John Ratzenberger

Ratzenberger played mail carrier Cliff Clavin on the sitcom Cheers. As an improv artist, he asked the producers if they had written a bar know-it-all character; the producers decided it was a great idea, and the character of Cliff Clavin was born.[10] Ratzenberger also came up with the idea for Cliff's trademark white socks, which he wore as a tribute to French comedian Jacques Tati.[11] Cliff became known for his outlandish stories, trivia, and his trademarked (and oft repeated), "It's a little known fact..." Cliff and Norm, the primary customer characters of the iconic bar, Cheers, played buddies who met at Cheers to talk about the day or nothing in particular. Ratzenberger was nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series in 1985 and again in 1986.[12][13] Ratzenberger provided the voice for an animated version of Cliff on The Simpsons sixth-season episode "Fear of Flying". He also played the role in the short-lived spin-off The Tortellis and in an episode of Wings, which was made by the same creators.

Ratzenberger has had a voice role in the first 22 Pixar films.[14] His roles include:

• Hamm in the Toy Story series (1995, 1999, 2010, 2019)
• P.T. Flea, the Circus Ring Leader in A Bug's Life (1998)
• Yeti the Abominable Snowman in the Monsters, Inc. series (2001, 2013)
• The school of Moonfish in Finding Nemo (2003)
• The Underminer in The Incredibles series (2004, 2018)
• Mack the truck in the Cars series (2006, 2011, 2017)
• Mustafa the waiter in Ratatouille (2007)
• John in WALL-E (2008)
• Tom the construction worker in Up (2009)
• Gordon the guard in Brave (2012)
• Fritz in Inside Out (2015)
• Earl the Velociraptor in The Good Dinosaur (2015)
• Bill the crab in Finding Dory (2016)
• Juan Ortodoncia in Coco (2017)
• Fennwick the cyclops construction worker in Onward (2020)

Ratzenberger's tenure at Pixar was parodied during the end credits of Cars, where his character, Mack, watches car-themed versions of Pixar films (Toy Car Story, Monster Trucks, Inc., and A Bug's Life, the latter of which references the Volkswagen Beetle). Mack notes that all the characters that John Ratzenberger has played had excellent voice actors until he realizes that they are performed by the same actor, at which point he remarks, "They're just using the same actor over and over," and asks, "What kind of cut-rate production is this?!"

Ratzenberger said that his favorite Pixar character was P.T. Flea, because "...in real life, I always get a kick out of those kinds of characters, people who just go into a rage for [no] explicable reason. He was always on edge. His blood pressure was always way over the top, and everything that he did was done in a panicked state. So it was a lot of fun to play him."[15] Ratzenberger voiced characters for other studios as well; he played Harland the Jet Tug in Disneytoon Studios' Planes (2013)[16][17] and a mustached plane named Brodi in its sequel, Planes: Fire & Rescue (2014),[18][19] Additionally, Ratzenberger reprised his role as the Abominable Snowman (named Adorable) and also voiced a new character named Bernard in the Disney+-exclusive series Monsters at Work, which is set after the main events of Monsters, Inc.[20] Ratzenberger has also voiced a character named Rootie in Skydance Animation's first film, Luck, which continues his collaboration in animation with former Pixar filmmaker John Lasseter.[21]

Soul (2020), Pixar's 23rd feature film, is the first Pixar film not to include Ratzenberger's voice or personal involvement. The film's director, Pete Docter, hinted to audiences that Ratzenberger makes a "cameo" in the film,[22] but the cameo was subsequently confirmed by co-director Kemp Powers to be an animated appearance instead of a voice role, meaning that Ratzenberger himself technically did not participate in the film.[23] Docter subsequently explained on the audio commentary track for Soul's home media releases that he wanted to come up with something more subdued for Ratzenberger's cameo in the film rather than go the traditional route of having a voice cameo.

Ratzenberger is a Republican. During the 2008 presidential race, Ratzenberger campaigned for John McCain, appearing with former Cheers co-star Kelsey Grammer at several Republican party events.[28][29] Ratzenberger was outspoken in opposition of the 2010 health care reform bill, referring to it as socialism.[30] On January 17, 2010, he appeared and endorsed Scott Brown for the United States Senate at Mechanics Hall in Worcester, Massachusetts. Ratzenberger campaigned for Republican Josh Mandel of Ohio for state treasurer in 2010 and served as master of ceremonies for Mandel's inauguration into the position in 2011.[31] He considered running for the U.S. Senate in Connecticut in 2012.[32]

Ratzenberger endorsed Mitt Romney in 2012.[33] He appeared on Your World with Neil Cavuto to support Donald Trump's candidacy during the 2016 presidential race, shortly after Trump was declared the presumptive Republican nominee.[34] He praised his performance as president in 2017, saying he had done "a wonderful job as far as manufacturing is concerned."[35]

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Ratzenberger expressed his support for the United States Postal Service (USPS) in 2020 via Cameo and suggested people who wished to help them donate and buy presents for Christmas early.[36][37]