I don’t think I could choose… I’m so indecisive when it comes to picking my favourites. I love Ben Burtt’s work so much on WALL•E that I could listen to the movie with no music or dialogue and still be entertained. And WALL•E’s voice: need I say more? But on the other hand Gary did work on nearly all of Pixar’s films and shorts and even designed the sound for the Pixar logo. So I’d have to say Gary, but only by a smidge.
Or maybe Ben. I don’t know! Why must Pixar choose such professionals all the time? Gah!
Well, since Ben Burtt was Gary Rydstrom’s mentor, you could say Gary learned a lot from Ben. But then again they both have a huge and succesful body of work behind them and they both ended up at the same place (Pixar and Lucasfilm) which were, as they say, the best place to work at the time.
It’s very hard to choose between these two amazing sound designers but I will say they are the best of the best. In an accidental circumstance I had a chance to speak to Ben Burtt once and I’ve got to say he’s a very friendly person and he and Gary are not only friends but admire each others work. Gary’s work on Pixar stuff is awesome, Ben’s work on WALL•E was awesome, so it’s a very hard choice.
I guess Gary Rydstrom has found that he has a strength in directing, but Ben Burtt seems to be set on sound design, so if the question is, which is the better sound designer, I’d have to go with Ben Burtt (with Rydstrom a close second), but who’s better, I will not choose. Note: I hate when people make least favorite, or who’s better threads because they put me in this position. Let’s try and make more optimistic threads like, favorite (this) or what do you like about (this.)
I love both of their contributions to Pixar films- Ben Burtt was obviously amazing in WALL-E and as WALL-E- but I’ve gone for Gary Rydstrom just because he’s contributed a lot to several different Pixar projects, including the Pixar logo itself, and whenever I hear or see his name, I immediately think ‘Pixar’, even more so than Ben Burtt. Though they’re both amazing.
You can’t beat Ben Burtt…he is just a veteran at his Job. They both are great and i don’t take anything against either but Mr. Burtt just has the upper advantage.
That’s a hard one! Gary Rydstrom has done spectacular work on many Pixar projects. Ben Burtt has done amazing work as well. His sound design on Wall E is incredible. I watched some behind the scenes on sound design and he is quite creative with his sounds! I’m going to have to go with Ben Burtt… but not by much!
That’s a hard one. But I would have to say Ben Burtt. I still like Gary Rydstrom, and have respect for him, but Ben Burtt can really make the robot noises sound like what Andrew Stanton wanted. He also is a pretty cool guy. Gary Rydstrom has made some better and more sounds that you have to think about sounds. But i’m gonna stick with Ben Burtt.
I suppose I should have made a “they’re both cool” option in the poll, since they’re pretty much both winners. I love how you can watch the behind-the-scenes and understand their love for the work they do and their medium. They both can take an ordinary object and hear its potential in making a sound effect. I ended up voting for Gary Rydstrom to even it out a bit.
Martin, you make some really good points about Ben being Gary’s mentor and everything. I never thought about that when making this thread. When did you speak to Ben Burtt? He was in Australia last year, but I didn’t get to go to Sydney to meet him. I would love to get a photo with him and talk to him, since, face it, he is WALL•E, and also he just seems really nice. I would love to get him to talk to me in his WALL•E voice, lol.
Well I didn’t intend this to be my first post, but I couldn’t resist talking about Ben Burtt.
Ben Burtt hands down. You can’t deny the amazing work he did on Star Wars, and all the iconic sounds he created. The sound of the lightsaber, blasters, the TIE FIghter, plus giving voice to both Chewie and Artoo, the list just goes on. Plus the amazing works he’s done onother films like Wall-E and the Indiana Jones series, Ben’s just the best in the buisness.
That’s not to say that Gary isn’t amazing too, because he is. The first time I ever thought, “Who did that sound? I have to know,” was after hearing the sound of the Luxo lamp.
Let’s try and make more optimistic threads like, favorite (this) or what do you like about (this.) 
