Joe Ranft

American screenwriter (1960–2005)

Joseph Henry "Joe" Ranft (March 13, 1960 – December 12, 2009) was an American screenwriter, animator, storyboard artist, voice actor and magician. He worked for Pixar Animation Studios and The Walt Disney Company.[1] His brother, Jerome Ranft, is a sculptor who also worked on several Pixar movies.

He received an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay nomination as one of the writers of Toy Story (1995).[2] He was also a story supervisor for the film.[3] He had just finished his assignment as head of story for the 2006 movie Cars, when he was killed in a car crash.[3]

Feature Films

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Year Title Director Writer Story
Supervisor
Story Artist Directing
Animator
Executive
Producer
Other Voice Role Notes
1981 The Fox and the Hound No No No No Yes No No
1982 The Secret of NIMH No Story No No No No No
1985 The Black Cauldron No No No Yes No No Yes Gurgi
1986 The Great Mouse Detective No No No No Yes No Yes
An American Tail No No No No No No Yes
1987 The Chipmunk Adventure No No No No No No Yes
The Brave Little Toaster[4] No Yes No Yes Yes No Yes Elmo St. Peters/Clown
1988 Who Framed Roger Rabbit[5] No No No Yes No No Yes Goons Animation: Storysketch
Oliver & Company[6] No Story No No No No No
The Land Before Time No No No No No No Yes Spike
1989 The Little Mermaid[6] No No No Yes No No No Storyboards
1990 The Rescuers Down Under[6] No Screenplay Yes No No No No Animation Screenplay
1991 Rock-a-Doodle No Story No No No No No
Beauty and the Beast[6] No Story No No No No No
1992 FernGully: The Last Rainforest No Story No No No No No
Aladdin No Story No No No No No
1993 The Nightmare Before Christmas[7][6] No No Yes No No No Yes Igor
1994 Thumbelina No No No Yes No No No
The Lion King[8] No Story No No No No No
A Troll in Central Park No No No Yes No No No
1995 Pocahontas No No No Yes No No No
Thomas the Tank Engine No No No No No No Yes Donald
Toy Story[8] No Original Story Yes No No No Yes Lenny
1996 James and the Giant Peach[4] No No Yes No No No No
The Hunchback of Notre Dame No No No Yes No No Yes
1997 Cats Don't Dance No No No Yes No No No
Hercules No No No Yes No No No
Anastasia No Original Story No No No No No
1998 Mulan No No No Yes No No No
Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island No No No No No No Yes Jack Direct-to-video
A Night at the Roxbury No No No No No No Yes The Hottie Dancer
The Lion King II: Simba's Pride No Yes No No No No No Direct-to-video
A Bug's Life[8] No Original Story Yes No No No Yes Heimlich/Fly
The Rugrats Movie No No Yes No No No No
The Prince of Egypt No Yes No No No No No
1999 Tarzan No No No Yes No No No
The Iron Giant[8] No Story No No No No No
Scooby-Doo and the Witch's Ghost No No Yes No No No Yes Enormous Turkey Direct-to-video
Pokémon: The First Movie No No No No No Yes Yes
Toy Story 2[8] No No Yes No No No Yes Wheezy/Heimlich Additional Story Material
Fantasia 2000[4] No No No Additional No No No Additional Artist: Story
2000 Chicken Run No No No No No No Yes
Pokémon: The Movie 2000 No No No No No Yes Yes
Thomas and the Magic Railroad No No No No No No Yes Donald
Buzz Lightyear of Star Command: The Adventure Begins No No No No No No Yes Wheezy Direct-to-video
Scooby-Doo and the Alien Invaders No No No No No No Yes Spider Direct-to-video
Meet the Parents No No No No No No Yes Snuffy
The Emperor's New Groove No No No No No No Yes Special Thanks to Joe Ranft
2001 Monkeybone[9] No No No No No No Yes Streetsquashed Rabbit
Pokémon 3: The Movie No No No No No Yes Yes Goo Monster
The Trumpet of the Swan No No No No Yes No No
Shrek No No Yes No No No No
Atlantis: The Lost Empire No No No No No No Yes Additional Voices
Scooby-Doo and the Cyber Chase No No No No No No Yes Moon Goon #1 Direct-to-video
Monsters, Inc.[8] No No No Yes No No Yes Pete "Claws" Ward Additional Story Material
Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius No No No No No No Yes Yolkians
2002 Lilo & Stitch No No No No No No Yes Aliens
Hey Arnold!: The Movie No No No No No No Yes General Dick Horowitz
Jonah: A VeggieTales Movie No No No No No No Yes
Treasure Planet No No No No No No Yes Pirates
2003 Finding Nemo No No No No No No Yes Jacques
Brother Bear No No Yes No No No No
2004 Home on the Range No No Yes No No No No
The Incredibles No No No No No No Yes Crowd Member/Universal Man/Monodrawolverine
The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie No No No No No No Yes Reporters
2005 Robots No No No No No No Yes Garbage Robots
Madagascar No Yes No No No No No
Corpse Bride[4] No No No No No Yes Yes "In Memory of" Dedication
Chicken Little No No No No No No Yes
2006 Cars[10] Co-Director Yes Yes No No No Yes Red/Peterbilt
2007 Ratatouille No No No No No No Yes
2008 WALL-E No Original Story No No No No Yes
Bolt No No No No No No Yes
2009 Coraline No No No No No No Yes
Up No No No No No No Yes
2010 Toy Story 3 No Screenplay No No No No Yes
2011 Cars 2 No No No No No No Yes
2012 Brave No No No No No No Yes
2013 Monsters University No No No No No No Yes
2014 The Lego Movie No No No No No No Yes
Big Hero 6 No No No No No No Yes
2015 Inside Out No No No No No No Yes
2016 Zootopia No No No No No No Yes
2017 Coco No No No No No No Yes
2019 Spies in Disguise No No No No No No Yes
2020 Onward No No No No No No Yes
Soul No No No No No No Yes
2022 Lightyear No Yes No No No No Yes

