In a blow to Pixar Animation, whose success has been attributed to its story-telling skill as much as its computer creativity, Joe Ranft, head of Pixar's story department, was killed in an auto accident on Tuesday. The driver of the car also died when it plunged off Highway 1 in Mendocino County into the ocean. A third man escaped through the car's sun roof. Before joining Pixar, Ranft, 45, worked at Disney, co-writing Beauty and the Beast and The Lion King.
He also did the voices of Heimlich in "A Bug's Life", Wheezy in "Toy Story 2", and Jacques the French shrimp in "Finding Nemo", among other things. He will be greatly missed.