Joe Ranft is honored by the dedication at the end of Pixar's Cars.
Ranft was a major Pixar story artist, screenwriter, and occasional voice actor. He co-wrote Cars with John Lasseter and Jorgen Klubien, helping shape its characters, emotional arc, and road-story structure. Cars was released after Ranft died in a traffic accident in 2005, so the finished film includes a dedication to his memory.
At Pixar, Ranft contributed to many influential projects, including Toy Story, A Bug's Life, Toy Story 2, Monsters, Inc., and Finding Nemo. He also voiced characters such as Heimlich in A Bug's Life and Red in Cars.
The dedication is sometimes confused with the film's broader credits or with tributes to other Pixar leaders. Ranft's importance was especially tied to story development: he helped turn visual concepts into emotionally coherent animated narratives. His work influenced Pixar films well beyond the Cars franchise.