Dunder Mifflin’s Disney Clientele

On July 9th, 2001, the British Broadcasting Company (BBC) began to air a sit-com about a group of office co-workers who reluctantly work together underneath a tyrannical manager named David Brent, played by Ricky Gervais. The series won two Golden Globes for Best Television Series-Comedy or Musical and Best Actor in a Television Series Comedy or Musical for Gervais. The show ran for two seasons on the BBC. Two years after it went off the BBC, it was reinvented with a cast of American actors on the National Broadcasting Company (NBC) and on that network it aired for nine seasons from 2005-2013, winning one Golden Globe and five Primetime Emmy Awards. Many of the stars of this beloved sit-com, have been in films for Disney.

Steve Carrell won a Golden Globe for his performance as Michael Scott, the manager of Dunder Mifflin. In the midst of the show’s 3rd and 4th seasons, Carrell played Dan in Touchstone Pictures’ Dan in Real Life (2007). Carrell departed “The Office” toward the end of the show’s seventh season in 2011, and later portrayed Ben Cooper, father of Alex Cooper in Disney’s Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day (2014). He was the voice of Mr. Delancey in the Toon Disney Series Filmore! (2002-2004), Hammy the squirrel in Dreamworks’ Over the Hedge (2006) and Felonius Gru in the Despicable Me series (2010-2017). Steve Carrell is also known for having made three films with Jim Carrey, (who ironically appeared in one of the “Michael-less,” episodes of “The Office,”): Bruce Almighty (2003), The Incredible Burt Wonderstone (2013) and both lent their voices to Blue Sky Studios’ animated film of Horton Hears a Who! (2008).

John Krasinski played Jim Halpert in all 188 episodes of “The Office.” For Disney, Krasinski and his wife, Emily Blunt, both made cameos in The Muppets (2011). He also provided the voice of Frightening in Monsters University (2013) and narrated the Disneynature documentary, Born in China (2016). Krasinski is also a skilled director, having directed three episodes of “The Office,” the drama comedies Brief Interviews With Hideous Men (2009) and The Hollars (2016) and this year’s horror flick A Quiet Place (2018). Outside of his acting and directing skills, John Krasinski received two Primetime Emmy Nominations for appearing as himself on the show Lip Sync Battle (2015-present).

Phyllis Smith played Phyllis Vance on “The Office,” and Mindy Kaling played Kelly Kapor on the show as well. Smith and Kaling were the voices of Sadness and Disgust in Disney/Pixar’s Inside Out (2015). Kaling also was the voice of Taffyta Muttonfudge in Wreck-It Ralph (2012) and portrayed Mrs. Who in A Wrinkle in Time (2018). Smith appeared in an episode of Disney/ABC’s The Middle (2009-2018), and like Kaling, has reprised her character from “Inside Out,” for the short Riley’s First Date? (2015) and for the Disney Infinity 3.0 (2015) video game.

B.J. Novak played the role of Ryan Howard on “The Office.” He also wrote 15 episodes of “The Office,” and even served as one of the show’s executive producers. The year the show went off the air, B.J. Novak was cast as Robert B. Sherman, brother of Richard M. Sherman, in Saving Mr. Banks (2013), Disney’s biopic on the making of Mary Poppins (1964) in which Novak and Jason Schwartzman played the Academy-Award-winning composer/lyricist team of “Mary Poppins.” His character of Ryan Howard had an on-again/off-again relationship with Kelly Kapor on the show, and that ironically mirrored a real life relationship that Novak had with Mindy Kaling. While they are no longer together, they reunited on Mindy’s show The Mindy Project (2012-2017), in which he acted and was a consulting producer through the show’s first season.

Melora Hardin portrayed Jan Levinson-Gould, a love interest of Michael’s on “The Office.” At just 12 years of age, Melora Hardin made her feature film debut in Disney’s The North Avenue Irregulars (1979). At 24 she played the South Seas Singer in The Rocketeer (1991). She later played Claire Poulet in the Wonderful World of Disney film Tower of Terror (1997) based on the Disney Park Attraction of the same name, Mrs. Carol Spencer in Buena Vista’s The Hot Chick (2002) with Rob Schneider, and Lorelai in Hannah Montana: The Movie (2009). Hardin also played Trudy Monk/Cameron on the Universal/ABC show Monk (2002-2009), and currently stars on Freeform’s drama series The Bold Type (2017-present).

