Variety’s “Purpose Family Entertainment + Faith-based Summit”
Recently, Hollywood’s elite gathered for Variety’s “Purpose Family Entertainment + Faith-based Summit” at the Four Seasons Los Angeles Hotel at Beverly Hills. “Every film that came out of Hollywood before 1962 was a faith-based film,” John Ratzenberger told me as the June 12 summit wound down, summing up with a succinctness reminiscent of his character Cliff in Cheers. Pixar Animation Studios, devoting itself solely to family entertainment, led the way. The reason is simple. Pixar’s producers started having kids and wanted them to ingest healthy entertainment, said Ratzenberger, who has had a voice part in every Pixar animated film including The Incredibles (2004), the Toy Story series (1995, 1999, 2010), the Finding Nemo series (2003, 2016) and Ratatouille (2007). This article was written by Mary Claire Kendall and was published on breitbart.com. Click here to read the full article...
John Ratzenberger to Appear in New Pixar Movie ‘Inside Out’
Pixar has a new movie expected to debut in June 2015 – and John Ratzenberger will be among the movie’s star-studded voice acting cast. Pixar describes the plot of the upcoming movie: “Growing up can be a bumpy road, and it’s no exception for Riley, who is uprooted from her Midwest life when her father starts a new job in San Francisco. Like all of us, Riley is guided by her emotions – Joy (Amy Poehler), Fear (Bill Hader), Anger (Lewis Black), Disgust (Mindy Kaling) and Sadness (Phyllis Smith). The emotions live in Headquarters, the control center inside Riley’s mind, where they help advise her through everyday life. As Riley and her emotions struggle to adjust to a new life in San Francisco, turmoil ensues in Headquarters. Although Joy, Riley’s main and most important emotion, tries to keep things positive, the emotions conflict on how best to navigate a new city, house and school.” To learn more, visit the Pixar website...
Star Wars Disney Weekends to Include John Ratzenberger
Disney has announced which members of the Star Wars universe will attend the 2014 edition of Star Wars Weekends at Disney’s Hollywood Studios theme park. The event, which is included in regular park admission, will run for a record-setting five weekends, beginning May 16. Park guests will see actors from the six motion pictures, “The Clone Wars” animated series and “Star Wars Rebels” television series that’s set to debut this fall on Disney XD. As previously announced, Mark Hamill, best known for his role as Luke Skywalker in the original film trilogy, will make his first-ever Star Wars Weekends appearance. Another first timer will be John Ratzenberger, best known for playing Cliff on TV’s “Cheers.” He had a small role in “The Empire Strikes Back.” Orlando journalist Jim Carchidi suggests that John Ratzenberger may attract a “Toy Story crowd” to the Star Wars Weekends. He writes: “Well, Ratznberger also has voiced one character in every Pixar film. Most notably, Hamm, the piggy bank in the Toy Story franchise — another saga. The inclusion of Ratznberger to the Star Wars Weekends guest list brings together two fan bases responsible for hundreds of millions of dollars in movie ticket sales, merchandise sales and, you got it, Disney resort spending.” To read the full article, click here...
The 10 Secret Ingredients Hidden in Every Pixar Movie
PolicyMic.com author Rachel Redfern has put together a list of the 10 secret ingredients hidden in every Pixar movie. Click here to read the full article, and be sure to notice item #2 – “A Voice We All Recognize.” Redfern writes: “John Ratzenberger, while delightful in Cheers, has become a pivotal touchstone in every Pixar film, a familiar anchor that audiences can count on. He has voice acted a role in every Pixar film to date. Ratzenberger played P.T. Flea in A Bug’s Life; Hamm in Toy Story; Yeti, the Abominable Snowman in Monster’s, Inc.; the school of moonfish in Finding Nemo; The Underminer in The Incredibles; Mack the truck in Cars and Cars II; Mustafa the waiter inRatatouille; John in Wall-E; Tom the construction worker in Up; and Gordon the guard in Brave. Pixar even saluted his 19-year tenure with them in Cars when Ratzenberger’s character watches a mash up of his own Pixar work. As his character comments, “Wait a minute they’re just using the same actor over and over. What kind of cut-rate production is this?” -” View the full story here...
Happy Birthday to John Ratzenberger!
Happy birthday to John Ratzenberger, who turns 67 today. John got his start in the performing arts with the improvisational comedy group, “Sal’s Meat Market”, in Bridgeport, Connecticut, while a student at Sacred Heart University, located in Fairfield/Bridgeport, Connecticut. He was later affiliated with the ensemble group, “The Downtown Cabaret”. To learn more about John’s acting career, and to see quotes and images, check out his full IMDB...
The Making of Radio Shack’s “The Phone Call”
It was a blast to see all those famous folks from the 1980s—we’re talking everyone from Mary Lou Retton to Erik Estrada—burst into a Radio Shack store and clear the shelves in the Super Bowl spot “The Phone Call.” But the :30 created by Austin-based GSD&M and directed by Frank Todaro of bicoastal Moxie Pictures offered much more than a trip down memory lane. It was a self-effacing admission by the struggling electronics retailer that it needs to get with the times, and Super Bowl viewers and ad critics appreciated the humor and the honesty. “The concept was the most appealing thing about it,” said Todaro when asked why he chose to direct this spot (he also helmed this year’s Hyundai Super Bowl ad “Dad’s Sixth Sense”), noting, “It wasn’t that it was going to be some spectacular bit of cinema. It was just that it was really funny and incredibly smart and self aware.” The agency had fun coming up with a list of ’80s stars and references to fill the spot, according to GSD&M executive creative director Jay Russell, who recounted, “There were seven or eight people that sat in a room and had this wall of photographs that looked like it was from a scene out of A Beautiful Mind.” Read the full article titled Top Spot: Todaro, GSD&M Storm A Radio Shack With Icons From The 1980s In “The Phone Call” by Christine Champagne...