Joseph Henry "Joe" Ranft (March 13, 1960 – August 16, 2005) was an American animator, screenwriter, storyboard artist, and voice actor. He is best known for voicing Elmo St. Peters in The Brave Little Toaster (1987), Heimlich in A Bug's Life (1998), Wheezy in Toy Story 2 (1999) and the spin-off film Buzz Lightyear of Star Command: The Adventure Begins (2000), and Jacques in Finding Nemo (2003), as well as providing vocalizations for Red in Cars (2006). He worked for Pixar Animation Studios and Disney at Walt Disney Animation Studios and Disney Television Animation. His younger brother Jerome Ranft is a sculptor who also worked on several Pixar films.
Ranft's first film credit was a writer for Fun with Mr. Future (1982), followed by his first feature film The Brave Little Toaster in 1987. He received an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay nomination as one of the writers of Toy Story (1995), and was also the co-director on Cars (2006), his final work before his death.
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Early life
Joseph Henry Ranft was born in Pasadena, California, on March 13, 1960, and raised in Whittier. His parents were James and Melissa Ranft. As a child, Ranft developed a love for magic, storytelling, film and comedy. At age 15, he became a member of the Magic Castle Junior Group. After graduating from Monte Vista High School, Whittier, in 1978, Ranft began studying in the character animation program at the California Institute of the Arts alongside John Lasseter and Brad Bird. After two years, Ranft's student film Good Humor caught the attention of Disney animation executives, who offered him a job.
