Joseph Henry "Joe" Ranft (March 13, 1960 – August 16, 2005) was an American animator, screenwriter, storyboard artist, and voice actor. He is best known for voicing Elmo St. Peters in The Brave Little Toaster (1987), Heimlich in A Bug's Life (1998), Wheezy in Toy Story 2 (1999) and the spin-off film Buzz Lightyear of Star Command: The Adventure Begins (2000), and Jacques in Finding Nemo (2003), as well as providing vocalizations for Red in Cars (2006). He worked for Pixar Animation Studios and Disney at Walt Disney Animation Studios and Disney Television Animation. His younger brother Jerome Ranft is a sculptor who also worked on several Pixar films.
Ranft's first film credit was a writer for Fun with Mr. Future (1982), followed by his first feature film The Brave Little Toaster in 1987. He received an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay nomination as one of the writers of Toy Story (1995), and was also the co-director on Cars (2006), his final work before his death.
Early life Joseph Henry Ranft was born in Pasadena, California, on March 13, 1960, and raised in Whittier. His parents were James and Melissa Ranft. As a child, Ranft developed a love for magic, storytelling, film and comedy. At age 15, he became a member of the Magic Castle Junior Group. After graduating from Monte Vista High School, Whittier, in 1978, Ranft began studying in the character animation program at the California Institute of the Arts alongside John Lasseter and Brad Bird. After two years, Ranft's student film Good Humor caught the attention of Disney animation executives, who offered him a job.
Career In 1980, Ranft joined Disney as a writer and storyboard artist. During his first five years with Disney, he worked on a number of television projects that were never produced. Later in his Disney career, he was promoted into the Feature Animation department, where he was mentored by Eric Larson. Ranft later spoke about Larson's training: "He always reminds me of just the fundamental things that I tend to forget. You know, it's like, animation is so complex; 'How many drawings are in there?' and stuff, but Eric always comes back to like; 'What does the audience perceive?'"
Around this time, he studied under and began performing with the improvisational group, The Groundlings. Ranft stayed with Disney throughout the 1980s, writing the story on many animated features, including Oliver & Company, The Lion King and Beauty and the Beast. He also worked on The Brave Little Toaster in 1987 for Hyperion Animation and James and the Giant Peach in 1996 for Allied Filmmakers.
Ranft reunited with Lasseter after joining Pixar in October 1992 as their head of story.To Infinity and Beyond!: The Story of Pixar Animation Studios There he worked on all of their films produced up to 2006; this included Toy Story (for which he received an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Screenplay) and A Bug's Life, as the co-story writer and others as story supervisor. 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 and its spin-off film Buzz Lightyear of Star Command: The Adventure Begins, and Jacques the shrimp in Finding Nemo, as well as providing vocalizations for Red the fire truck in Cars, which was released posthumously in 2006.
In the film 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. Ranft was also given lead story credit on The Brave Little Toaster (1987) and voiced Elmo St. Peters, the appliance salesman.
His favorite writers were Kurt Vonnegut, Hunter S. Thompson, and Tom Wolfe. His favorite magicians were John Carney, Daryl, Michael Ammar, Ricky Jay and Jimmy Grippo.
Ranft was posthumously honored in 2006 as a Disney Legend and in 2016 with the Winsor McCay Award, the lifetime achievement award for animators.
Death 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 crashed through a guard rail while northbound on Highway 1 in Mendocino County, California. The SUV tumbled down a cliff and plunged into the mouth of Navarro River, killing Ranft and Earl instantly. Frierson was injured, but survived by escaping through the sunroof. Cars (2006) and Corpse Bride (2005), for which he was respectively a director and producer, were released posthumously and dedicated to him. His remains were cremated.
