Two Guys Named Joe

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One Joe was in his ninety-seventh year when he died in 2005; the other Joe died the same year at age forty-five. Both died before their time. This book explores the interplay between personal creativity and animation storytelling through the lives and art of two influential practitioners: Joe Grant and Joe Ranft. Grant and Ranft significantly shaped storytelling at major studios during pivotal periods in animation history. Grant, a talented caricaturist, contributed ideas for Mickey Mouse and Silly Symphony shorts, as well as classics like Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Pinocchio, Fantasia, and Dumbo. As Walt Disney's confidant, he played a crucial role in defining Disney's animation legacy. Returning to the studio at eighty-one after a forty-year hiatus, he contributed to Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, Mulan, and The Lion King. Ranft, building on the traditions established by Grant, became the leading animation storyboard artist of his generation, working on films like The Nightmare Before Christmas, The Brave Little Toaster, and Who Framed Roger Rabbit. As a creative founder of Pixar and a close friend of John Lasseter, Ranft influenced the studio's originality, warmth, and humor through his work on Toy Story, A Bug's Life, and Cars. Despite their remarkable careers spanning the Golden Age of animation to the digital age, their contributions remain largely unknown to the public.