“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.