A giant heart, a giant talent, a giant smile-maker. His brother, Jerome Ranft, is a sculptor who also worked on several Pixar movies. background: '#333333', "I've never seen anyone try to improve himself as much as Joe did over the years.". Film animation artist Joe Ranft, a key member of the creative team at Pixar Animation Studios who helped conceive and shape "A Toy Story" and "A Bug's Life" and did voices for many of the Emeryville firm's hit movies, died Tuesday in a car crash in Mendocino County. [citation needed], His favorite writers were Kurt Vonnegut, Hunter S. Thompson, and Tom Wolfe. Also known as Erick J Frieson, Eric Jary Frieson. "He was funny, poignant, original, and he had an infallible sense for how to structure a story. color: '#ffffff' While at Disney, Ranft became friends with John Lasseter, who later became a top executive at Pixar Animation Studios. '"[2], Around this time, he studied under and began performing with the improvisational group, The Groundlings. John and I had a pact that when he directed his first feature, I was going to work on it, Ranft told The Times. Finishing high school in fall 1978, Joe Ranft began studying in the character animation program at the California Institute of the Arts. [1] Around this time, he studied under and began performing with the improvisational group, The Groundlings. Update (12:08pm): Animation legend Floyd Norman remembers Joe Ranft: Amid Amidi is Cartoon Brew's Publisher and Editor-at-large. [5][6] The movers themselves are modeled after Ranft and his brother Jerome, who voiced one of the movers. interval: 30000, The . Joe Ranft. } On August 16, 2005, Ranft, 45, and his friend Eric Frierson, 39, were passengers in Ranft's 2004 Honda Element, which was being driven by another friend, Elegba Earl, 32. On August 16, 2005, Ranft, 45, and his friend Eric Frierson, 39, were passengers in Ranft's 2004 Honda Element, which was being driven by another friend, Elegba Earl, 32. Earl suddenly lost control and . Script error: No such module "WikidataCheck". document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email. He was a big part of our lives and we loved him and loved working with him. The population at work had never been this silent except for the sound of grief. Joseph Henry "Joe" Ranft (March 13, 1960 - August 16, 2005) was an American screenwriter, animator, storyboard artist, director, voice actor and magician, who worked for Pixar Animation Studios and Disney at Walt Disney Animation Studios and Disney Television Animation. My tribute goes out to his family and friends. In the movie Monsters, Inc., Ranft had a monster named after him (J.J. Ranft) as most of the Scarers in the film were named for Pixar staff. Joe Ranft, story supervisor at Pixar Animation Studios for more than a decade and an Oscar-nommed co-writer of "Toy Story" as well as "A Bug's Life," died Aug. 16 in a car accident in Mendocino . Interesting case though, in light of the recent hand-wringing about rear-seat . Search; Search. I make tons of straight-to-video movies you can find at Amazon & Vimeo. and THE GREAT MOUSE DETECTIVE. During his first five years with Disney, Joe worked on a number of television projects that were never produced. He was funny, poignant, original, and he had an infallible sense for how to structure a story. Earl suddenly lost . Your email address will not be published. He was taken to . Joseph Henry "Joe" Ranft was an American animator, storyboard artist, director, comedian, voice actor, and magician, who worked for Disney and Pixar. width: 'auto', When I say that I do story for animation, they say, Oh, youre a writer! If I tell them Im kind of a writer, but I draw, they get this puzzled look. After two years at CalArts, Ranft joined Disney in 1980. Producers: Peter Del Vecho Clark Spencer Roy Conli Dorothy McKim Don Hahn Discovery Sues Paramount For An Illicit Conspiracy To Circumvent $500M South Park Deal, Dilbert Creator Scott Adams Dropped By Syndicate After Posting Racist Youtube Rant, Stop Motion Rules At 50th Annie Awards As Pinocchio And Marcel The Shell With Shoes On Top Winners List Analysis, My Sunny Maad, Grannys Sexual Life Score French Academy Csar Awards, The Animation That Changed Me: Bruce Smith On One Hundred And One Dalmatians, Know Your Indie Filmmaker: Cristbal Len And Joaqun Cocia, Government Cuts $2M Check For The Restoration Of Walt Disneys Laugh-O-Gram Studio In Kansas City, Missouri. Both Ranft and Earl were killed. He was a story giant of our generation.". The secret of Pixar's magic can be found at CalArts Obituary by the former President of the Northern California Disneyana Enthusiasts club, Joe's son, Jordy Ranft voices one of the ant boys in, Joe's daughter, Sophia voices the character of Baby Smitty in, Joe's portrait can be seen engraved on a small carved box in the, According to various Pixar employees, character of, Joe's name can be seen on a wall of mentor nametags in. It was sobering, though also sort of beautiful. "Every film Joe's name was on was successful artistically and financially," Selick said. Ed Catmull, visibly shaken walked out to deliver the sad news. live: true, Signature Musicians: Robert B. Sherman Richard M. Sherman Alan Menken Kristen Anderson-Lopez Robert Lopez Lin-Manuel Miranda Howard Ashman Tim Rice Phil Collins Stephen Schwartz Marc Shaiman Danny Troob He was a big part of our lives, and we loved him and loved working with him. By The Associated Press. En 1985 se cas con Sue Barry, con quien tuvo dos hijos, los actores de voz Jordan (1991) y Sophia (1995). Ranft moved to Pixar to serve as story supervisor on Lasseters Toy Story, the first computer-animated feature. Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Animated Feature, Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, Annie Award for Storyboarding in a Feature Production, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Joe_Ranft&oldid=1121854858, Articles with dead YouTube links from February 2022, Wikipedia indefinitely semi-protected pages, Pages using infobox person with multiple employers, Articles with unsourced statements from November 2014, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, "In Loving Memory of" Dedication, Very Special Thanks, This page was last edited on 14 November 2022, at 14:04. On August 16, 2005, Ranft and his friend Eric Frierson were passengers in Ranft's 2004 Honda Element, which was being driven by another friend, Elegba Earl. Joes contribution to Animation has been immense and far reaching. He received an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay . TVTropes is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. John Lasseter stood beside him but could not speakJoe is the very best story man ever and the best human being Ive known in animation. The following excerpted obit from Pixar, reveals more about the circumstances of his death and how he was regarded: Ranft, who was 45, was an Academy Award nominee for his contribution to the screenplay for the landmark 1995 Pixar feature, TOY STORY, a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, and the animated voice behind such beloved characters as Heimlich the ravenous caterpillar from A BUGS LIFE. His brother, Jerome Ranft, is a sculptor who also worked on several Pixar movies. A famous example of "a genius that died long before their time," he is the subject of many a tribute and dedication, even a non-fiction book. Update (2:32pm): . So terribly sad for all his friends and family. Im sure Joe would have been pleased to know how loved he was. Elegba Earl. 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 CHP said. Ranft was survived by his wife of 20 years, Sue Barry, and their . shell: { Chief Creative Officer: Jennifer Lee In 1980, Ranft joined Disney as a writer and storyboard artist. Animators: Bill Tytla Art Babbitt Lee Blair Preston Blair Fred Moore Shamus Culhane Cy Young Don Lusk Norman Ferguson Hal King Jack Hannah Dick Kinney Hal Ambro Ken O'Brien Judge Whitaker Bill Justice Don Bluth Gary Goldman Charles A. 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