“Two Guys Named Joe” celebrates the creative legacy of two Disney Legends

Jim Hill

14 years ago

So why exactly should you buy "Two Guys Named Joe: Master Animation Storytellers Joe Grant & Joe Ranft" (Disney Editions, August 2010)?

Because this new John Canemaker book not only does a
brilliant job of paying tribute to these animation legends, this 192-page
hardcover contains one of the funniest stories to ever come out of modern day Hollywood.

Don't believe me? Okay. Let me set the stage for this
particular anecdote. Which John Lasseter actually told at Joe Ranft's memorial
service back in August of 2005.

(L to R) John Lasseter and Joe Ranft working together on the storyboards
for "Toy Story." Copyright Disney
Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved

It's early 1998. And John & Joe have just flown down to LA
to supervise the final recording sessions for "A Bug's Life." And given what a
grueling production this particular Pixar film has been … Well, both men are
already exhausted and in a bad mood when they arrive at LAX and discover that
Disney has booked them this incredibly junky rental car.

To make matters worse, Disney has arranged for Lasseter
& Ranft to stay at the Mondrian Hotel on Sunset Boulevard. Which is this
sleek, slick place staffed by thin, well-dressed men and women who clearly
judge you by what you wear and/or what you drive.

And here are Lasseter & Ranft, tired & rumpled from
their flight down from the Bay Area, knowing that their junky rental car will
be judged inferior to all the Mercedes and the Ferraris that have already been
valeted that day.

So as they roll up to the Mondarian, John turns to Joe and
says "Put in the teeth."

Now for those of you who don't know: "The teeth" that
Lasseter is referring to are these … Well, I'd better let Canemaker explain …

… a set of distorted false incisors ("Billy Bob teeth")
Lasseter bought for Ranft. His pal Joe could always make Lasseter laugh with
his zany, satirical, often black humor and spot-on impressions and imagined
characters.

(And) no character made Lasseter laugh harder than the
dim-witted hillbilly who came out whenever "the teeth" went in.

An unctuous valet approached. Ranft inserted the dilapidated
dentures and rolled the window down.

"Welcome to the Mond …" was as far as the valet got before
being confronted by a large redneck at the wheel, grinnin' wide with amazingly
bad teeth and talkin' loud!

"Is this hee-ah the Mun-dar-eee-aan Hoe-tel?"

The valet attempted to keep Ranft in the car. "I'm sorry,
sir. Do you have a reservation?"

Lasseter suppressed his laughter, wondering "How's Joe going
to get out of this?"

Ranft opened the door, his huge frame towering over the
valet. "Yeah. Muh name's Eisner. Chucky Eisner. My Uncle Michael's gonna let me
make a moooovie!"

"Chucky" flashed a sweet, gaggle-toothed smile at the
horrified and confused valet. Lasseter lost it.

Now it's important to stress here that Ranft wasn't actually
making fun of hillbillies and/or rural types in a mean-spirited way. To be
honest, Joe was just out to pop the pretense of that far-too-snooty valet at
the Mondrian Hotel. Plus – of course – make John Lasseter laugh.

To back up that claim … Well, let's contrast the Mun-dar-eee-aan story
with another one that Canemaker unearthed for "Two Guys Named Joe." Which deals
with the research trip that Joe and several other Pixar staffers made in July
2003 while they were working on "Cars." As these folks rolled along the Mother
Road …

… Ranft befriended many Route 66 denizens. But there was one
"good ol' boy" in the middle of Oklahoma who invited (Joe) to his home, took
him fishing, fed him baloney sandwiches, and gave him ice water out of a jug.
This fellow's claim to fame was his ability to turn his double-jointed leg
backwards 180 degrees. "I kick muh leg," he said, demonstrating proudly.

It was like a magic trick, and "Joe thought this was the
greatest thing he'd ever seen," (said Jonas Rivera, "Cars" production manager).
From this odd encounter, Ranft created what Lasseter calls "the single
greatest" Pixar character: Mater, a rusty tow truck / good ol' boy with a
deep-fried accent.

On the surface, Mater seems like a stereotypical hillbilly,
not far removed from Chucky Eisner. But "Joe was sensitive to not doing a
parody," Rivera said. "He didn't want to make fun of the people he met. He
wanted to celebrate them as individuals."

