Joe Ranft

Joe Ranft (1960-2005) was a beloved god of animation, pixarian, disney animater and writer, magician, impressionist, actor, and prankster extraordinaire. He was a classic example of a maladjusted child with a dark imagination finding great sucess in the film industry. A famous example of "A genius that died long before their time" he is the subject of many a tribute and dedication, even a non fiction book. Perhaps best remebered by those who knew him for his kindness, generosity, positivity, sense of humour, and his fatherly mentoring ability. To those who didn't know him, he is most famous for his many voice roles; Lenny and Wheezy in the Toy Story Series, Heimlich the catapillar in A Bug's Life, Jaques the shrimp in Finding Nemo, amongst many others. He worked on some of the most beloved animated films of the past thirty years including The Little Mermaid, Beauty and The Beast, The Brave Little Toaster, The Lion King, Toy Story and Toy Story 2, A Bugs Life, Monsters Inc., Finding Nemo and Cars.
 * Author Existence Failure : Joe Ranft died part way through production of Cars and Corpse Bride (Oh the irony) Both were dedicated to his memory, but he never got to see either finished.
 * The Prankster: Infamous for this, amongst other things, pretending to have a seizure/ coughing up huge ammounts of blood at an Ice Cream Parlour he worked at, dancing dressed as Santa Clause on the roof of Disney Animation studios, then sending a dummy dressed in same costume falling violently off the side, to be recovered by paramedics.
 * Gentle Giant 6ft 5 inches and over 300 pounds at his peak, Joe is also often thought of as the nicest and funniest person ever by those who knew him personally.
 * Mentor: To many people, both personally, artistically, and as an actual teacher in the field of animation. arguably Zen Survivor: or Tragic Hero: Due to his depression, awkward youth and humour, and his untimely death.
 * Sad Clown Suffered with depression, ADHD, and Dyslexia his entire life, but is remembered as an incredibly funny person.
 * Black Comedy: Joe was famous for this. He was responsible for the mural and school play scene in A Bug's Life, and designed many of the more gruesome charaters in The Nightmare Before Christmas.
 * Asexual: Unconfirmed. Some have commented on this possibility though.