Joe Ranft

Age: 45

Summary: animator and head of story at Pixar Animation Studios for more than 10 years who became a cornerstone of the company's creative team, widely respected as one of the top storyboard artists in the animation industry, who was one of seven writers nominated for an Oscar for best original screenplay for Toy Story (1995), who worked at Disney through the 1980's on such films as Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Beauty & the Beast, The Lion King, and Fantasia 2000 and was executive producer on Tim Burton's Corpse Bride (2005), and who was also a voice actor providing the voices for Heimlich in A Bug's Life, Wheezy the Penguin in Toy Story 2, and Jacques in Finding Nemo.

Cause of Death: Car accident

Born: March 13, 1960

Died: August 16, 2005

Location: Mendocino County, California