Legacy Ranft has been recognized by colleagues and in various tributes in animated films released after his death. Henry Selick called him "the story giant of our generation." 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. The movers themselves are modeled after Ranft and his brother Jerome, who voiced one of the movers. Jerome subsequently voiced the two roles previously established by his brother, providing vocalizations for Red in Cars Toons: Tales from Radiator Springs series (including the 2013 short Bugged) and Cars 3, and speaking Jacques's sole line ("Voilà!") during the post-credits scene of Finding Dory. The 2010 Blu-Ray and DVD re-release of Toy Story 2 includes a special feature that focuses on Ranft and his accomplishments titled "Celebrating Our Friend Joe Ranft". Ranft did early drawings for the character of Finn McMissile in an unused scene from the film Cars, and his drawings were later used in creating the character for Cars 2. John Lasseter has cited Ranft as being one of the main inspirations for the character of Mater from the Cars films and described his influence as being "all over Cars 2". In the film Inside Out, the character of Jangles the Clown is based on a character created by Ranft outside of Pixar named "Buttocks the Clown", according to co-director Ronnie del Carmen and story artist Domee Shi. The end credits of the Pixar film Coco showcase a digital ofrenda with pictures of many Pixar employees and their loved ones who had previously died, including Ranft. Additionally, the 2020 film Soul includes his name on a wall of previous mentors to the character 22.
Personal life
Ranft's younger brother, Jerome (born 1966), is a character sculptor and voice actor. Ranft married Sue Barry in 1985. They had two children, Jordan "Jordy" and Sophia. Jordan (born 1991), is an actor who provided additional voices in A Bug's Life (1998) and voiced Tad the longnose butterflyfish in Finding Nemo (2003, credited as Jordy Ranft), and he later appeared in the live-action short The Newish Testament (2018) as God, and Sophia (born 1995), is a voice actress who provided additional voices in Monsters, Inc. (2001).
Filmography
Film Year Title Director Writer StorySupervisor StoryArtist Animator ExecutiveProducer Other Voice Role Notes 1987 The Brave Little Toaster Elmo St. Peters/Clown 1988 Who Framed Roger Rabbit Animation: Storysketch Oliver & Company 1989 The Little Mermaid Storyboards 1990 The Rescuers Down Under 1991 Beauty and the Beast 1993 The Nightmare Before Christmas Igor 1994 The Lion King 1995 Toy Story Lenny 1996 James and the Giant Peach 1998 A Bug's Life Heimlich/Fly 1999 Toy Story 2 Wheezy/Heimlich Additional story material Fantasia 2000 Additional story artist 2000 Buzz Lightyear of Star Command: The Adventure Begins Wheezy Direct-to-video 2001 Monkeybone Streetsquashed Rabbit Monsters, Inc. Pete "Claws" Ward Additional story material 2003 Finding Nemo Jacques 2004 The Incredibles Additional Voices 2005 Corpse Bride Posthumous release, dedicated in Ranft's memory 2006 Cars Red/Peterbilt Final film voice roles; posthumous release, dedicated in Ranft's memory
Short films Year Title Writer Other Notes 1982 Fun with Mr. Future 2006 Mater and the Ghostlight Original Story, End credits designer
TV specials Year Title Writer Puppeteer 1983 Hansel and Gretel 1987Sport Goofy in Soccermania
Documentaries Year Title Role Notes 2007 The Pixar Story Himself Film dedicated in memory 2009 Waking Sleeping Beauty caricaturist
Video games Year Title Voice Role Notes 1996 Toy Story Animated Storybook Lenny 1998 A Bug's Life: The Video Game Heimlich A Bug's Life: Activity Center Also known as A Bug's Life: Active Play 1999 Toy Story 2: Buzz Lightyear to the Rescue Wheezy Also archival audio 2002 Monsters, Inc. Scream Arena Pete "Claws" Ward 2003 Finding Nemo: The Video Game Jacques Finding Nemo: Nemo's Underwater World of Fun Disney's Extreme Skate Adventure Wheezy 2007 Cars Mater-National Championship Red Final voice role; posthumous release, credit only
Theme parks Year Title Role Notes 2002–2018Heimlich's Chew Chew Train Heimlich 2018–present Heimlich's Candy Corn Toss Posthumous, archival audio
References
External links
Pixar Artist's Corner with Joe Michael Sragow (November 23, 1999) "Toy" Story Man. Salon. Peter Hartlaub (September 17, 2003) The secret of Pixar's magic can be found at CalArts.... San Francisco Chronicle. Disney Legends profile Remembrance by James S. Baker Remembering Joe Ranft by John Musker, via Pixar Planet.