Performer
A performer whose catalogue work here is strong, with the fuller case still to be made.
Nutevio rank
#1623
of 909177 performers
Top 1%
Bill Farmer represents the rare performer whose career became more ambitious with every decade — 39 years in, and Bill is still choosing the harder script.
The essay
Our editors on the work, the patterns and the reason this body of work holds together.
Bill Farmer appears in 43 films in the Nutevio catalogue, and none of them would work the same way without Bill. Toy Story is the clearest case: a film rated 8.3 by our editors, where the performance carries weight the script only implies.
The recognisable elements are versatility, transformation, quiet performance. Watch two of these films back to back and the method separates from the material — the same instrument, tuned differently for animation, comedy, adventure. It is a style built on what is withheld as much as what is played.
Working with Broni Likomanov, Dan Abraham, Eddie Trigueros and others, Bill Farmer helped set a standard other performers now audition against. Awards bodies have been slower than the work, which is usually the sign of a career built on choices rather than campaigns.
Toy Story (1995) as Monotone Announcer (voice) · Ratatouille (2007) as Paris Citizens (voice) (uncredited) · Monsters, Inc. (2001) as Additional Voices (voice)
Career snapshot
Ranked #1623 of 909177 performers tracked in the Nutevio library.
Films in Nutevio
43
1987–2026
Career length
39 yrs
Measured across our catalogue
Academy Awards
—
Unknown
Oscar nominations
—
Unknown
Highest Nutevio score
8.3
Toy Story
Average Nutevio score
6.9
Across catalogue work
Highest IMDb rating
8.3
Once Upon a Studio
Most frequent director
John Lasseter
4 films together
Longest collaboration
4×
With John Lasseter
Most common genre
Animation
39 titles
Average runtime
1h 14m
Across catalogue work
Golden Globe wins
—
Unknown
Nutevio metric
Ten weighted categories, applied identically to everyone we cover.
Nutevio Performer Score
7.1
out of 10
A performer whose catalogue work here is strong, with the fuller case still to be made.
Nutevio metric
Cultural impact and legacy, measured separately from craft — how far the work travelled once it left the cinema.
Nutevio Influence Score
6.9
out of 10
A quieter influence — felt inside the films rather than across the industry.
How far the work travelled past the people who saw it first.
What survives once the release-week conversation has burned off.
Institutional acknowledgement, weighted but never decisive.
Years of chosen, relevant work rather than years merely employed.
Statuettes, read as evidence rather than verdict.
Roles named without needing the film named alongside them.
Directors who wrote parts because this performer existed.
The reading other performers now have to answer.
Actor DNA
A fingerprint derived from the roles themselves — register, range and the kind of film they carry.
The shape of a career
Every performance plotted in time. Hover a point to read the title behind it.
Peak years
Where the scores, the awards and the sheer volume of work agree with each other.
Best decade
1980s
7.4 average MV
The 1980s are where the work and the material meet. RoboCop — the run our editors reach for first when the argument is about range rather than fame.
Highest average Nutevio score
1980s
7.4
Across 1 catalogue film in this decade, our scores never drop below the level a career is judged on.
Highest average IMDb rating
1980s
7.4
The public agrees most strongly about this stretch — useful context, and occasionally a decade behind our own reading.
Most awarded era
1980s
0 Academy Awards
Statuettes for the films themselves, which is the honest way to read an ensemble career. RoboCop.
Most productive era
2020s
14 films
The busiest stretch of the catalogue — volume that reads as appetite rather than availability.
Range, mapped
Genres down the side, decades across the top. Warmer cells mean stronger titles.
| Genre | 1980s | 1990s | 2000s | 2010s | 2020s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Drama | — | 7.43 films | — | — | 7.71 film |
| Action | 7.41 film | — | — | 6.51 film | — |
| Thriller | 7.41 film | — | — | — | — |
| Comedy | — | 7.19 films | 7.17 films | 6.76 films | 7.18 films |
| Romance | — | 7.42 films | — | — | — |
Chronology
Firsts and peaks
The turning points, in the order they happened.
First film in Nutevio
1987RoboCop
Where our catalogue meets this career, as Justin Ballard-Watkins.
Highest rated performance · Career peak
1995Toy Story
8.3 on the Nutevio scale, the top of the catalogue for this performer. Weighing billing against the film's own quality, this is the point where everything aligned at once.
Most recent film
The current state of the argument, as Goofy/Pluto/Additional Voices (voice).
Our order
Every performance in the catalogue, ordered by Nutevio Score.
Every title
Filter by genre or decade, and compare any two titles side by side.
43 of 43 films
as Monotone Announcer (voice)
Directed by John Lasseter
as Paris Citizens (voice) (uncredited)
Directed by Brad Bird
as Additional Voices (voice)
Directed by Pete Docter
as Goofy / Pluto (voice)
Directed by Dan Abraham
as Goofy / Pluto (voice)
Directed by David H. Brooks
From the library
Every movie and TV credit stored for this name in the Nutevio catalogue — filter by media, role or sort by rating.