As the film unfolds we discover hidden facets in Mater, such
as a sly humor born of quiet intelligence, sensivity, and an honest appraisal
of people and their foibles; plus there's a joy of life exuberantly expressed
by wildly driving backward through the town (adapted from the Oklahoma fellow's
trick leg). There is Mater's endearing loyalty to friends and his childlike
willingness to find the good in people and seek their friendship openly. There
is his warmth mixed with mischievousness and forthrightness.

Joe Ranft's early concept sketches for the character of Mater.
Copyright Disney
Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved

Ranft put a lot of himself into the endearing Mater, which
Lasseter appreciated: "I realize it's Joe. This is pure Joe." Mater's loyal
friendship to McQueen, whom he considers his best friend and can make laugh and
appreciate life, mirrors Ranft's longtime relationship with Lasseter.

You know what else is great about "Two Guys Named Joe" ?
Canemaker doesn't gloss anything over or pull any punches. He talks in great
detail about the many frustrations that Ranft faced over the course of his professional
career. Take – for example – "The Rescuers Down Under." Which might have been a
far different (and perhaps better) film if not for the constant interference of
then-Disney management and marketing executives.

As Brenda Chapman (who was part of Joe Ranft's story team on
"The Rescuers Down Under") told Canemaker :

" … what was difficult was a sense of wanting to be true to
Australia. We wanted to use an Aboriginal little boy [for the lead] but were
forced to go with a little blond kid. (The film might as well have been set in)
Arizona by the time it was finished."

So is it any wonder that Joe – feeling creatively burned out
and frustrated due to the constant interference from non-creative executives —
stepped away from Disney in September of 1990? Moving up to Seattle just to get
away from LA for a while. Which – as it turned out – was a very lucky move
indeed. For it then made Ranft available to work on Tim Burton's "The Nightmare Before Christmas" and then – after consulting briefly on "Beauty and the Beast"
– to begin working for Pixar.

Mind you, what's kind of ironic about this was – just as Joe
Ranft was walking away from Disney – Joe Grant (after a 40 year absence) was
returning to the Mouse House.

For those of you who don't know: Grant began his career at
Walt Disney Studios back in 1937. Where he quickly became one of the Company's
top writers and gagmen. And over the next 12 years, there wasn't a film made at
the Mouse Factory that wasn't somehow influenced by Joe.

Joe Grant and Walt Disney reviewing concept art for "Fantasia."
Copyright Disney
Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved

Which – to be honest – ticked off a number of the folks at
Disney Studios. They didn't like it when Walt played favorites. Especially
given the huge influence that Grant – as the founder of the Studio's Character
Model Department – had over the shorts & features that Disney was producing
at that time.

In fact, according to Canemaker, Walt himself began to
resent the influence that Joe was having over the Studio's output. After a
"Time" magazine article about "Dumbo" (which Grant co-wrote with his longtime
creative partner Dick Huemer) heaped a bit too much praise at Joe's feet for
Walt's liking …

Well, here's the Dick Huemer quote that Canemaker unearthed:

"After Walt read the article, he met Joe Grant and myself in
the (parking lot) and indicated his displeasure. He didn't think that it was a
very good article, not particularly flattering to him. As (Walt) turned away he
said "What the hell, didn't I have anything to do with the picture?," which is what
the write-up sounds like, I admit."

"Even though Dumbo has always been regarded as one of Walt's
better pictures, he hated it," said Huemer. Using an odd analogy for a city
boy, he explained that Walt "had to 'own lamb.' Until the mother licks the lamb
clean and makes it hers, she won't nurse it."

Joe Grant's watercolor concept painting of Dumbo. Copyright Disney
Enterprises, Inc.
All rights reserved

That's what I always love about John Canemaker books. His
ability to ferret out these unique bits of animation history. To strip away
years of varnish and veneer, decades of carefully massaged Disney Company
history to then reveal what really happened at the Mouse Factory back in the day.

And because Grant returned to Disney in 1989 … Well, by
reading "Two Guys Named Joe," you can also gain insights about how many of the
films that were produced during the Second Golden Age of Disney Feature
Animation actually came together. Take – for example – this story that
Canemaker got veteran story man Burny Mattinson to share about "Pocahontas."

I'd just come onto the picture and Jeffrey (Katzenberg)
wanted to get rid of Grandmother Willow. He didn't like her because she was
ordinary, unfunny. They were having (story) problems, some of the story men
were bolting. Peter (Schneider) said I want you to get over there and work in
there." Mattinson was given a section to storyboard of Pocahontas sitting on a
tree stump, delivering straight, dull, dialogue.

"One day Joe came in with these cornball sayings" for
Grandmother Willow. "My bark is worse than my bite," "The roots of all
problems," "They're barking up the wrong tree" (spoke to termites), one gag
after another. He says, 'Use these.'

"Are you kidding?" Mattinson said. "I have to pitch this
(storyboard) tomorrow and you want me to use these?"

"Yeah, yeah. I think these are good. You use them."

"No, I'm not gonna do it, Joe. Forget it!" Mattinson
protested.

Grant walked out and went home. Mattinson thought about it
and decided he would put all the corny sayings in and pitch it tomorrow "just
to show Joe how bad they are."

Early the next morning, Mattinson showed Grant the board
interwoven with his corny sayings. "Yeah, that's good. These are wonderful," he
said. Mattinson remained skeptical but went to the story meeting and pitched.

"Everybody loved it!," Mattinson recalls. "All of a sudden: 'Oh, I want her
in!,' ' Let's build her part bigger!' So Joe saved Grandmother Willow. And Joe
did that constantly. He would come up with little ideas, little touches like
that.

But as more and more non-creative executives at Disney
became involved in the animation process in the late 1990s, Grant found his
efforts to help improve the Company's motion pictures were increasingly
marginalized. Which led to some real missed opportunities. As Canemaker got
Thomas Schumacher (i.e. formerly the head of Walt Disney Animation Studios, now the big Cheese at Disney Theatrical) to recall:

"(Grant's) hearing was bad, he would never go with the group
dynamic. He was never on track with anything. But, left to his own devices …"

To finish his sentence, Schumacher silently reveals a simple
line drawing by Grant. It is of Quasimodo, the squat, stout hunchbacked bell
ringer from The Hunchback of Notre Dame, staring dumbfounded at his reflection
in a large elongated bell. In his stretched likeness, he is tall and straight,
a reversal of fun-house mirror alterations. "After he polishes the bell," Grant
wrote on this tiny but emotionally powerful drawing, "the distortion makes him
whole."

"Beautiful," Schumacher says quietly. "Why didn't we use that?"

Why indeed? But on the upside … John Canemaker never ever leaves a
great animation-related story behind. He always finds a way to weave these
little insights / amazing gems into his books.

And – trust me, folks – as good as the stories that I've
excerpted for today's article may be, there are dozens more to be found in "Two
Guys named Joe: Master Animation Storytellers Joe Grant & Joe Ranft." Which
is why I urge to pick up a copy of this terrific new Disney Editions book.

FYI: If you'd like to add an extra special copy of "Two Guys
Named Joe" to your animation reference library, you could get the author to
sign his latest book by attending some of the promotional events that Canemaker
will be taking part in over the next few months. On August 13 & 14, John
will be lecturing about the two Joes at the Walt Disney Family Museum. Then –
on August 1^7th – Canemaker will be signing copies at the Glendale
Americana Barnes & Noble.

And then — on August 18th — John will be at Disneyland. To be specific, John will be doing a signing at the Disney Gallery on Main Street, U.S.A. from 9 – 11 a.m.

Come next month, John will be doing a signing for "Two Guys
Named Joe" at the Animazing Gallery on September 25th. Then in October … Well,
Canemaker will start things off with a major lecture about Joe Grant & Joe
Ranft at the Museum of Modern Art which will then be followed by a book signing
in the MFA gift. John will then head over to New Jersey and do a book signing for
"Two Guys Called Joe" at Cel-ebration! on October 2^nd.

For further
information on other promotion appearances for "Two Guys Named Joe: Master Animation Storytellers Joe Grant & Joe Ranft," please check out John
Canemaker's website.