“Joe Ranft, Pixar Animation Studios’ head of story for more than a decade and a cornerstone of the company’s creative team, died Tuesday when the car he was riding in plunged into the ocean after running off the road in Mendocino County, Calif. He was 45,” Sheigh Crabtree reports for The Hollywood Reporter. “Ranft was a co-writer on 1995’s “Toy Story,” for which he earned an Oscar nomination, and 1998’s “A Bug’s Life.” Before Pixar, he was a leading member of the story department at Walt Disney Feature Animation, where he was a writer on 1991’s “Beauty and the Beast” and 1994’s “The Lion King.”
Crabtree reports, “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,” the Emeryville, Calif.-based company said Wednesday. In addition to his work as a writer, Ranft performed the voices for numerous characters in Pixar features… Ranft’s voice-over work for Pixar included such characters as Heimlich in ‘A Bug’s Life’ and Wheezy the Penguin in ‘Toy Story 2.'”
Full article here.
Quite a loss. I’m sure Stevo is pretty bummed. My sympathies to his friends and family.
Tragic.
(I wonder how this is Mac news, however.)
PixarDailyNews
Suicidal GbM
You must be new to this board. This is not a Mac news site. This is anything Steve Jobs kind-of-diary site. We know what he eats and who hates him including how many dounuts the boss of real audio eats.
In a word… Pathetic
Condolences
What a bummer. I guess those Elements drive like they look.
So sad.
Hey, Lupina — don’t get your panties in a bunch. I saw that on a bassett hound once and it was not a pretty sight.
Here, I’ll do the math for you. It’s easy. Ready? Steve Jobs runs Apple and Steve Jobs runs Pixar; There’s a connection between the two.
There is no Step 3.
Okay? Got it? Yeh-heh-hehhesssss. I knew you could do it.
Oh, by de way, it’s nice to see you wasting your time at a site that you describe as ‘pathetic’. ‘Cause, you know, I have to wonder: What does that make you?
(Hey, I keed. I keed because I love the Latino-named.)
Lupina, comments like yours are exactly the reason that this is my favorite mac news site. It might be pathetic but hey you can get all you want in one place like a Apple buffet.
Next mac related headline:
“Jobs neighbor’s dog dead after choking on shoe”
AlexD.
Let me guess. It was Steve’s shoe, ergo, Apple Computer will be sued.
Triumph — Its not an important connecion, unless Pixar and Apple at any point merge.
This is a terrible loss. My sympathy goes out to his family.
I think Lupina was commenting about the comment that the previous poster made about “how is this Mac news., and how it’s pathetic to make a critical comment on the heels of a story abotu someone’s tragic death. Thats the way I read it.
Bottom line is, no one’s forcing anyone to read Mac sites, or any sites for that matter. If Suicidal GbM doesnt like it that it’s not direct Apple news, then there are plenty of companies that offer site hosting solutions. Perhaps a Mac news site that ONLY posts a story when a new Mac product is released would be great. Perhaps that would make him happy, and perhaps it might get a few page hits per day.
What damn unjust curve ball life throws at some folks. 🙁
For those miscreants who can’t muster up anything good to say, clearly your train of thought cannot transcend beyond a subject. Pathetic you are indeed…..
Hammer: A site about only Apple products? How ’bout plain old Apple.Com?
Thank you Hammer,
You seem to be the only one to get it.
Even the sometimes funny Triumph missed the point.
ya know i thought that was a great idea, but funnily enough, the domain was already taken. Back to the drawing board i guess.
Perhaps he owned a Mac.
Would that make all of the @$$holes who can’t summon up enough basic human decency shut the hell up? Someone dies a horrible death, and all you can say is “how is this mac news”??
Our heartfelt consolenses to the family. Joe, we loved your movies and I wish the family the best. My daughter will miss you (shes 3)!
And for the jerks wasting time talking about if it should be a news post here, yes. Apple, Pixar, All of us, family.
There was only ONE person talking about whether it should be one this site. The rest of us were defending. Dont be hatin’ and learn to follow a thread.
Mac news or not, who cares. It’s tragic. He will be missed. Pixar does great graphics but the real star is the story.