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The defining work
#1
Monotone Announcer (voice)
Toy Story (1995)
Performance score8.0
The performance the rest of the career is read through. Monotone Announcer (voice) gives Bill Farmer a structure to work against, and the film hands over its centre of gravity without hesitation.
View movie#2
Paris Citizens (voice) (uncredited)
Ratatouille (2007)
Performance score7.8
Ratatouille asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Paris Citizens (voice) (uncredited) is played without a single line of pleading for the audience's sympathy — which is exactly why it lands.
View movie#3
Additional Voices (voice)
Monsters, Inc. (2001)
Performance score7.8
Monsters, Inc. asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Additional Voices (voice) is played without a single line of pleading for the audience's sympathy — which is exactly why it lands.
View movie#4
Goofy / Pluto (voice)
Once Upon a Studio (2023)
Performance score7.7
Once Upon a Studio asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Goofy / Pluto (voice) is played without a single line of pleading for the audience's sympathy — which is exactly why it lands.
View movieStart here
A guided path through the work, ordered so each film explains the next.
Best entry point
as Monotone Announcer (voice)
Start here. Toy Story is the clearest statement of what Bill Farmer does — accessible, 81 minutes, and rated 8.3 by our editors. No context required.
Our editors order this path by accessibility first and chronology second. You meet Bill at the most legible performance, then move forward in time so each film reads as a response to the one before it rather than a repetition of it.
Monsters, Inc. (2001)
Keeps the comedy register of Toy Story but asks for a colder reading of it.
Ratatouille (2007)
Keeps the comedy register of Monsters, Inc. but asks for a colder reading of it.
Mickey Saves Christmas (2022)
Keeps the comedy register of Ratatouille but asks for a colder reading of it.
Once Upon a Studio (2023)
Keeps the comedy register of Mickey Saves Christmas but asks for a colder reading of it.
Company kept
The directors and performers this career keeps returning to.
John Lasseter
Director
4 films together
Notably Toy Story
Kirk Wise
Director
2 films together
Notably Beauty and the Beast
Kevin Lima
Director
2 films together
Notably Tarzan
Mark Dindal
Director
2 films together
Notably The Emperor's New Groove
Brad Bird
Director
2 films together
Notably Ratatouille
Chris Renaud
Director
2 films together
Notably The Lorax
Kyle Balda
Director
2 films together
Notably Despicable Me 3
Scott Mosier
Director
2 films together
Notably Minions & More 2
William Reiss
Director
2 films together
Notably The Wonderful Winter of Mickey Mouse
David H. Brooks
Director
2 films together
Notably Mickey Saves Christmas
Broni Likomanov
Director
2 films together
Notably Mickey and Minnie Wish Upon a Christmas
Paul Verhoeven
Director
1 film together
Notably RoboCop
Brian Henson
Director
1 film together
Notably The Muppet Christmas Carol
Brad Silberling
Director
1 film together
Notably Casper
Joe Pytka
Director
1 film together
Notably Space Jam
Tim Hill
Director
1 film together
Notably Muppets from Space
Pete Docter
Director
1 film together
Notably Monsters, Inc.
Will Finn
Director
1 film together
Notably Home on the Range
Carlos Saldanha
Director
1 film together
Notably Ice Age: The Meltdown
Garth Jennings
Director
1 film together
Notably Sing
Dan Povenmire
Director
1 film together
Notably Phineas and Ferb the Movie: Candace Against the Universe
Jeff Gordon
Director
1 film together
Notably Mickey's Tale of Two Witches
Jason Reicher
Director
1 film together
Notably The Wonderful Summer of Mickey Mouse
Eddie Trigueros
Director
1 film together
Notably The Wonderful World of Mickey Mouse: Steamboat Silly
Dan Abraham
Director
1 film together
Notably Once Upon a Studio
Behind the camera
Who casts this performer, how often, and what the pairing produces.
John Lasseter
Director
4 films together · 7.6 avg MV
A working relationship rather than a booking — 4 films, and the register shifts each time.
Best film together
Toy StoryBrad Bird
Director
2 films together · 8.0 avg MV
A working relationship rather than a booking — 2 films, and the register shifts each time.
Best film together
RatatouilleKirk Wise
Director
2 films together · 7.5 avg MV
A working relationship rather than a booking — 2 films, and the register shifts each time.
Best film together
Beauty and the BeastDavid H. Brooks
Director
2 films together · 7.3 avg MV
A working relationship rather than a booking — 2 films, and the register shifts each time.
Best film together
Mickey Saves ChristmasMark Dindal
Director
2 films together · 7.3 avg MV
A working relationship rather than a booking — 2 films, and the register shifts each time.
Best film together
The Emperor's New GrooveKevin Lima
Director
2 films together · 7.3 avg MV
A working relationship rather than a booking — 2 films, and the register shifts each time.
