Joe Ranft

'Joseph Henry "Joe" Ranft''' was born on March 13, 1960.

Ranft started working for Pixar in the fall of 1992. He immediately became a key creative member of Pixar and was one of the original members of the Brain Trust. Ranft was the first head of story for Pixar, plus did the voices for a number of characters including Lenny in Toy Story, Heimlich in A Bug's Life, Wheezy in Toy Story 2, Jacques in Finding Nemo, and both Red and the Peterbelt in Cars. Also, in Monsters Inc., his last name appears on the scare record board in 3rd place.

Joe Ranft was recognized for his work on Toy Story 2, receiving an Annie Award for Outstanding Individual Achievement for Storyboarding in an Animated Feature Production (along with Dan Jeup).

Prior to Pixar, Ranft worked for The Walt Disney Company on films, such as The Brave Little Toaster, in which he lend his voice to the character of Elmo St. Peters, Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King, The Nightmare Before Christmas, and James and the Giant Peach.

On August 16, 2005, Joe Ranft was a passenger in the 2004 Honda Element which was en route to a Catch Your Spirit Program which helped men turn their lifes around where Ranft served as a volunteer. The driver lost control of the car and plunged into the Pacific Ocean. Both Ranft and the driver were killed but another passenger in the back seat managed to survive by crawling out the sun roof. Ranft leaves behind his wife Sue and two children Jordan and Sofia Ranft and a story legacy at PIXAR. His son Jordan provided the voice of Tad in Finding Nemo. John Lasseter and Henry Selick both said that Joe had the heart of stories and told them better than anyone else. Pixar's CARS and Tim Burton's Corpse Bride were the last two films he worked on and they both were dedicated to him! His brother Jerome Ranft is a sculptor designer for PIXAR. He said in the Toy Story Filmmakers Reflect Video which was filmed right before his death that he and his brother were exactly like Sid the bad kid in Toy Story because they'd melt their toy soldiers when they were kids.

Filmography

 * Toy Story (1995): writer (story), story supervisor
 * A Bug's Life (1998): writer (story), story supervisor
 * Toy Story 2 (1999): story supervisor
 * Monsters, Inc. (2001): story artist
 * Cars (2006): co-director, writer (story, screenplay)