’s John Ratzenberger, you ask? Well, I COULD be snarky and say he is the voice of “Hamm” in “Toy Story.” But who he is really depends upon you – and how old you are! If you are a Gen-Xer, he is Cliff Clavin on “Cheers,” or the mail carrier below on the left. And I am not responsible for the misspelled word in the text below:

And beer helps loosen those trivial nuggets from the brain during trivia tournaments!

If you are a Millennial, he is the guy I just mentioned from “Toy Story.” If you are a Gen-Xer AND a Star Wars nerd, you know him as Rebel Force Major Derlin in Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back.

Ratzenberger in The Empire Strikes Back.

Sing to the tune of Pink Floyd’s “Pigs:” Hey, there, pig toy…ha ha, charade you are! Ratzenberger’s character Hamm in the three Toy Story films.

Since this is mainly a trivia blog, the most important thing to know about Ratzenberger is that he is the only actor to have appeared in every single Pixar film made to date, including the upcoming release Coco. Another interesting fact is this movie’s storyline is eerily similar to a Jim Henson production from 1986 called The Christmas Toy which also featured toys that came to life when no one was looking. But, since Jim Henson Productions has, like many other companies, been purchased by Disney, well, the rest is history! Eventually we will ALL bow down to “The Mouse,” won’t we?

A mouse who lives for more than 90 years is NOT to be trifled with…Mickey obviously has been dabbling in the dark arts to expand his life span! My fan theory is that Mickey sucks the life force out of animators, artists, etc. He still hasn’t forgiven Tim Burton for getting away.

A Bug’s Life, 1998; $373.6 million

This Pixar film, as you might have guessed, is about bugs and other creepie-crawlies. Former “Kids in the Hall” regular Dave Foley plays an accident-prone ant named Flik, Kevin Spacey plays a grasshopper named “Hopper, ” Julia-Louis Dreyfus plays a future queen bee, and Phyllis Diller  plays the the current queen bee. John Ratzenberger plays a flea in this one:

Ratzenberger as P.T. Flea in A Bug’s Life.

Trivia note, A Bug’s Life was Roddy McDowall’s final film, released seven weeks after his death. He voiced the character named “Mr. Soil.”

Mr. Soil, voiced by actor Roddy MacDowall in A Bug’s Life

Who is Roddy MacDowall? Well, baby boomers and some Gen X’ers know him best from the original Planet of the Apes films.  As for ’80s movies aficionados, they might know him best from the 1985 horror comedy film Fright Night, in which he played a retired TV actor who previously portrayed a vampire hunter. One time I was taking a walk around town and saw a very large, loud, jowly dog sitting on the front porch of a house. This was no ordinary dog, this dog, which appeared to be a mastiff, looked like he moonlighted as a blues musician, or possibly as the bouncer of a rough bar. This dog was a TOUGH customer, and had a booming baritone bark that would put Barry White to shame. If you needed a good dog to help guard your house (and possibly your drug stash), you would not need to look any further! As if the nugget floated into my head, I said to my husband, Mike, “That dog’s name is DEFINITELY Roddy MacJowls.” Now I think of that dog every time I come across the name Roddy McDowall!

Actor Roddy MacDowall tells a vamp what’s what in the 1985 film Fright Night.

Toy Story 2, 1999; $497.4 million

I’m not doing more than one entry for “Toy Story.” This is MY blog and I’ll be lazy if I want to!

Monsters, Inc., 2001; $525.4 million

The first time I saw Monsters, Inc.  was when I was working as a substitute teacher and was subbing in a high school Spanish class. So I basically didn’t know what the f— was going on in this one until eventually, out of morbid curiosity, I rented it from a video store. Yes, video stores were still a thing back in the early to mid 2000s, before we all had to bow down to Mickey Netflix, lol… This movie’s main premise is that the monsters that live under your bed and in your closet are not only real, but there is a corporation running them! Children’s screams are what power the energy running Monstropolis. The monsters’ jobs, of course, are scaring little kids. And maybe THIS is why I have a hangup about closed closet doors. They must remain open! Really, I only close closet doors in  my house if other people are coming over! Back to this movie, Billy Crystal plays Mike, and John Goodman plays Sulley, who are pictured below:

John Ratzenberger as “Yeti” in Monsters, Inc.