Each of these actors will be best remembered for who they played on “The Office,” though they have managed to achieve versatility with their roles in both Disney films and by writing, producing, directing, etc. They are all truly talented!

Disney Nature Voices

The Disneynature film company was founded on April 21st, 2008. It is headquartered in Paris, France and run by Jean-Francois Camilleri who also serves as senior vice president and general manager for Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures France. Disney decided to create this company as a result of the Warner Bros. documentary March of the Penguins winning the Academy Award for Best Documentary Film in 2006. It is reminiscent of Walt Disney himself, who produced the True-Life Adventure Series from 1948-1960 (which also won a great deal of Academy Awards). Today the Disneynature company has produced several interesting films. Most of them have had theatrical releases, though some have been direct-to-video. Each of them, however, has been narrated by talented actors who have also worked on other films for the Disney Studios.

James Earl Jones was the narrator of Disneynature’s very first film Earth (2007). Jones provided the voice of Mufasa in The Lion King (1994) and it’s direct-to-video sequel The Lion King 2: Simba’s Pride (1998). He will portray Mufasa again in Disney’s upcoming live-action adaptation of The Lion King in 2019. Besides Mufasa, James Earl Jones was also one of the segment introductory hosts in Fantasia 2000 (1999) and narrated Disney’s American Legends (2002) which is a direct-to-video compilation of shorts about people like John Henry and Johnny Appleseed. He narrated the “Lion King” segment of the feature “The Story Behind the Story,” for the 2001 DVD edition release of Beauty and the Beast (1991) and was the voice of Santa Claus in the Disney Channel Original series Recess (1997-2001) and its direct-to-video movie, Recess Christmas: Miracle on 3rd Street (2001). Jones also reprised his trademark voice-over performance as Darth Vader for the Disney Park Attraction Star Tours: The Adventures Continue and the Oscar-nominated film Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2014). 

Pierce Brosnan narrated Disneynature’s Oceans (2010). When Brosnan played James Bond from 1995-2002, he made a guest appearance on the show Muppets Tonight (1996-1998) as James Bond. He is also the current voice of Grimsby, Prince Eric’s elderly guardian from The Little Mermaid (1989) whenever the character makes an appearance in a Disney video game. He will next be seen reprising his role as Sam Carmichael, one of the three “fathers” in Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again (2018), the sequel to Mamma Mia! (2008) with Meryl Streep.

  

Meryl Streep narrated Wings of Life (2011) which was Disney’s first direct-to-video film. For Disney, Streep played the Witch in Into the Woods (2014) which earner her a 19th Academy Award Nomination. She will next be seen as Mary Poppins’ cousin Topsy in Disney’s upcoming sequel Mary Poppins Returns (2018), which will reunite her with “Into the Woods,”/The Devil Wears Prada (2006) co-star, Emily Blunt as the title character and “Into the Woods,” director Rob Marshall.

Samuel L. Jackson narrated African Cats (2011). Jackson voiced Frozone in The Incredibles (2004) and he will be back for the sequel as well. He is also known for portraying the role of Nick Fury in the Marvel Cinematic Universe including the films: Iron Man (2008), Iron Man 2 (2010), Thor (2011), Captain America: The First Avenger (2011), The Avengers (2012), Captain America: The Winder Soldier (2014), Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015), Avengers: Infinity War (2018). He also portrayed the character in Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (2013-present) and will do it again in the upcoming films Captain Marvel (2019) and Avengers 4 (2019).

Tim Allen narrated Chimpanzee (2012). Allen made his Disney debut as Tim “The Toolman” Taylor in the ABC series Home Improvement (1991-1999), which is a role that earned him five Golden Globe Nominations and one Primetime Emmy Nomination. He later lent his voice to Buzz Lightyear in Toy Story (1995) and since then has voiced the character for all of its sequels and short films, including the upcoming Toy Story 4 (2019). Prior to the first “Toy Story,” he played the role of Scott Calvin/Santa Claus in The Santa Clause (1994), and reprised that role for two sequels The Santa Clause 2 (2002) and The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause (2006). “The Santa Clause 3,” reunited him with Martin Short, with whom Allen worked on Disney’s Jungle 2 Jungle (1997). He also made a remake of The Shaggy Dog for Disney in 2006 and in 2007, he made Touchstone’s Wild Hogs.

