Boy, this one is sad: Joe Ranft, part of the creative team at the computer animation film company Pixar, died yesterday in a horrific accident (he was a passenger in a car that went off a Southern California cliff into the ocean). He was only 45.

Most people have probably never heard of Ranft unless they’re major animation buffs, but he was a big-time force behind four of Pixar’s amazing raft of hits — Toy Story and its sequel, A Bug’s Life, and Monsters, Inc. all benefited from his writing talents. He also provided character voices for several other Pixar films, most notably Heimlich, the overweight and food-obsessed caterpillar, in A Bug’s Life. If you’ve watched the DVD supplements on any of those films, you’ll likely recognize his face.

In addition, a check of his filmography reveals that he had a hand in several other significant animated films of recent years, including Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas, Disney’s Beauty and the Beast and The Lion King, and the film that, as much as anything, is responsible for the modern renaissance of film animation, Who Framed Roger Rabbit?. I myself am not a big fan of animated movies, but looking over this list I realize that I am a fan of most everything Joe Ranft worked on. What a bummer…

If you’re interested in reading more, The Hollywood Reporter obituary is here, and the blog Cartoon Brew has remembrances and links to other relevant material here.