John Ratzenburger should be a lead character in a Pixar movie!

[Candlelight]

He's played minor and supporting characters for every movie, who thinks he should get a bigger role?

He has a great voice and is always given some of the funniest lines in the movies.

With what's coming up, he could also play a larger role as the Abominable Snowman in Monsters Inc 2; maybe given it's a prequel we could see an expanded storyline of exactly how he got banished...?

 

[Mutara Nebula 1967]

Well, I hate to see threads completly die so I'll give my opinion.

He has done well in his post CHEERS years with the voice overs...he's certainly up to the task but the studios wouldn't have ANY sort of marketablility because he's not well known enough to promote like if you have Tom Hanks playing Woody...that you can play up but it wouldn't work with John.

 

[Kirby]

I like Ratzenburger as a supporting character, it's always fun to see how he'll show up. I loved his bit at the end of the first Cars when they re-did the other Pixar films in 'Cars world' and focused on scenes with this characters.
Mutara is right, he doesn't have the name recognition to be a lead in a movie.

 

[od0_ital]

...he's certainly up to the task but the studios wouldn't have ANY sort of marketablility because he's not well known enough to promote...

Dave Foley, starrin' voice of A Bug's Life. Biggest roles before that were The Kids in the Hall & NewsRadio.

Craig T Nelson, starrin' voice of The Incredibles. Biggest role before that was Coach.

Patton Oswalt, starrin' voice of Ratatouille. Biggest role before that was, what? King of Queens? And its not like his stand up is geared toward Disney audiences...

Wall*E didn't have a starrin' voice at all.

And Albert Brookes & Ellen Degeneres were the starrin' voices of Finding Nemo, the highest grossin' film of 2003.

I think that with Pixar, while it matters who the voice talent is, the story is the draw, not the stars, since ya can't see 'em, anyway, except for Fred Willard...

 

[Amaris]

^ Anything with Fred Willard immediately becomes awesome.

 

[iguana_tonante]

I'm the only one who did read the OP as "Joseph Ratzinger should be a lead character in a Pixar movie!" and thought "What the fuck? Wasn't Star Wars enough?"

 

[Candlelight]

Wall*E didn't have a starrin' voice at all.

True, but Sigourney Weaver made up for that.

^ Anything with Fred Willard immediately becomes awesome.

Seconded. I love him as the judge in Best in Show.

"A SHIH TZU?!?"

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

^ I like Fred's appearances on The Tonight Show. 'Course, they are the same as pretty much every other character he plays in films, but it's still funny.