I recently had the pleasure of chatting with Pixar’s lucky charm, John Ratzenberger about Pixar, his humanitarian work, Our First Christmas and more. Check it out below.
Upcoming Pixar: I think we should start with WALL•E because as you know it was just released on Blu-Ray and DVD.
John Ratzenberger: That’s right.
UP: Do you have a copy?
JR: No, not yet. I’m travelin’, are you gonna send me a copy?
UP: We could.
JR: Thank you.
UP: So in WALL•E, your character John, which came first; did they give you the part John or was it named after you?
JR: Oh I don’t know any of those, that’s a question for Andrew.
UP: Do you have a favourite scene in WALL•E?
JR: Yeah, where his [John] hands touches Mary’s hands.
UP: That’s a really good scene.
JR: That’s the secret of life right there.
UP: There are two things that always appear in every Pixar film, you and the Pizza Planet Truck. However The Incredibles appears to be the only exception as no one can seem to find the Pizza Planet Truck. I understand you were also a late addition to the film as The Underminer, and there was a rumour that Brad Bird wasn’t up to speed on the fact that yourself and the Pizza Planet Truck were meant to be there. Are you able to elaborate on what went on there?
JR: No, again, those are the inner caverns of Pixar that those decisions take place, so I just know that I got a call and there I was.
UP: It was exhilarating for fans of The Incredibles to continue the story themselves when the video game, Rise of the Underminer was released the following year. How do you feel about working on a video game based upon a minor character you voice?
JR: Well how’s the game doin’?
UP: I’m not sure, I believe it took off really well.
JR: Well good, well there you are. laughs Almost in a way to answer all your questions is the joy and the honor to be working with these people at Pixar is really a once in a lifetime event that I cherish, you know, I don’t mistake this opportunity. Just don’t take it for granted. They are wonderful people. They try to outdo themselves every time they do something, and it’s a great lesson in life to me and should be everybody else. It’s a good life message. Sure you did good, well go out and do better and just try to make yourself your own competition.
UP: You’re also Pixar’s lucky charm as John Lasseter mentioned, as you appear in every single film, and you also play on their softball team I understand?
JR: I haven’t, but they’re up in San Francisco and I’m in LA, but, yeah.
UP: How much time would you spend at Pixar on average a year?
JR: Oh boy, well, a few days I guess.
UP: Speaking of being Pixar’s lucky charm, do you know at what point they decided they wanted you to keep coming back and be in every single film?
JR: Do not. That’s a John Lasseter/Andrew Stanton question. I wish I could be more help to ya, I just show up and do my work and I go home. But with Pixar, I’ve really enjoyed my friendship over the years with all of them.
UP: You’re coming back in 2010 to play Hamm in Toy Story 3, are you excited to be playing the character again?
JR: Oh you kidding? Who wouldn’t be? Well for me it’s nice to be able to hang out with Don Rickles. I always ask them to book me in either before or after his voice sessions so I can get a chance to listen to his stories.
UP: This is because at Pixar they don’t actually do group recording sessions, they do you one at at time, correct?
JR: Yeah most people do, that’s a…most people do now anyway.
UP: Will this be the last Toy Story?
JR: You’re giving me credentials I don’t deserve. I don’t know. There’s no way I can tell. I would imagine if it’s a success like I’m sure it will be, who knows, maybe there will be Toy Story 5, 6, 7, 8, eleventeen.
UP: We have Up coming to cinemas in May next year and early reports are saying Pixar have another hit on their hands. Are you excited?
JR: Well yeah, what a great story. Do you know the story?
UP: Only what the synopsis have given us.
JR: What’s the synopsis tell you?
UP: We’ve got Carl Fredricksen, an old timer, who’s house flys and goes on many adventures with young Russell around the world.
JR: There you go, yep and I play one of the construction workers.
UP: Do you have a favourite character that you’ve played in a Pixar film, or is it more like picking a favourite child?
JR: PT Flea.
UP: Do you have a favourite Pixar film?
JR: Boy, I think it’s gotta be…well it’s a toss up for me between Toy Story 1 and A Bug’s Life.
UP: Moving on, one thing I think many Pixar fans don’t know about you is that you do a lot of humanitarian aide work especially with Children with Diabetes. How did you get into all of this?
JR: Well it affects my family and millions of other people in the country, and I’ve been doing that for about 18 years. And I’ve just started, well two years ago started a foundation called Nuts, Bolts and Thingamajigs Foundation, and we set up camps for Children to learn skills again, to learn how to work with wood and metal instead of sitting in front of computers, to give these kids skills they can actually use. So we have these camps to encourage kids and their parents back into making things.
