Profile of Joe Ranft on Famous Like Me

Joe Ranft (March 13, 1960 – August 16, 2005) was an animation story man, artist and voice actor who worked for Pixar and Disney.

After studying in the Character Animation program at the California Institute of the Arts, Ranft worked at Disney throughout the 1980's doing story work on animated features including The Rescuers Down Under and Beauty and the Beast. Joining Pixar in 1992, he worked on story development for all of Pixar's feature film releases, most recently as head of story on Cars. He was also the voice of Heimlich in A Bug's Life, Wheezy the Penguin in Toy Story 2, Lenny the Binoculars in Toy Story and Jacques in Finding Nemo.

Ranft died in a car accident when the 2004 Honda Element in which he was a passenger went off of a cliff into the ocean in Mendocino County on August 16, 2005. The California Highway Patrol said the crash occurred at about 3 p.m. as the driver, Elegba Earl, 32, of Los Angeles, tried to regain control of the car after swerving when he headed into a tight left curve while heading north on Highway 1. The car fell 130 feet over the side of the road, overturning twice before it landed in the water near the mouth of the Navarro River where it meets the Pacific Ocean. The third person in the car, whom the CHP identified as Eric Frierson, 39, of Los Angeles, survived by climbing through the sunroof. He was hospitalized with moderate injuries at Mendocino Coast Hospital.

The stop motion animation feature Tim Burton's Corpse Bride, released on September 16, 2005, was dedicated to his memory.

Selected Filmography

• Cars (2006)
• The Incredibles (2004)
• Finding Nemo (2003)
• Monsters, Inc. (2001)
• Toy Story 2 (1999)
• A Bug's Life (1998)
• Toy Story (1995)
• The Brave Little Toaster (1987)

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