Songwriter Randy Newman won an Oscar for best original song for Monsters, Inc. for writing “If I Didn’t Have You.” Trivia note, this was the FIRST Pixar film to win an Oscar.

Finding Nemo, 2003; $867.9 million

Winner: Academy Award – Best Animated Feature

I have never actually seen this one, nor its sequel Finding Dory. But I have gathered that it’s about fish and the search for them. And that guy from Broadcast News, and Ellen DeGeneres is in it, too. Finding Nemo won the Academy Award for best animated feature, and was nominated in three more categories, including best original screenplay. Think about that for a minute – an ANIMATED film was nominated for best original screenplay! Not only was Finding Nemo the highest grossing animated film at the time, but was also the second highest grossing film of 2003, earning a total of $871 million worldwide by the end of its initial theatrical run. Yes, I essentially lifted all of this from the wiki page. So what was the highest-grossing film of 2003? Hint: It was also the film winning the Academy Award for best picture that year. Here’s a photo hint:

 

A scene from The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King featuring Eowyn (left) and the Witch King, right before she kills him. Below, my husband and I tried doing these two for Halloween for one year, but were on a budget, and I was not keen on wearing a blonde wig…but the spirit was still there, and it ranked as one of the weirdest couples costumes we ever did! But that helmet…just AWFUL! You know you’re phoning in your costume when you buy a package of duct tape! But hey, the homemade gauntlets didn’t turn out TOO bad! And that sword was REAL! Cannot believe the bar staff allowed me to bring that in there! One of the perks of being a regular…

I spray-painted a thrift shop sweater silver to simulate chain mail. Yes, that is a bike helmet covered with gold duct tape. Seriously, have you priced good cosplay helmets? They are NOT cheap! I tried doing a long blonde wig but felt too much like a “Ru Paul’s Drag Race” reject.

Finding Nemo is the best-selling DVD of all time, with over 40 million copies sold as of 2006, and was the highest-grossing G-rated film of all time before being overtaken by Toy Story 3. In 2008, the American Film Institute named it the 10th greatest animated film ever made. As anyone who has played competitive trivia knows, you need to have at least one person on your team willing to sift through the AFI lists! You never know when a question will come about those dreaded lists! Always, always remember these lists were compiled by snobby, elite folks – do not expect to see films like Porky’s or The Cannonball Run! I had trivia teammates who outvoted me on an AFI question and went with Cannonball Run for a comedy film beginning with “C.” Never again, lol! When does Democracy ever work? 🙂

And without further ado? John Ratzenberger in Finding Nemo.

Fish School in Finding Nemo voiced by John Ratzenberger.

The Incredibles, 2004; $633.0 milion

Winner: Academy Award – Best Animated Feature

This one is about the suburban Parr family, with each family member, including the baby, possessing some kind of unique superpower. The main cast includes Craig T. Nelson (whom Gen X’ers probably know best as “Coach” from the TV series of the same name), Holly Hunter, Samuel L. Jackson and Jason Lee. This was the first Pixar film to receive a PG rating, and as of this blog posting, a 2018 sequel was still in the works. My favorite character in the film is Edna Mode, who plays a fashion designer and was voiced by The Incredibles director Brad Bird.

Trivia note, Edna Mode’s character, in personality and appearance, was inspired by late real-life costume designer Edith Head, whom still holds the record for winning the most Academy Awards for costume design. She won eight Academy Awards out of 35 nominations.

And what about John Ratzenberger?

John Ratzenberger as “The Underminer” in the 2004 Pixar film The Incredibles.

Cars, 2006; $462.2 million

This was one of the first Pixar films I remember watching with my niece, Anabel, who was born in 2001. It was Thanksgiving weekend, and she insisted my husband and I watch it with her! Yeah, her parents wanted to go out to see an R-rated movie, so we were happy to oblige! My favorite character was Paul Newman’s character Doc Hudson. Must be because of my fascination with wise male authority figures, lol. My husband, Mike loved the anthropomorphic cars! He was a HUGE fan of “Herbie” when he was growing up! As for trivia, one thing to remember on trivia nights? ALWAYS try to think about animated films when thinking about high-grossing films! We had a question about Paul Newman’s highest-grossing film of all time, and I wanted to go with The Color Of Money, and my teammate Brad wanted to go with The Sting. Both of these films are in the top 10 of his highest grossing films, but the correct answer was (you guessed it) Cars. That question taught us all a valuable lesson! Cars’ plot revolves around rival race car drivers Lightning McQueen (voiced by Owen Wilson), and Chick Hicks, voiced by Michael Keaton. Lightning is the “good guy” and is the red car, and Chick is the bad guy, and is the blue car. Now that I’ve cleared all THAT up for you, lol!

“Doc Hudson” in Cars, which was actor Paul Newman’s highest-grossing film of all time.

In addition to cars, there is also a Mack truck featured prominently in the movie, and is voiced by guess who?

Lightning McQueen and Mack the Truck, voiced by John Ratzenberger.

Ratatouille, 2007; $620.7 million

Winner: Academy Award – Best Animated Feature

I have never seen this one, and I am not sure why. Maybe I was working when my niece wanted to watch it, which is very likely. But from what I understand, the plot revolves around a rat named Remy (voiced by Patton Oswalt) who lives under a talentless French cook’s hat (voiced by Ian Holm) and tells him how to cook French cuisine. So it’s like Pixar’s take on “Cyrano de Bergerac,” except the rat tells the cook how to prepare food, NOT how to woo a woman. Apparently this film is not about how to avoid getting nabbed in a health inspection!

Mustafa, voiced by (you guessed it) John Ratzenberger in Ratatouille.

WALL-E, 2008; $533.3 million

Winner: Academy Award – Best Animated Feature

This is my favorite of all of the Pixar films and the one I have seen the most times. I even own a copy of this, and the soundtrack! The first time I watched WALL-E was at my brother’s house in the Upper Peninsula (or the U.P., as Michigan locals call it) in Michigan. We were visiting for an annual winter carnival event, and that year’s theme was space. So all of the snow sculptures were supposed to be themed on space movies.

Me checking out the first place entry, which was a recreation of a scene from Men In Black.

An 8-year-old Wall-E fan and sculpture at Michigan Technological University’s Winter Carnival in 2009.

WALL-E is a bit darker than most Pixar films, and is set in a dystopian future, where landfills have essentially taken over planet Earth and all of the planet’s inhabitants live on giant, luxury space barges. And because of laziness and rampant muscle atrophy, giant is how the displaced Earth inhabitants begin to look!

John Ratzenberger as “John” in WALL-E. Is this the only Pixar film in which he plays a character sharing his own name (hastily peruses imdb site). Yup!

In addition to the cautionary tale about what happens when people just throw everything away, there is a love story between the stalwart, hard-working, loyal and determined WALL-E, and the ambitious, driven, aloof Eve.

EVE (left) and WALL-E, right. Robot love…is driving me mad…is making me crazy!

The soundtrack for Wall-E was composed by Thomas Newman (cousin of Oscar winning composer Randy Newman, who has also worked on Pixar films). Once I heard the song “Down to Earth” by Peter Gabriel (co-written by Thomas Newman) playing in the closing credits, I knew I HAD to own this soundtrack! Yes, I’m a huge Peter Gabriel fangirl! My favorite tracks in addition to “Down To Earth” include “Eve” and “2815 A.D.” Notable cast members, in addition to (drum roll) John Razenberger, include sound technician Ben Burtt (WALL-E), Kathy Najimy. Trivia note, comedic actor Fred Willard appears in what, at the time, was the only live-action sequence in a Pixar film (yay we got this question right in a trivia game, too). Last but not least, sci-fi poster goddess Sigourney Weaver is also in this film – she provides the voice of the Axiom, the giant space barge that hauls all of the atrophied, overweight people across the galaxy.

Sigourney Weaver in Galaxy Quest showing some boob.

Up, 2009; $735.1 million

Winner: Academy Award – Best Animated Feature

This film’s plot involves a grumpy old man voiced by Ed Asner and a chubby kid wearing some kind of scout uniform. And there is also a hot-air balloon and talking dogs. I honestly didn’t care for this one too much. Seriously, if you are looking at this blog as a definitive source for Pixar films, you need to look elsewhere! There is probably a wiki out there, seriously go look it up! What else to say, what else to say…OK, it’s rated PG. And it made a ton of money, probably because of the sexy voice talents of Ed Asner. Or was it because of the talking dogs? Talking animals seem to translate into box office gold, judging from the success of Finding Nemo, Finding Dory and Zootopia. Did y’all know Zootopia was specifically marketed to furries? Shudder! Furries are just too disturbing!