UP: You also had your own TV show, Made in America for the Travel Channel. I haven’t seen it because we don’t get it here in Australia, however for our American readers, do you have a favourite episode or location that you’ve visited?
JR: Oh boy, boy oh boy oh boy, there’s over three hundred companies. I like the companies that worked with wood, like the wooden boat builder in Ainsbury, Massachusetts, or the people that worked with the rifle stocks in Stern Ruger, but I like the shaping and the building with wood because I was a wood worker before I became an actor. So I still work with wood so I enjoy those the most.
UP: Moving on, you’ll also be appearing in Our First Christmas for the Hallmark Channel on December 20 and your playing Grandpa Joe who is directing the annual pageant that is a family tradition. Did you find yourself relating to the character at all?
JR: Oh yes, because he’s a retired Pastor of a church and that was one of my career options when I was a young man entering High School, I thought about being a Priest, so I can relate to that character very much.
UP: What did you like most about the character?
JR: Well his objective view, his years gave him the wisdom to step back and see the problem in it’s entirety, instead of in pieces which most people do. People see problems in pieces, but when you step back far enough you see the wholistic view and its easier to mitigate.
UP: Are you able to take us through a typical day for you in the acting business?
JR: Well the acting business, you get up, you go to work and you try not to break anything and know your lines and go home. You see right now I’m in Florida on Foundation business meeting with some people that to look towards joining our efforts and getting kids back to making things instead of just looking at things. So I don’t know if I have a typical day to tell you the truth, you see I have a boat down here in Florida. It’s nice with all these electronics to use your computer and cell phone on a boat with a fishing pole in your hand, you know, it’s not a bad thing. But then from here I go to Kansas, I have a couple of meetings in Kansas, so I do a lot of traveling around, but mostly on foundation business, so I don’t know if I have a typical day. You know as long as I wake up, go to sleep then wake up the next morning, then I think I’m ahead of the game.
UP: Lastly, what’s in the future for you other than lending your voice to Pixar movies?
JR: Well you see I’m building this foundation, and what I’d like to do is spread our camps right across the country and get big business involved. I think the same thing is happening in Australia, you have a workforce whose average age is 54 years old and in 6-10 years they’re all gonna retire and there’s nobody coming up after them to be auto mechanics, and welders, and plumbers and things like that, and we’ve forgotten about that so that’s what my foundation is about, to reignite that interest and give dignity to the people who do those kind of jobs. So that’s what I’m about, that’s what I’ll be spending a lot of time on.
UP: Thank you John for your time.
JR: Not at all, say hello to the rest of the country for me.
John Ratzenberger will be appearing as Grandpa Joe in the Hallmark Channel’s Original Movie, Our First Christmas alongside Dixie Carter on the December 20. Find out more here.
Thank you to the Hallmark Channel and John Ratzenberger for the opportunity.
Great interview! Thank you for taking the time to participate in the session, Mr. Ratzenberger, and thank you for endeavoring to conduct the interview, Thomas!
This “Nuts, Bolts and Thingamajigs” project greatly interests me. It sounds as if John and I have something in common in preferring to become more acquainted with natural elements and outdoor activities than with the surrounding technology. That’s awesome that he’s started a program for kids which introduces them to essential skills.
Again, nice interview. Mr. Ratzenberger sounds like a really nice guy and, if he’s anything like his son, then I’m sure he is.
Really great questions there, Thomas. Thanks for asking about the PP Truck in The Incredibles – worth a try, I guess. Well, it seems as if Upcoming Pixar got a scoop – John Ratzenberger is going to play a construction worker in Up. Cool!
Hi John!
Great Interview, thanks for that 🙂
I’m surprised at all the positivity.
JR really sounded like he was getting pissed off at all the Pixar questions. He basically made it clear that he goes to Pixar once a year, has nothing to do with the important stuff, and would like to talk about Nuts and Bolts and stuff he actually cares about.
The transcript indicated that John laughed at least once during the interview so he couldn’t have been that annoyed. Remember it’s hard to know someone’s emotion behind something you read, the only way we’d really know is by listening to the audio of the interview.
What do you mean nobody can find the Pizza Planet truck? Of course they can… did…
During the part where the robot “Eve” is searching around to find plants just before she goes to Wall-E’s House, she looks inside the Pizza Planet Truck, and then blasts it with her gun.
John was asked where the PP truck was in The Incredibles, not WALL•E.