*Apple, Pixar, All of us, family.*
(music swells)
“aaaannd … CUT!
Great job team. The folks at Hallmark are gonna love it!”
Hire another guy
When do you guys learn that MDN (and any other site for that matter) does not need to listen to you on what they have (or have not) to report.
Instead of getting all tuned up about it just continue to the next message regarding the fallen ricebag in China.
These reactions are the reason why nobody likes you Americans
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I’m French, you pig!
Those who “don’t like Americans” probably don’t know any.
People are the same all over. There’s just as many people to NOT like in Europe, Asia, the Middle East, South America and Australia as there are in America. Don’t confuse American politics and media with Americans.
He was the “writer” for the Lion King? Oh… was this the guy responsible for changing all “Kimba”s in the script with “Simba”?, and who decided white would be too obvious so they outta make him orange? It’s a tragedy when anybody dies, I’ve got nothing against this guy… but “The Lion King” hardly had a writer at Disney. More like guys taking notes while watching Kimba.
http://www.kimbawlion.com/
a-hole,
This is a sad story. But if it weren’t the volumes of stories that have nothing to do with the Macintosh that are linked to on this site, perhaps there would have been no complaints.
True, MDN doesn’t have to listed to it readership. No publication of any kind has to. But if they don’t listen to it on a consistent basis, it’s readership may move on.
Now, some of posts (“hire another guy”, etc.) are completely insensitive. These reactions are the reason why nobody likes people like that – American or not. And to equate Mr. Ranft’s passing with a story about fallen rice bags in China qualifies you to be in the category with the Americans you don’t know but despise.
Some have said there are parallels with The Lion King and Shakespeare’s Hamlet. Also, though I can’t remember precisely, I think it said the movie was based off of an old African tale.
Here’s the link to info about The Lion King:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lion_King
It’s heartening to see how the loss of this talented, creative man can bring out the best in the Mac community.
I read through all the posts here and I’m startled at how far off-topic it got.
Get a grip, people.
I used to come to this site numerous times a day. I logged on to see what was up with this story. After reading these posts I remembered why I quit coming to this site and will do such again.
baukunst, sayonnara.
I hate it that all those people died in that car wreck…I’m sure that their families and friends will miss them. when you lose a family member or close friend it leaves a big hole in your life.
Pixar is transitioning to Macs, therefore this is a Mac-related story!
MacJack reports “Pixar is transitioning to Macs. Oh, and Joe Ranft, Pixar Animation Studios’ head of story for more than a decade and a cornerstone of the company’s creative team, died Tuesday when the car he was riding in plunged into the ocean after running off the road in Mendocino County, Calif. He was 45.”
Pixar has been using Macs in their mix for some time, goober.
Joe McConnell-
I own an Element and it is the best driving vehicle I have owned when it comes to snow and ice- very well balanced, and the 4WD automatically kicks in when needed. Besides that, it has caverns of space inside- which I use often. The styling of it? Yeah, either you like it or you don’t. I happen to like it, especially with my white Apple sticker on the back!
MW= night, as in Midnight black pearl, the color of my Element!
But Lion King was taken from Kimba: The White Lion
http://www.kimbawlion.com/rant2.htm
How sad. Immediately reminded me of the dedication at the end of “Finding Nemo” to Glenn McQueen. To me Apple and Pixar are intertwined, at least in spirit. David and Goliath, Apple and Microsoft, Pixar and Disney.
I’m sad to see how many people see a headline about someone’s tragic death and immediately post their irritation with MDN for posting the story. It’s called common decency. If you don’t have anything good to say, don’t say anything at all. Right?
I remember reading about Mr. Ranft quite some time ago while examining Pixar’s site. Here’s a link:
http://www.pixar.com/artistscorner/joe/index.html
Good reading. Don’t forget about his family, guys. Surely we can put up with a non-Mac article now and then. There are greater tragedies.
Triumph —
You so funny!
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Tragic loss! So sad!
The Honda Element looks very unstable from pictures … typical of such SUV’s, not the sort of thing to be pushing hard on twisty roads!