On the eve of the early IMAX-only opening of Mission Impossible – Ghost Protocol, the Brad Bird film is pulling in overwhelmingly great reviews. It has already been certified “fresh” by Rotten Tomatoes and is currently sitting above 90% on the Tomatometer with more reviews continuing to roll in. The consensus seems to be that there are incredible action sequences and likable characters. One of those characters is played by Pixar’s Teddy Newton (Chatter Telephone in Toy Story 3). Ironically enough, his uncredited role in Ghost Protocol also has to do with a phone. Jump ahead to find out just what his role in the film is.
Teddy Newton is rather versatile. He came over with Brad Bird when the director moved to Pixar to work on The Incredibles. In those days, he primarily served as a character designer. He made the jump to the directorial role in 2010 with the Oscar nominated Day & Night (not Night & Day, as it is often mistakenly referred to).
However, he is also talented in the area of voice work. Many Pixar employees have contributed scratch voices while films are in production, filling the role of the actor before the actual cast performs the voices. Sometimes, the scratch voices are so good that they end up being used in the final film (Joe Ranft’s Heimlich voice for A Bug’s Life being a perfect example). Teddy Newton is one of the more gifted actors at the studio, voicing characters in Cars, Ratatouille, WALL-E, Up, and the aforementioned Toy Story 3 and The Incredibles. Recently, he was the voice of Mini Buzz in the Toy Story Toon – Small Fry, which is now playing in theatres with The Muppets.
Teddy Newton has now followed Brad Bird once again to Mission Impossible – Ghost Protocol as he serves as the over-the-phone voice that gives the team their mission instructions. While it is only a small bit part, it is a very cool cameo nonetheless. Newton has a unique voice, which is one of the reasons why it appears in many Pixar films (and now Mission Impossible).
UPDATE (1/4/12): I have added a clip featuring Teddy Newton’s voice below:
I also hear that there are some Pixar references in the film. In every film from the animation studio, A113 appears on screen, in reference to the famed classroom at CalArts that students such as Brad Bird and John Lasseter attended. There are already reports of A113 being sighted at least twice in the film, so there are sure to be other references to Pixar as well. Keep a look out and let us know when you spot it!
Mission Impossible – Ghost Protocol is debuting in IMAX theatres December 16. It opens nationwide on all screens on Wednesday, December 21.
