Joe Ranft, a major part of creative team at Pixar, died in an auto accident yesterday. Ranft was one of the heads of story on both "Toy Story" films, as well as the voice of Heimlich the Caterpillar in "A Bug's Life" and Wheezy in "Toy Story 2". He also worked on "The Nightmare Before Christmas", "Beauty & the Beast", "Who Framed Roger Rabbit", and many other films. The Hollywood Reporter has details on the accident (link), and the guys at Cartoon Brew (link) have been collecting more details and remembrances. He has been described as "the heart of Pixar", and his death is a huge loss for the animation community.

posted by Xeni Jardin at 06:47:58 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments