For Joe
Something really sad has just happened. Joe Ranft, a long time worker on many great animated film projects, has just died:
Confirming rumors we've been hearing all day, The Hollywood Reporter and AWN report that Joe Ranft was killed Tuesday afternoon in a car accident. Ranft worked on many of the most beloved modern classics out of Disney and Pixar, including: writing for The Brave Little Toaster, Oliver & Company, The Rescuers Down Under, Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King, Toy Story (for which he was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay), A Bug's Life, and Fantasia 2000; as storyboard supervisor for The Nightmare Before Christmas and James and the Giant Peach; and voicing parts in A Bug's Life, Toy Story 2, and Finding Nemo. Ranft was also working as head of story on Pixar's next film, Cars. In a statement released Wednesday, Pixar said "Joe was an important and beloved member of the Pixar family, and his loss is of great sorrow to all of us and to the animation industry as a whole". A Pixar spokesman added, "Joe was a big part of Pixar's soul". An interview from 2002 is available in Pixar's Artist Corner. Cartoon Brew has running updates with news and responses to Ranft's passing. Ranft is survived by his wife, Su, and two children, Jordy, 13, and Sophia 9. A memorial service for family, friends and close associates is planned for Sunday in Mill Valley, California. Pixar is planning a memorial for fans at a date to be determined.
Living here in Marin County, I’ve found that you can always get to know someone who knows someone who’s in the film business or even actually know someone who’s in the business firsthand. This case is the first of those two. A friend of my family by the name of John knew Joe rather well. His son David who I’ve been friends with since the fourth grade even hung out with him a lot. I remember going on a road trip with David once and him telling me about how he knew Joe Ranft, who had at the time finished voicing the character of Heimlich the caterpillar for “A Bug’s Life.” He was giving me early quotables from the movie such as “Oh, Mr. Early Bird! How about a nice, big, juicy worm on a stick?”
Now, just like that, he’s gone to that big place in the sky. I saw David online just the other day and I decided to tell him. It’s hard to tell a close friend that one of their old friends has died tragically. It goes without saying that he didn’t take it well.
Now, if I were Lee over at right-thinking.com, I’d probably tell a joke right now about how this is a sign of how God feels about 3D animation taking over the industry, but since I’m not that sick of a joker, I’m going to join in mourning this loss. This guy was part of Pixar, for cryin’ out loud. He was part of the group that makes most of the good 3D animated films, and not the kind of crap those wannabe companies like Dreamworks Animation churn out. The date they mentioned there for the fan memorial service… let’s just say that I’m gonna try and make it.
Joe, you did good.
Confirming rumors we've been hearing all day, The Hollywood Reporter and AWN report that Joe Ranft was killed Tuesday afternoon in a car accident. Ranft worked on many of the most beloved modern classics out of Disney and Pixar, including: writing for The Brave Little Toaster, Oliver & Company, The Rescuers Down Under, Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King, Toy Story (for which he was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay), A Bug's Life, and Fantasia 2000; as storyboard supervisor for The Nightmare Before Christmas and James and the Giant Peach; and voicing parts in A Bug's Life, Toy Story 2, and Finding Nemo. Ranft was also working as head of story on Pixar's next film, Cars. In a statement released Wednesday, Pixar said "Joe was an important and beloved member of the Pixar family, and his loss is of great sorrow to all of us and to the animation industry as a whole". A Pixar spokesman added, "Joe was a big part of Pixar's soul". An interview from 2002 is available in Pixar's Artist Corner. Cartoon Brew has running updates with news and responses to Ranft's passing. Ranft is survived by his wife, Su, and two children, Jordy, 13, and Sophia 9. A memorial service for family, friends and close associates is planned for Sunday in Mill Valley, California. Pixar is planning a memorial for fans at a date to be determined.
Living here in Marin County, I’ve found that you can always get to know someone who knows someone who’s in the film business or even actually know someone who’s in the business firsthand. This case is the first of those two. A friend of my family by the name of John knew Joe rather well. His son David who I’ve been friends with since the fourth grade even hung out with him a lot. I remember going on a road trip with David once and him telling me about how he knew Joe Ranft, who had at the time finished voicing the character of Heimlich the caterpillar for “A Bug’s Life.” He was giving me early quotables from the movie such as “Oh, Mr. Early Bird! How about a nice, big, juicy worm on a stick?”
Now, just like that, he’s gone to that big place in the sky. I saw David online just the other day and I decided to tell him. It’s hard to tell a close friend that one of their old friends has died tragically. It goes without saying that he didn’t take it well.
Now, if I were Lee over at right-thinking.com, I’d probably tell a joke right now about how this is a sign of how God feels about 3D animation taking over the industry, but since I’m not that sick of a joker, I’m going to join in mourning this loss. This guy was part of Pixar, for cryin’ out loud. He was part of the group that makes most of the good 3D animated films, and not the kind of crap those wannabe companies like Dreamworks Animation churn out. The date they mentioned there for the fan memorial service… let’s just say that I’m gonna try and make it.
Joe, you did good.
posted by Jaimetud at 10:48 AM
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