Majorhythm: 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. Writer: Cars. His brother, Jerome Ranft, is a sculptor who also worked on several Pixar films. "[6] In honor of Ranft, in Selick's animated film production Coraline, the moving SUV that moves Coraline into her new apartment is emblazoned with a "Ranft Moving, Inc." logo. 100 Best Free Movies on YouTube (March 2023), 270 Best Movies Directed By Women of the 21st Century, 100 Best Movies Written by Women of All Time. At 15, he became a . Joe Ranft, one of the key . Sorry for us he was a great man and we lost him. [1] Around this time, he studied under and began performing with the improvisational group, The Groundlings. Another passenger, Eric Frierson, survived by escaping through the sun roof and received moderate injuries. . JOE RANFT OBITUARY. 2023 Cartoon Brew, LLC. 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. April 2023 List - as of 2/17/2023. His parents were James and Melissa Ranft. Sad real sad As I found out he was a great man and done so much for Pixar! The secret of Pixar's magic can be found at CalArts Obituary by the former President of the Northern California Disneyana Enthusiasts club, Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, Articles with invalid date parameter in template, also screenwriter story artist and directing animator, Animation screenplay and story supervisor, Story Supervisor, Co-director, screenwritter, dedication & Writter. The cars driver, Elegba Earl, was also killed, while another passenger, Eric Frierson, survived the accident. His younger brother Jerome Ranft is a sculptor who also worked on several Pixar films. 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. Great stories of how to and why. 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. Prior to joining the Pixar team, Mr. Ranft cut his teeth as a storyboard artist on "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" and "The Nightmare Before Christmas. Even though they were just still drawings, they screamed to be animated, Ranft recalled. Mr. Ranft is survived by his wife of 20 years, Su, a son, Jordan, a daughter, Sophia, two brothers, Jerome and James, and a sister, Ruth. Earl suddenly lost control and crashed through the guard rail while northbound on Highway 1. Update (1:20am): An obit from Joe Ranfts hometown newspaper, the WHITTIER DAILY NEWS. The Friends and Colleagues Memorial Service will be held Saturday, Sept. 17, 2005. Born in Pasadena, he grew up in Whittier, where his early interests included movies, drawing, performing in school plays and doing sleight-of-hand magic. I did not know who this gentleman was. He also voiced characters in many of the films, including Heimlich the caterpillar in A Bug's Life, Wheezy the penguin in Toy Story 2, Jacques the shrimp in Finding Nemo and Vinnie Terrio the gecko in Finding Meow-Meow (2005). Joe had a great passion for telling stories, and he told them better than anyone. The SUV tumbled down a cliff and plunged 130 feet (40m) into the mouth of the Navarro River where it meets the Pacific Ocean in Mendocino County, killing both Ranft and Earl instantly. He watches it at least twice a day, everyday. Ranft worked for Pixar Animation Studios and for Disney at Disney Television Animation and Disney Animation. A spokeswoman for the Mendocino County Sheriff-Coroner's Office confirmed Wednesday that Ranft was one of two people who died when the 2004 Honda Element they were traveling in veered off the road while heading north on Highway 1. His younger brother Jerome Ranft is a sculptor who also worked on several Pixar films. Ranft also supervised the story for Cars, a Pixar film scheduled for release next summer, and served as an executive producer on Tim Burtons Corpse Bride, which comes out in September. interval: 30000, 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. He helped to conceive the original story, along with Pixars John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton, and Pete Docter, for TOY STORY and served as story supervisor on the film. He and Tim Burton hit it off immediately too. He received an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay nomination as one of the writers of Toy Story (1995), and was also co-director on Cars (2006), his final work. For details, call (510) 752-4455. Joseph Henry "Joe" Ranft was an American animator, storyboard artist, director, comedian, voice actor, and magician, who worked for Disney and Pixar. He was hospitalized with moderate injuries at Mendocino Coast Hospital, according to officer Robert Simas of the CHP office in Ukiah. features: { Ranft, who was 45, died during the production of Cars, which he co-directed and voice acted in. He is best known as one of the writers of 'Toy Story' and a co-director of the 'Disney' film 'Cars.' . A "Friends and Colleagues" memorial service for Mr. Ranft will be held Sept. 17. height: 350, We are all hit hard by this sudden news and were all beyond sadness here at the studio. Manage all your favorite fandoms in one place! [14] Additionally, the 2020 film