John Ratzenberger vs. Alan Tudyk, and I swear that makes sense

John Ratzenberger is famous for two things: Cheers and Pixar. He was Cliff Clavin for a generation, and then Pixar started making movies and for whatever reason, made a point to toss Ratzenberger into every single one of them, and yet the only time he’s anything close to a major character is when he voices Hamm in the Toy Story movies. Per Wikipedia, he’s currently the third-highest-grossing actor of all time, and the top for anyone not in the Avengers series.

Alan Tudyk is famous for one thing, really: Firefly. He was Pirate Steve in Dodgeball and a bit player in about a billion other things, but Firefly is point one. But he should be just as famous as Ratzenberger for the same things — since 2012’s Wreck-It Ralph, Tudyk has voiced a character in every single Walt Disney Animation Studios picture, plus Iago in the live-action Aladdin, plus K-2SO in Rogue One. That list of highest-grossing actors that Ratzenberger sits in third on? Tudyk is eighth, ahead of Scarlett Johansson, Andy Serkis, and a lot of other super-famous folks.

Now, obviously that list has some cheat codes. Bob Bergen is No. 5 because he voices a tertiary character in a hundred different things. Frank Welker is fourth for the same reason. But the point I’m trying to make is this:

John Ratzenberger:Pixar::Alan Tudyk:Disney

So today, it’s time to decide it once and for all: Who is the Company Voice Actor For Some Weird Reason who reigns supreme?

John’s roles

The point in Ratzenberger’s favor is that he’s been in every Pixar movie since the beginning. There have been to date 22 Pixar movies, and he’s been in all 22, from Hamm in the first Toy Story to Fennwick in Onward. He repeated as Hamm, Mack in Cars, Underminer in The Incredibles, and Yeti in Monsters Inc./University, but he voiced different characters in Finding Nemo and Finding Dory.

Ratzenberger has said his favorite Pixar role to date is P.T. Flea in A Bug’s Life, which … come on, John, you’ve done so many better ones. But hey, there’s no accounting for taste.

Still, that’s 22 movies, largely in some of the best-received films of all time, with him as just about the only tie that binds. Impressive

Alan’s roles

Disney Animation has been around since the dawn of time, and Alan Tudyk hasn’t, so he can’t lay claim to appearing in the entire run like Ratzenberger can. But we’re now in Year 9 of Tudyk appearing in every Disney movie, including the “Duke of Weselton” in Frozen and “Duke Weaselton” in Zootopia. With his appearances in Aladdin, Rogue One, Star vs. the Forces of Evil, and others, he’s less constrained than Ratzenberger as well … and that’s even before considering that he’s insanely active just as a regular actor as well. Eric Roberts is the most active actor working (non-adult film division) these days (seriously, check out his IMDb page; dude has 53 projects that haven’t even been released yet), but Tudyk is the most active good actor.

Advantage: Ratzenberger

The work they do with the roles

John Ratzenberger plays “Cliff Clavin” in every one of the Pixar movies. When you settle in to a Pixar film, you are excited to see the emotional animated adventure, but there’s also a small part of you that is also playing “Find the Clavin,” and when he appears it’s like a flashing neon sign saying “Here’s John!” He said one word in Coco as Juan Ortodoncia, but I guarantee someone was pointing at him when he said that word like that Leonardo DiCaprio meme everybody is sharing.

Tudyk? He actually plays roles. You aren’t spotting him mid-movie; you’re going to IMDb after the fact to see who he was. He was Heihei in Moana and Alistair Krei in Big Hero 6. He was that one Duke in Frozen and that other Duke in Zootopia. Ratzenberger shows up and cashes his check and we enjoy it; Tudyk acts. I’m not saying one is better than the other, but … come on, one is better than the other

Advantage: Tudyk

The quality of the movies

There was a time when Pixar meant perfect. What was the worst movie in the first 15 or so years of its run? Bug’s Life? Cars? It was a great success rate. Since then, though, we’ve gotten two bad Cars sequels, a middling Monsters prequel, a underwhelming Nemo sequel, and The Good Dinosaur. I haven’t seen Brave or Onward, but I’m given to understand that those are fine, but perhaps not keeping up with the rest of the run. It’s still an incredible success rate, but it’s not “Well, it’s Pixar, so it’s perfect” anymore.

On the Disney animation side, Frozen II was bad (I’m sorry, but it was). Other than that, the studio has been on a serious hot streak since Tudyk arrived. Wreck-It Ralph, Frozen, Big Hero 6, Zootopia, Moana, and Ralph Breaks the Internet? That’s a crazy hot streak. (He was also in the single best Star Wars movie.) Now, that’s only seven movies he’s been in (nine if you count Rogue One and Aladdin), so it’s easier to have a successful run over nine movies than the 22 Ratzenberger has, but overall, both guys have had some crazy quality.

Advantage: Tie

The future

At present, each studio (Pixar and Walt Disney Animation) only has one concrete movie coming down the pike: Soul for Pixar, and Raya and the Last Dragon for Disney. And here’s the crucial point: Ratzenberger is in Soul. We don’t know the role yet, but he’s confirmed. Tudyk? He is not in Raya. The reasons for that haven’t been confirmed but are rumored to be linked to the departure of John Lasseter, but either way, Tudyk’s streak comes to an end after nine movies, while Ratzenberger’s continues to No. 23.

Advantage: Ratzenberger

Conclusion

John Ratzenberger is the winner here, as he probably should have been from the start. But Tudyk is closer than the general consensus would probably conclude. Pixar has Ratzenberger, Disney has (had?) Tudyk, both are very cool things, and I’m going to do the DiCaprio point any time my ears spot either one. And that’s fun.