John C. Reilly narrated Bears (2014). Reilly voiced Wreck-It Ralph in Wreck-It Ralph (2012) and its sequel Ralph Breaks the Internet: Wreck-It Ralph 2 (2018). Reilly is also given screen credit for having made story contribution to the first film. Besides “Ralph,” Reilly played Rhomann Dey in Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy (2014). He also had roles in Touchstone’s Boys (1996), Gangs of New York (2002), Dark Water (2005), and he played Amos Hart in Mirimax’s smash hit film adaptation of Chicago (2002) which earned him an Academy Award Nomination as Best Supporting Actor for the performance.

Tina Fey narrated Monkey Kingdom (2015). Fey also voiced Lisa in the Disney/Studio Ghibli film Ponyo (2008) and she played Nadya in Muppets Most Wanted (2014). She was the  voice of Jenny Johnson on the Disney Channel Series Phineas and Ferb (2007-2015). Fey has written and collaborated with close friend, Amy Poehler (who is known at Disney as the voice of Joy in Disney/Pixar’s Inside Out (2015)) on three films: Mean Girls (2004), Baby Mama (2008), and Sisters (2015).

   

John Krasinski narrated Born in China (2016). Before narrating that film, Krasinski made a cameo as himself in The Muppets (2011) and also voiced Frank McCay in Monsters University (2013), the prequel to Monsters, Inc. (2001). Krasinski is also known for playing the role of Jim Halpert on the NBC sitcom The Office (2005-2013).

A Disneynature documentary is appealing for all kinds of reasons: scenic locations, cute subjects, etc., but one of the things that makes the story worth hearing is a well-chosen narrator. And while each of these people are exceptional actors, they also have done noteworthy work as narrators. And thanks to each of their talented voices, the movies themselves have all done reasonably well for the studio. 

Simply Incredible

On November 5, 2004, Disney and Pixar released a film called The Incredibles. The film told a story about a family of superheroes, despite attempting to live a quiet suburban life, team up for an adventure to save the world from evil. On the way, they discover what makes themselves unique both individually and as a family. It was the very first film that Disney produced with Pixar that told a story in which the main characters were humans, and it won two Academy Awards for Best Animated Feature and Best Sound Editing. And on June 15th, 2018, the family Incredible will finally be coming back to movie theaters in Incredibles 2 (2018). Many of the cast and crew members from “The Incredibles,” have worked on other films for the Disney Studios as well, both before and in between production of the “Incredibles,” films.

Craig T. Nelson was the voice of the family patriarch Mr. Incredible in “The Incredibles,” otherwise known as Bob Parr, and he will reprise his role for the sequel. Before he lent his voice to Mr. Incredible he won one Emmy and received four Golden Globe nomination for his role as Coach Hayden Fox in the ABC sit-com Coach (1989-1997). The same year that “Coach,” went on the air, he appeared in the Touchstone Pictures film Turner & Hooch (1989) with Tom Hanks and 20 years after that, he was in Touchstone’s The Proposal (2009) with Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds. Nelson also played Dr. Rovinsky in Soul Surfer (2011), and in addition to “Incredibles 2,” he has a part in the upcoming comedy Book Club (2018) which reunites him with Diane Keaton, whom he worked with in The Family Stone (2005) and Mary Steenburgen who played his wife in “The Proposal.”   