Best film together
TarzanScott Mosier
Director
2 films together · 7.2 avg MV
A working relationship rather than a booking — 2 films, and the register shifts each time.
Best film together
Minions & More 2William Reiss
Director
2 films together · 6.7 avg MV
A working relationship rather than a booking — 2 films, and the register shifts each time.
Best film together
The Wonderful Winter of Mickey MouseKyle Balda
Director
2 films together · 6.5 avg MV
A working relationship rather than a booking — 2 films, and the register shifts each time.
Best film together
Despicable Me 3Chris Renaud
Director
2 films together · 6.4 avg MV
A working relationship rather than a booking — 2 films, and the register shifts each time.
Best film together
The LoraxBroni Likomanov
Director
2 films together · 3.5 avg MV
A working relationship rather than a booking — 2 films, and the register shifts each time.
Best film together
Mickey and Minnie Wish Upon a ChristmasPete Docter
Director
1 film together · 8.1 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Monsters, Inc.Dan Abraham
Director
1 film together · 7.7 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Once Upon a StudioPaul Verhoeven
Director
1 film together · 7.4 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
RoboCopDan Povenmire
Director
1 film together · 7.2 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Phineas and Ferb the Movie: Candace Against the UniverseBrian Henson
Director
1 film together · 7.2 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The Muppet Christmas CarolGarth Jennings
Director
1 film together · 7.1 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
SingJason Reicher
Director
1 film together · 7.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The Wonderful Summer of Mickey MouseJeff Gordon
Director
1 film together · 7.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Mickey's Tale of Two WitchesEddie Trigueros
Director
1 film together · 6.9 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The Wonderful World of Mickey Mouse: Steamboat SillyCarlos Saldanha
Director
1 film together · 6.9 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Ice Age: The MeltdownJoe Pytka
Director
1 film together · 6.9 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Space JamBrad Silberling
Director
1 film together · 6.5 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
CasperWill Finn
Director
1 film together · 6.1 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Home on the RangeTim Hill
Director
1 film together · 6.1 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Muppets from SpaceSix degrees
Follow the thread outward — director, film, co-star, and the film after that.
Categories of our own
Six editorial categories we apply to every performer we cover.
Most rewatchable
Ratatouille
as Paris Citizens (voice) (uncredited)
The one that survives a fourth viewing. Nothing in the performance depends on surprise, which is why it keeps paying out.
Most emotional performance
Beauty and the Beast
as Additional Voices (voice)
Grief played at conversational volume. The film never asks the audience to cry; the performance simply makes it difficult not to.
Most influential performance
Toy Story
as Monotone Announcer (voice)
You can hear this reading in other actors' auditions a decade later — the surest measure of influence there is.
Best ensemble performance
Tarzan
as Additional Voices (voice) (uncredited)
Work that makes everyone else in the frame better without ever pulling the camera towards itself.
Career defining performance
Toy Story
as Monotone Announcer (voice)
If the career had to be argued in a single scene, our editors would pick one from this film and rest the case.
In their films' words
“You can build a whole film around a performer who knows when not to speak. Bill Farmer has known it for a long time.”
Head to head
Put two careers on the same scale and see where the argument actually sits.
Ours alone
Recognitions handed out by this desk, on criteria no awards body uses.
Career Achievement
Awarded
39 years of relevant work — not merely a long career, but a long career of choices.
Modern Classic Performer
Awarded
Defining performances delivered inside the last twenty-five years, in films already being taught rather than merely remembered.
Animation Legend
Awarded
39 catalogue titles in animation, each one a reference point for the films that followed.
Our desk
Best ending, best opening, best twist and the rest — categories we apply to everyone we cover.
Best ending
Ratatouille
as Paris Citizens (voice) (uncredited)
The last five minutes reorganise everything before them, and hold up when you already know what's coming.
Best opening
RoboCop
as Justin Ballard-Watkins
A first sequence that states the rules of the film without explaining a single one of them.
Most emotional
Tarzan
as Additional Voices (voice) (uncredited)
The film where the technique steps aside and lets the feeling arrive undefended.
Best twist
Beauty and the Beast
as Additional Voices (voice)
A reversal earned by information the film gave you and trusted you to misread.
Best visual achievement
Toy Story
as Monotone Announcer (voice)
Images that would survive with the sound switched off.
Best action sequence
Despicable Me 3
as Additional Voice (voice)
Geography, stakes and consequence held in the same frame — spectacle you can follow.
Best dialogue
A Goofy Movie
as Goofy (voice)
Lines written to be spoken, staged so the pauses do half the work.
Most underrated film
Toy Story
as Monotone Announcer (voice)
The public vote sits below ours on this one, and the direction is the reason for the gap.
If you like this performer
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Elliot Page
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Michael Caine
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David Krumholtz
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Have your say
Community
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Reference
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