Rest in Peace, Joe

[Lorien]

This video is a charming, moving tribute to a former coworker of mine who died several years ago when the driver of the vehicle he was in lost control of his car on HWY 1 and plunged into the Pacific, killing himself, Joe, and injuring another coworker in the back seat. The tribute is done using storyboards by John Musker, who directed films like the Little Mermaid, Aladdin, and the Princess and the Frog. I know that most of you have never heard of Joe, but after watching this video I think that you'll know him, at least a little bit:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JnNaQWBUhv0

[Suich]

1. Very nice, thank you!

R.I.P. Joe

[miscsoc]

2. touching video

nice music.

never heard of the guy, but rip. it's a nice tribute, and i grew up w his work, w/o knowing it was his, until now.

[Lorien]

3. Thanks miscsoc. Joe was memorialized in last year's "Coraline" as well

as part of the "Ranft Brothers Moving" team at the start of the film:

[bluesbassman]

4. Thanks for posting this Lorien.

A touching tribute to a man who appears to have been a gentle and caring soul. I'm sure he is greatly missed by those he was close to.

RIP Joe.

[Lorien]

5. Thanks bluebassman. Joe was really one of those "everyone he met was soon a friend"

kind of guys (except for maybe Jeffrey Katzenberg, whose portrayed as a devilish little guy in a suit in the tribute). Joe was and still is beloved by many in the industry. He left his mark on more than just films; he touched countless lives as well. If only everyone could leave this plane with such a legacy.

[marzipanni]

6. I love animation and I thank you for letting us see this tribute to Joe

In the mid-eighties I was sad that animation seemed to be getting left by the wayside, except for the more hastily produced stuff on TV made for kids. I thought it was just too labor intnsive/expensive to produce anymore.
I took an animation course at a college in S.F. in 1985, and wanted to get more involved in it. One of the original computer animation"Labs" connected to Industrial Light and Magic was in a unmarked building down the street from where I worked- people knew something interesting was going on there but they weren't sure what! I remember seeing "Luxo, Jr." and being very happy that someone was developing animation in such an amazing way, and that interest in animation was increasing.
It has been so fun to see each of Pixar's films, as well as Nick Park's and some others. They make me feel like a kid again.

[Lorien]

8. I think that i've been to that ILM building. Was it close to the prison in the

warehouse district? I think that you could see a stormtrooper in the lobby from the street, but that was about the only thing that gave it away! Did you ever work in the industry after school?

Joe left his mark outside of the story department on many Pixar films. He was the voice of Red in "Cars", Heimlich the caterpillar in "A Bug's Life", Jacques the shrimp in "Finding Nemo", and Wheezy the penguin in "Toy Story 2".

[marzipanni]

9. Since last night I've been looking at some other youtube videos related to Joe's tribute

I saw one about his voices- what a fun person he must have been to work with!
I'll have to watch "Cars"- my son loves the Toy Story movies, enjoyed "A Bug's Life" and "Finding Nemo"- he said last night he's looking forward to TS III coming out this summer- but I think he was feeling a bit too "mature" when "Cars" came out (he was 11 ;))

The building was a small one in downtown San Anselmo, I think it was before George Lucas opened the bigger place in San Rafael you're referring to. No, I never worked in the industry, the new-great-unknown-computer part of it was daunting, but enjoyed making some stop motion films. One of the two animation booths needed repairs when I took that class, so instead of individual projects we voted on doing a claymation beauty contest of all our strange characters/creatures!

I remember how I liked some computer drawing tablet paintings you posted- are you doing work in animation now?

[Hudgie DeRobertis]

7. Very beautiful and touching video.

I saw the video on the Cartoon Brew website. I remember feeling very sad at the news of his death.
He seemed liked a great person to have known and worked with.