Television

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Year Title Writer Story
Supervisor
Other Voice Role Notes
1994-1999 Rugrats Yes No No 5 episodes
1997-2003 Hey Arnold! No No Yes General Dick Horowitz 18 episodes
1998 Rolie Polie Olie No No Yes Gizmo Polie Episode: "Our Two Dads"
2003-2004 Sesame Street No No Yes Larry The Cucumber
2004-2005 Miss Spider's Sunny Patch Friends No No Yes Gus

Short Films and TV Specials

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Year Title Writer Puppeteer Other Notes
1982 Luau Yes No Yes
Fun with Mr. Future Yes No No
1983 Hansel and Gretel No Yes No TV Special
1987 Sport Goofy in Soccermania Yes No Yes
2006 Mater and the Ghostlight[11] Original Story No Yes End Credits Designer

Documentaries

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Year Title Role Notes
2007 The Pixar Story Himself
2009 Waking Sleeping Beauty caricaturist "In Memory of" Dedication

Video Games

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Year Title Writer Voice Role
1996 Toy Story Animated Storybook No Lenny
1998 Spyro the Dragon Yes
1998 A Bug's Life: The Video Game No Heimlich
2001 Super Smash Bros. Melee No Ganondorf
2002 Monsters, Inc. Scream Arena No Pete "Claws" Ward
2003 Finding Nemo: The Video Game[6] No Jacques
Disney's Extreme Skate Adventure No Wheezy
2007 Cars Mater-National Championship No Red (credit only)

References

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  1. Larry Carroll (August 18, 2005). "'Toy Story' Writer Dies When Car Tumbles Into The Ocean". MTV News. Archived from the original on October 21, 2016. Retrieved December 30, 2016.
  2. Charles Solomon (August 18, 2005). "Joe Ranft, 45; Artist for Pixar Animated Films, Voice of Heimlich in 'A Bug's Life'". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved December 30, 2016.
  3. 3.0 3.1 Sarah Baisley (August 19, 2005). "Services Set for Story Genius Joe Ranft". AWN, Inc. Retrieved December 30, 2016.
  4. 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Soloman, Charles (August 18, 2005). "Joe Ranft, 45; Artist for Pixar Animated Films, Voice of Heimlich in 'A Bug's Life'". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved March 24, 2019.
  5. "Disney Legends « Disney D23". Legends.disney.go.com. Retrieved May 18, 2013.
  6. 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 "Joe Ranft". AFI Catalog of Feature Films. Retrieved March 24, 2019.
  7. Sragow, Michael (November 23, 1999). ""Toy" story man". Salon. Retrieved March 24, 2019.
  8. 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 8.5 "Pixar exec dies in car accident". Variety. August 18, 2005. Retrieved March 24, 2019.
  9. "Joe Ranft". British Film Institute. Retrieved March 24, 2019.
  10. Lowry, Brian (June 4, 2006). "Film Review: Cars". Variety. Retrieved March 24, 2019.
  11. Amidi, Amid (2017). The Art of Pixar Short Films. Chronicle Books. pp. 41–42. ISBN 9781452165219.

Other websites

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Joe Ranft on IMDb