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Joseph Henry "Joe" Ranft (March 13, 1960 – August 16, 2005) was an animation storyboard artist and voice actor who worked for Pixar and Disney.
Born in Pasadena, California, Ranft studied in the Character Animation program at the California Institute of the Arts. After graduation, Ranft worked at Disney throughout the 1980s doing story work on animated features including The Lion King and Beauty and the Beast. Joining Pixar in 1992, he worked on story development for all of Pixar's feature film releases, most recently as Head of Story on Cars.
He voiced the following Pixar characters:
Ranft was named a Disney Legend in October 2006.
On August 16, 2005 the 2004 Honda Element in which Ranft was a passenger went off a cliff into the ocean in Mendocino County.
The California Highway Patrol said the crash occurred at about 3 P.M. as the driver, Elegba Earl, 32, of Los Angeles, tried to regain control of the car after swerving when he headed into a tight left curve while heading north on Highway 1. The car fell 130 feet (39 metres) over the side of the road and overturned twice before it landed in the water near the mouth of the Navarro River where it meets the Pacific Ocean. The only survivor, whom the CHP identified as Eric Frierson, 39, of Los Angeles, survived by climbing through the sunroof. He was hospitalized with moderate injuries at Mendocino Coast Hospital.
Tim Burton's Corpse Bride, released on September 16, 2005, was dedicated to his memory. The following year, Cars, the last Pixar feature on which he worked, was also dedicated to him. He was also one of the people in the Academy Awards's In Memoriam.
Most of the Scarers in Monsters Inc. are named for Pixar staff, including one monster named J.J. Ranft.
In the DVD of Cars Ranft can be seen in an interview about the movie.