Holly Hunter provided the voice of the fiercely independent, though loving wife and mother, Mrs. Incredible, and she also will voice the character in the sequel. Before lending her voice to Mrs. Incredible, like Craig T. Nelson, she acted in two different Touchstone Pictures film also. She played Penny Wharvey McGill in O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000), opposite George Clooney, John Turturro, and Tim Blake Nelson and then she played Mona Camp in Moonlight Mile (2002) opposite Dustin Hoffman and Jake Gyllenhaal. In “Brother,” she was directed by Ethan and Joel Coen. Having been roommates with Coen brothers in the early 1980s, Hunter’s first leading female role was in the Coen brothers’ romantic comedy Raising Arizona (1987). The same year, she starred in Broadcast News (1987), which earned her first Academy Award Nomination as Best Actress. (Her “Broadcast News,” co-star Albert Brooks, was the voice of Marlin in Finding Nemo (2003) which was released the year prior to “The Incredibles.”) She lost that year to Cher in Moonstruck, though she won six years later for the film The Piano (1993), making her the only “Incredible,” to win an Oscar.

Samuel L. Jackson voiced the Incredibles best friend Frozone, and he will be back for the sequel as well. Jackson was the narrator for the Disneynature film African Cats (2011). He is known for portraying the role of Nick Fury in the Marvel Cinematic Universe including the films: Iron Man (2008), Iron Man 2 (2010), Thor (2011), Captain America: The First Avenger (2011), The Avengers (2012), Captain America: The Winder Soldier (2014), Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015), Avengers: Infinity War (2018). He also portrayed the character in Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (2013-present) and will do it again in the upcoming films Captain Marvel (2019) and Avengers 4 (2019). Jackson is also known for portraying Jedi Master Mace Windu in the Star Wars prequel trilogy: The Phantom Menace (1999), Attack of the Clones (2002), and Revenge of the Sith (2005). He received a Best Supporting Actor Oscar Nomination for his performance as Jules Winnfield in Pulp Fiction (1994).

Jason Lee lent his voice to the character of Buddy Pine, who grew up to be the villainous Syndrome in “The Incredibles.” After voicing the main antagonist in the film, he voiced the heroic Underdog in the live-action/CGI animatronic Disney film Underdog (2007). He also acted in Buena Vista’s Enemy of the State (1998) opposite Gene Hackman and Will Smith, Touchstone’s Mumford (1999), Mirimax’s Jay and Silent Bob Strikes Back (2001), Jersey Girl (2004), the last two both of which he starred opposite Ben Affleck. While he will not be returning for the “Incredibles,” sequel, he will have a part in Disney’s upcoming sequel to Wreck-It Ralph (2012), Ralph Breaks the Internet: Wreck-It Ralph 2 (2018). He also received two Golden Globe nominations for his role as Earl Hickey in the NBC comedy series My Name is Earl (2005-2009).          

Brad Bird is the writer/director of both “Incredibles,” movies. In addition to winning the Best Animated Feature Film for the first “Incredibles,” he won a second Best Animated Feature Oscar for Ratatouille (2007) and directed the “Incredibles” short film Jack-Jack Attack (2005), which was released as a special feature on the ’05 DVD release of the first “Incredibles.” He was the voices of Edna Mode the superhero costume designer in “The Incredibles,” and Ambrister Minion in “Ratatouille.” Besides animation, he also has directed live-action films including: Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol (2011), the fourth film in the series, and Disney’s Tomorrowland (2015). He made his film directorial debut with Warner Bros. The Iron Giant (1999). (Both “Iron Giant,” and “The Incredibles 2,” featured caricatures of Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston who were members of Walt Disney’s “Nine Old Men.”)

Michael Giacchino composed the music for both “Incredibles,” movies. Before writing music for movies, he began his career writing music for short films and video games such as: Gargoyles (1995) and The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997). His music made its feature film debut in the film Sin (2003) with Gary Oldman and Ving Rhames. He reunited with Brad Bird to write the music for “Ratatouille,” “Tomorrowland,” and “Ghost Protocol.” Besides his collaborations with Bird, he has also written the music for a variety of classic Disney animated and live-action films including: Up (2009) which awarded him the Oscar for Best Original Score, Inside Out (2015), Zootopia (2016), and Coco (2017). And he wrote the music for Marvel’s Doctor Strange (2016) and Spiderman: Homecoming (2017). Outside of Disney, Pixar, and Marvel, he wrote the music for Star Trek (2009), Jurassic World (2015), and Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (2018).

“The Incredibles,” is one of Disney/Pixar’s best films. Whether or not the sequel will be as “incredible” as the first remains to be seen. The contributions that each of these people made to the first film made it an absolute blockbuster.