Taking a Moment

I just heard that Joe Ranft passed away as the result of a car crash. He was 45.

The name should sound familiar, Ranft was the head of the Story Department at Pixar. He was involved in various ways with Monsters, Inc., Toy Story 1 & 2, The Nightmare Before Christmas, and The Brave Little Toaster, among others. Over the years he acted as directing animator, title designer, storyboard supervisor, character designer, he even provided some voices on the projects he worked on (my favorites were that of Heimlich the Caterpillar in A Bug's Life, Jacques, the French shrimp from Finding Nemo, and Weezy the Penguin from Toy Story 2).

I'm writing this because each one of the movies I mentioned, as well as others that Joe Ranft contributed to, touched me. I *loved* these movies. My brother and I could watch Brave Little Toaster twice in one weekend, if the mood struck us. And now part of what made those stories excellent is gone.

Still: I respect the man. He went to work and did something really, really fun every day; and he did it well. I can't think of a better way to go through life than that. I don't know if he was married, or if he had any family, but my condolences go to them in their time of loss. It's tragic that he died so young, but at least he was doing what he wanted to do with his life. You can't ask for much more than that.