John Ratzenberger as a construction foreman in Up. Who looks like he is secretly  fantasizing about that chipmunk furry girl he met at a party last week. Who said she really wanted his nuts. Oh my!

Toy Story 3, 2010; $1.067 billion

Winner: Academy Award – Best Animated Feature

Again, I am NOT doing more than one entry for Toy Story! But look at those box office numbers! Lots of moulah! Money money money money!

Cars 2, 2011, $562.1 million

See entry for Cars above.

Brave, 2012, $540.4 million

Winner: Academy Award – Best Animated Feature

No, I haven’t seen this one, either. But the story sounds interesting! The principal character is Princess Merida (the only Pixar character to date to be named a Disney Princess). Set in Medieval Scotland, Merida, voiced by Kelly MacDonald (who played jailbait in Trainspotting), raises eyebrows when she expresses her desire to never be married. She is skilled with a bow, despite her mother’s wishes. I would not object to watching this one sometime, sounds like it has some cool themes – Scottish highland games, Scottish accents, and I imagine there are bagpipes and kilts involved somehow.  And Billy Connolly is in it, he was killer in Boondock Saints, in which he played, fittingly enough, a killer. And he’s kinda hot for an older dude, too. But my burning question is…what character did John Ratzenberger play?

John Ratzenberger voiced Gordon in the 2012 film Brave. Unsure if he attempts a Scottish accent or not. I’m guessing not.

Monsters University, 2013; $744.2 million

See entry for Monsters, Inc. That comma is extremely important, BTW…

Inside Out, 2015; $857.6 million

Winner: Academy Award – Best Animated Feature

I read an article online about how this movie was basically a rip-off of the early 1990s TV series “Herman’s Head.” The premise is the different sides of a young girl’s psyche being personified via Joy, Sadness, Anger, Fear and Disgust – each of which voiced by a different actor. The film’s story chronicles her family’s move from Minnesota to San Francisco and the girl’s attempts to adjust to her own surroundings. Seriously, I think I would rather watch old episodes of “Herman’s Head.” Where else can you see Yeardley Smith, the actress who voices Lisa Simpson in a live-action role? Honestly, I can only name two other movies in which she appeared – City Slickers and I Love You to Death.  Notable voice actors in Inside Out include Amy Poehler, Lewis Black, Mindy Kaling, Phyllis Smith (hey two of those people are former cast members of “The Office”). John Ratzenberger is also in this one. But you knew that, right?

 

John Ratzenberger as “Fritz” in Inside Out.

The Good Dinosaur; 2015, $332.2 million

This movie takes place on a fictionalized version of Earth where the asteroid that supposedly caused the death of dinosaurs safely passed over Earth. So this means dinosaurs and humans live together in this movie. Which I can’t…EVEN! There is no f—ing way dinosaurs and humans could co-exist. Humans would go extinct in no time! The most notable thing about this movie, to me, is that it marked the first time a second Pixar film was released in single calendar year. Judging from the relatively low box office numbers (lowest of all of the Pixar films), this one might not have tripped the light fantastic. Maybe I’m being close-minded about this movie. But I think I’ll pass on this one… if I want to see a dinosaur film, I’ll watch the original Jurassic Park. Without further ado, who did John Ratzenberger play in this one?

John Ratzenberger as Earl the velociraptor in The Good Dinosaur.

Finding Dory, 2016; $1.0286 billion

See entry for Finding Nemo. I keep meaning to see this one, because I love octopuses, and there is an octopus character named Hank, voiced by Ed O’Neill. He plays an escape artist, which kind of mirrors what REAL octopuses have been known to do! Can’t say that I blame them…put a highly intelligent, easily bored animal inside a tank that’s usually way too small? What do you expect?

Hank (right) and Dory in Finding Dory.

I’m going to assume John Ratzenberger plays the school of fish again in this one, so moving on…

Cars 3, 2017; $383.9 million

See entry for Cars.

Coco, 2017; $807.0 million

Juan Ortodoncia, whom is voiced by John Ratzenberger in Coco.

 

The Incredibles 2, 2018; $1.24 billion

See previous entry for The Incredibles.