Whatever his detractors on Twitter might like to say about him, Chris Pratt is undoubtedly one of the busiest leading men in the industry right now. As one quarter of Hollywood’s Chris quartet, the former TV comedy star has retooled himself into an action heavyweight over the past 10 years, thanks to his physical transformation in Guardians of the Galaxy leading to multiple other blockbuster roles. e.g. Jurassic World, The Magnificent Seven, and, of course, Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame.
Alongside this, however, Pratt has also cultivated himself out as one of tinsel town’s go-to voice guys. Perhaps in part thanks to the occasional voice work he did prior to his big break (more on that later), the 43-year-old actor and father of three has found himself playing the lead in animated movies from such celebrated studios as Pixar, Illumination, and Warner Bros. Animation, with the combined total gross of these films reaching towards $1 billion.
In honor of The Super Mario Bros. Movie‘s release, here’s every major Chris Pratt vocal performance — reaching across TV, movies, and video games — ranked in order of quality.
Upcoming: Garfield (Garfield reboot)
Hands/paws up who forgot Chris Pratt was voicing Garfield? Yes, in news that many might have dismissed as a Twitter joke, Pratt really is bringing the lasagna-loving lazy kitty to life in an animated movie coming from Sony in summer 2024. Joining the actor in this third cinematic outing for the orange tabby are Nicholas Hoult, Ving Rhames, and Samuel L. Jackson (as Garfield’s dad?!). Only time will tell if Pratt is able to best Bill Murray as our new Garfield, but something tells us we’ve got another Mario situation on our hands.
Gorilla Boy (The Batman)
Those hoping (or maybe fearing) Chris Pratt will eventually show up in James Gunn’s DCU might be interested to know that he’s already part of the DC multiverse. Back when he was best known for The WB’s teen drama Everwood, Pratt made a guest spot on underrated animated series The Batman — no, it’s nothing to do with the Robert Pattinson films. He guest-starred on one 2008 episode of the show as Jake, a Gotham University student who is turned into Gorilla Boy thanks to an altered version of the Man-Bat serum.
Cooper Daniels (Ben 10 franchise)
In a similar vein, the pre-Parks and Recreation Pratt likewise appeared in two episodes of Ben 10: Ultimate Alien across 2010 to 2011. He voiced the teen version of Cooper Daniels, a character from the original Ben 10 series. Pratt reprised his role in 2011’s Ben 10 Ultimate Alien: Cosmic Destruction video game, although he was replaced by Eric Bauza for Ben 10: Omniverse. It’s easy to miss the fact that Pratt played the character at all, however, as he uses a deeper register than usual for Cooper.
Owen Grady (LEGO Dimensions)
One of Pratt’s most famous live-action characters is his turn as raptor trainer Owen Grady in the Jurassic World movies, but he got the chance to bring Owen to life in a whole new medium thanks to both the LEGO Jurassic World game and LEGO Dimensions. While not one of his most notable voice acting roles due to the relative lack of depth, Pratt does a solid job of aping his live-action performance and it was a thrill for fans playing these games to have him back on board as Owen.
Mario (The Super Mario Bros. Movie)
Yes, the internet has hated the idea of Pratt voicing Mario ever since he was first cast in The Super Mario Bros. Movie, but now that it’s here, critics are largely saying that — whatever its faults, and it has them — Pratt acquits himself surprisingly well in the title role. The movie’s revisionist take on the beloved plumber explains why Pratt’s version sounds nothing like the Charles Martinet video game icon and Pratt does his best to imbue Mario with some warmth. It’s certainly not his best vocal performance, but it’s not the travesty many were expecting.
Rex Dangervest (The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part)
As LEGO lovers will know, Pratt’s character in The LEGO Movies is Emmet Brickowsi — but let’s not forget his scene-stealing (from himself) secondary role as Rex Dangervest. Appearing in sequel The Second Part, Rex is everything Emmet isn’t — a super-confident adventuring hero (or, at least, that’s what he seems). Pratt clearly has a lot of fun with Rex, laying on the douche-yness and even taking the character to some unexpected darker and more dramatic places in the latter part of the film. A rare example of Pratt playing against type.
Barley Lightfoot (Onward)
It might not have remained part of the cultural conversation like certain other Pixar movies, but Onward is probably one of the finer efforts from the studio to come out of the past decade. In addition to its charming, emotional, and highly effective story — that blends fantasy tropes with a grounded story about grief — a lot of Onward‘s success is thanks to Marvel vet leads Tom Holland and Chris Pratt. The pair strike up an enjoyable chemistry as two very different brothers and certain moments involving Pratt’s character are guaranteed to have you welling up.
Emmet Brickowski (The LEGO Movie franchise)
Try as Mario might, and as much as Barley brings to Onward, there’s no question over the greatest of Chris Pratt’s several voice acting roles to date. It has to be the one, the only, the Special himself, Emmet Brickowski, the hapless Chosen One protagonist of the LEGO Movie franchise. Pratt’s endearing turn as Emmet, who remains adorably naive even in the face of the nature of his existence being questioned, makes him one of the most likeable characters in Pratt’s filmography. It’s a real shame The Second Part underperformed at the box office, thereby bringing the series to an early end.
