Joe Ranft Biography

Joe Ranft was an American ‘Academy Award’-nominated screenwriter, comedian, animator, voice actor, director, and magician. He is best known as one of the writers of ‘Toy Story’ and a co-director of the ‘Disney’ film ‘Cars.’ Joe was born in Pasadena, California, and was raised in Whittier. As a child, he became interested in magic, animation, films, and storytelling. He also enrolled into the character animation program at the ‘California Institute of Arts.’ In 1980, a student short film titled ‘Good Humor’ made by Joe caught the attention of ‘Disney,’ and he was offered a job in the company. During his first few years at the studio, he worked on multiple projects for ‘Disney.’ However, most of them never quite saw the light of the day. In 1987, ‘Disney’ released the animated feature film ‘The Brave Little Toaster.’ Apart from playing a voice role, Joe also worked as a screenwriter and as a directing animator for the film. Throughout his career at ‘Disney,’ Joe was involved in multiple projects, such as ‘Cars,’ ‘The Lion King,’ ‘Toy Story,’ ‘Beauty and the Beast,’ ‘Rolie Polie Olie,’ and ‘Monsters, Inc.’ On August 16, 2005, Joe lost his life in a horrific car accident.