Sharks fans who go to see Disney Pixar’s “Inside Out 2” — which opens at theaters this weekend — will hear a familiar voice of San Jose Sharks broadcaster Randy Hahn doing hockey play-by-play in the movie.
Hahn also had a voice cameo in the original “Inside Out” in 2015, and being cast again in the sequel scored him an invite to the glitzy Hollywood premiere this week at the El Capitan Theatre.
“It was a blast,” Hahn said. “This was a much bigger premiere than the first movie. You could tell there were a lot of Pixar people in the audience because they all cheered at the credits.”
Now, if you missed Hahn’s brief appearance in the first “Inside Out,” he calls the game that hockey-obsessed Riley’s dad is daydreaming about. Hahn’s star turn was the result of meeting then-Pixar boss John Lasseter at the Sonoma County Wine Auction years ago, and Lasseter dropped the broadcaster’s name when they were casting the part in 2015.
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He went to Pixar HQ in Emeryville and recorded material for about two hours, and he provided his expertise on the script for the play-by-play he was reading. Of course, it really was an acting job since he had to bring his voice up to the energy level of doing an NHL playoff game when all he was looking at were animated storyboards.
While Hahn’s voice was all over an early trailer for the movie, he was a little crestfallen to find out all but a few seconds of a his work wound up on the cutting room floor — though the residual checks he received certainly helped him deal with any disappointment.
About six weeks ago, he got a call from Pixar letting him know they were interested in using him again for the sequel. And because they had so much material from his 2015 recording session, all he needed to do was sign a contract for the new movie.
At the premiere, Hahn had no idea where or when his voice was being used and was braced for disappointment again. He’s in there, but you’ve got to get to the end of the movie to hear him.
Still, the Voice of the Sharks might be a good luck charm for “Inside Out.” The first movie won the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, and Hahn thinks the new one is even better.
“If this one wins the Oscar, too, I might have to retire,” Hahn said with a laugh. “But I’ll look at scripts.”