Soul includes his name on a wall of previous mentors to the character 22. TVTropes is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. He was posthumously honored in 2006 as a Disney Legend and in 2016 with the Winsor McCay Award, the lifetime achievement award for animators. } To those who didn't know him, he is most famous for his many voice roles; Lenny and Wheezy in the Toy Story series, Heimlich the caterpillar in A Bug's Life, Jaques the shrimp in Finding Nemo, amongst many others. The third person in the car, whom the CHP identified as Eric Frierson, 39, of Los Angeles, survived by climbing through the sun roof. type: 'profile', [1] There he worked on all of their films produced up to 2006; this included Toy Story (for which he received an Academy Award nomination) and A Bug's Life, as the co-story writer and others as story supervisor. Producers: Walt Disney Ron Miller Ken Anderson Don Duckwall Perce Pearce Margaret J. Winkler, Story Trust Directors: Ron Clements Chris Buck Byron Howard Don Hall Chris Williams Rich Moore Stephen J. Anderson Actor, Director. He stayed with Disney throughout the 1980s, doing story work on animated features including The Hunchback of Notre Dame, The Lion King, and Beauty and the Beast. He was a passenger in the front seat of a 2004 Honda Element driven by Elegba Earl, a 32-year-old Los Angeles man who also died. You know, it's like, animation is so complex; 'How many drawings are in there?' In addition to his story credits on TOY STORY, TOY STORY 2, A BUGS LIFE and MONSTERS, INC., Ranft has provided voices for a variety of Pixar characters, including Lenny the Binoculars in TOY STORY, the insatiably ravenous Heimlich the caterpillar in A BUGS LIFE, Wheezy the asthmatic squeeze-toy penguin in TOY STORY 2, Pete Claws Ward in MONSTERS, INC. and Jacques, the over eager cleaner shrimp in FINDING NEMO. Bill Plympton took me there to meet him and the 3 of us had a lovely lunch together. Sorry for him. version: 2, The third person in the car, identified by the CHP as Eric Frierson, 39, of Los Angeles, survived by climbing through the car's sun roof. His favorite magicians were John Carney, Daryl, Michael Ammar, Ricky Jay and Jimmy Grippo.[4]. He was taken to . But Ranft spent most of his time drawing storyboards for animated films. Your email address will not be published. Who gave Hemlich a funney and sweet personallity 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. Nichols Blaine Gibson John Ewing Walt Stanchfield Fred Hellmich Amby Paliwoda Wilfred Jackson Xavier Atencio Ben Sharpsteen Earl Hurd Dale Oliver Eric Cleworth David Hand Fred Spencer Julius Svendsen Kenneth Muse Rudolf Ising Hugh Harman Friz Freleng Walt Kelly Leo Salkin John Dehner The SUV tumbled down a cliff and plunged 130 feet (40 m) into the mouth . During his first five years with Disney, Joe worked on a number of television projects that were never produced. Prayers to your family. Ranft moved to Pixar to serve as story supervisor on Lasseters Toy Story, the first computer-animated feature. Share Joe's life story with friends and family. Suite 365 Van Nuys, CA 91401, Yusuke Muratas Upcoming Zaiyuki Anime Project Revealed, The Super Mario Bros. Movie to Release Early, Goodbye Kansas Shares See Season 3 VFX Breakdown Reel, Hulu Snags OVFX Studios Kulipari Animated Franchise. You know, it's like, animation is so complex; 'How many drawings are in there?' [1], Ranft reunited with Lasseter when he was hired by Pixar in 1991 as their head of story. He was a classmate of Pixar's John Lasseter at the California Institute of the Arts in the 1970s. Last week, Ranft and his friends, Elegba Earl, 32, and Eric Frierson, 39, were driving northbound on Highway 1 in Mendocino County, Calif., en route to take part in a retreat for a mentoring program. Death and legacy. Also known as Erick J Frieson, Eric Jary Frieson. Just before his death Joe completed Cars with the story and he lent his voice to two characters Red the fire engine and the Peterbelt who Lightning McQueen mistakens for Mack. His spirit and legacy will live on through the hundreds of stories that are being told and will be told by all the artists and directors he mentored and inspired. I loved it. [7] Ranft is survived by his wife Sue and their two children, Jordan and Sophia, and his brother Jerome.[8]. In addition to working on the story of A Bugs Life, Ranft got the role as Heimlichs voice after Lasseter noticed that his wife, Nancy, laughed harder at Ranfts temporary dialogue during production than she did at the actor hired to voice the caterpillar. He . RIP JOE RANFT. The movers themselves are modeled after Ranft and his brother Jerome; Jerome Ranft voiced one of the movers. Born in Pasadena in 1960, Ranft was raised in Whittier, Calif., where as a child he developed a fondness for performing magic tricks. "I've never seen anyone try to improve himself as much as Joe did over the years.". Visual Development & Storyboard Artists: Dean DeBlois Claire Keane Brittney Lee Jin Kim Shiyoon Kim. 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