When Toy Story debuted in 1995, the majority of the toys depicted in the film were original creations. However, Mr. Potato Head was one of the very few characters that was a real toy. It’s been a popular one since the 1950s and has remained a staple in the toy boxes of young children ever since. When Pixar decided to cast this very familiar toy, they went with a very familiar voice, comedian Don Rickles.
Rickles began his stand-up comedy career in the 1950s as a pioneering insult comedian. He also became a staple on television, particularly for his many appearances on The Tonight Show from the 1960s until his death in 2017. When he was cast as Mr. Potato Head, he played the character pretty much as himself, or at least the loudmouth, insulting persona he was known for onstage. The writers of the first Toy Story film even threw in a reference to Rickles’ act in the first film, when Mr. Potato Head looks at a toy hockey puck and asks, “What are you looking at, you hockey puck?” (“Hockey puck” was a common, nonsense insult he called people.)
Rickles played Mr. Potato Head for the first three Toy Story films. He died in 2017, then archival recordings of Rickles were used to give him a couple of lines in the fourth movie. But for Toy Story 5, Pixar decided it was time to recast the role, so they turned to a voice actor named Jeff Bergman. Being a shockingly accurate impersonator who has inherited legacy characters in the past like Bugs Bunny, Fred Flintstone, and many, many others, Bergman is the ideal replacement. That’s why Polygon caught up with him via telephone to ask these three questions about taking over for Rickles, a comedian Bergman says he’s been imitating since he was a kid in the 1960s.
Polygon: You have inherited a lot of legacy characters over the years. Was there anything unique about taking over Mr. Potato Head?
Jeff Bergman: Yes, there are a couple of things. First of all, this is the first time I’ve ever been part of a Toy Story film, and it is an epic honor of a lifetime to be in Toy Story 5. Then, to step in after Don Rickles, there’s a huge responsibility to the fans to get it right. Toy Story spans multiple generations. It’s become so important to children and families. So I think that makes it that much bigger.
Bugs Bunny and the Looney Tunes was an enormous responsibility and, in some ways, that was the most difficult thing of all because, being the first one to step in after Mel Blanc, that was very complex. People were accustomed to hearing Mel Blanc for 50 years, and by the time they heard my first performance, Mel had only passed away maybe six months earlier. It was exciting, but it was truly overwhelming.
Mr. Potato Head is different since the character has been around for 31 years, so it doesn’t quite have as much history, in that sense. And Don Rickles passed away nine years ago. I’m not saying it’s easier, but it’s a little different.
Did you already do Don Rickles before this role?
I did do a Don Rickles impersonation because I grew up being an enormous fan of his. I was introduced to him 58 years ago, when I was an eight-year-old kid, even before he became so well known for his appearances on The Tonight Show. He had an album that came out in the late ’60s called Hello Dummy. My parents were enormous fans of that album, and they would listen to it with their neighbors when I was supposed to be in bed at night. Instead, I was at the top of the stairs listening and giggling at what they were laughing at.
By the time I was in high school, I was watching those performances on The Tonight Show and I sort of became a high school version of that. I was kind of a cut-up and was voted the class clown. It was sort of in my DNA, I guess you could say.
So, I started doing a version of it in high school, but then years later, in 1989, Larry King had me on his radio show. He was a huge Don Rickles fan, and they were friends. I was doing a little bit of Don Rickles on the Larry King radio show and he was cracking up.
Aside from Rickles, do you have any special attachment to the Mr. Potato Head toy?
Well, I don’t know if you’re aware of this, but Mr. Potato Head is actually the very first toy ever to be marketed to children on television. It dates back to April 30, 1952. I had Mr. Potato Head as a child. It’s crazy, there I was, playing with a Mr. Potato Head while my parents were so enamored with Rickles. Then, so many years later, that would all come together at this intersection for me. It’s incredible.
