The Legacy of John Ratzenberger
Soul made its Disney+ debut on Christmas Day of 2020, and on first viewing, it seemed as though seasoned Pixar voice actor John Ratzenberger didn't have a part in the film - but he does. Many voices in Soul are easily recognizable, but it's somewhat difficult to make out Ratzenberger's signature gruffness anywhere. After several fans commented on not being able to discern his voice, director Pete Docter confirmed in an interview with CinemaBlend that Ratzenberger does indeed make a very brief appearance in Soul, but declined to give specific details. While older generations remember John Ratzenberger as Cliff the mailman on the television classic Cheers, younger generations may know him best from his roles - both major and minor - in 23 Pixar films. He's been lending his voice to the studio since 1995's Toy Story, in which he played Hamm the piggy bank. Since then, he's played a ringmaster flea in A Bug's Life, John in Wall-E, Yeti in the Monsters, Inc. movies, and construction worker Fenwick in Onward, among others. That's why viewers were concerned when Ratzenberger was seemingly absent from Pixar's latest feature.
Joe Gardner (Jamie Foxx), the jazz pianist and music teacher in Soul, looking disappointed in the mirror
Though it remains unconfirmed and uncredited, there is a character in Soul whose voice sounds very similar to John Ratzenberger's. Of course, actors can mask and alter their voices to fit their onscreen characters, but Ratzenberger has a very distinctive cadence that remains unchanged in many of his roles. The blink-and-you'll-miss-it scene in Soul occurs when Joe bumps into a fellow passenger on the subway. The passenger, a quintessential annoyed New Yorker, shoots, 'Hey, take it easy, eh?' The character sounds like John Ratzenberger, and it may very well be him. Because it remains unconfirmed, there's no way to definitively know if it is actually him. If it is though, it's the smallest part he's had yet in a Pixar film. There are other characters John Ratzenberger might have voiced throughout the course of the movie, like 22's famous mentors or people Joe encounters on the street. It is unlikely though, considering none of them sound even remotely like Ratzenberger.
John Ratzenberger cameo in Soul
In addition to having a character that sounds like John Ratzenberger, Soul has a character that looks like him as well. The character can be seen wearing a tie in one of Soul's scenes in a New York subway station. According to Pixar Post, co-writer and co-director of Soul, Kemp Powers, has confirmed that it was indeed supposed to be Ratzenberger.
Pixar's Soul Joe with a cat on his shoulder
