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RandyHand — Buttocks the Clown set 1

Published: 2007-11-20 03:19:43 +0000 UTC; Views: 3854; Favourites: 22; Downloads: 29
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Description Okay, so here it is...the piece that will go to John Lasseter as a belated birthday gift. A bit of a long story, sad and cool at the same time. A good friend of mine, Su Ranft commissioned me to sculpt a likeness of her late husband, Joe Ranft. Joe is better known as the voice of Heimlich the Caterpillar in a Bugs Life, Jacques the Shrimp in Finding Nemo etc.
Joe was one of the original people at Pixar and a very close friend of John Lasseter's. He was head of story at Pixar before he was tragically killed in a car accident in August of 2005.
Joe used to dress up as Buttocks the Clown for Halloween, or just to entertain.
Normally I'm not in to clowns too much unless they are the ones from Killer Clowns From Outer Space, but this was too fun to pass up. For reference I used the dvd that was played at Joe's memorial at Pixar. It's an emotional tribute to Joe's life and part of it shows Joe dancing in his Buttocks costume. It was so funny because, as Su said, that butt had a life of it's own.
In addition to some photos that Su gave to me, I was also able to take some digital shots of his face as well so I had a lot to work from. John Lasseter will get number 1 in the edition. His, and all the other bronzes will be colored just like the original costume. (LOTS of colors) Another thing Joe used to do was to hike and meditate. On these hikes he would collect stones. Su gave me a big bag of these stones and each bronze will have one of these stones welded inside each base. Each piece will have a little pamphlet with a story of Joe and encourage you to shake the sculpture to hear the stone rattle inside. My hope also is that the piece won't be a reminder of his death so much as it is a tribute to him and a comfort to anyone that owns it. I feel his spirit lives on and he is still around.
I'll post shots of the finished bronze when it is cast.
Hope you enjoy it...
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Comments: 18

WolfStaronChild14 [2011-06-29 00:52:20 +0000 UTC]

me still sad that he is dead, me and my friends looked up to him as a Hero, and we still do.

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

RandyHand In reply to WolfStaronChild14 [2011-06-29 02:38:54 +0000 UTC]

I too, still think of him often.
He was and still is a force all his own.
Thanks so much for your fave and comment...
Best to you,
Take care

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

WolfStaronChild14 In reply to RandyHand [2011-06-29 02:47:27 +0000 UTC]

I will, he is actually the reason me and my friends stated a group way back when i was in like second grade, and it also on here now too!

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

RandyHand In reply to WolfStaronChild14 [2011-06-29 13:04:20 +0000 UTC]

That's awesome...
Not sure if you saw the finished version of Buttocks the Clown, [link]

Joe's younger brother Jerome is a good friend of ours and he is an amazing sculptor at Pixar.
(he also did the voice of Gamma in UP)
He gives us tours of Pixar now and then and it's mind blowing and inspiring.
Did you see the Coraline?...the two moving guys in the first scene were Joe and Jerome. It was an homage to Joe to have him in there.
He still influences many people today and that's an amazing thing.
I remember my wife and I going to Cars at the theater for the first time and when the end credits came up paying tribute to Joe we couldn't help but cry.
We went to Ratatoullie with Joe's widow Su and their daughter Sophie and this picture pops up with Joe, John Lassetter, Andrew Stanton etc. all sitting around the table laughing. It caught Su and Sophie by surprise so that was a tough moment as well.
When Su sent out the bag of stones that Joe meditated with, I grabbed a small crystal that was in the bag.
I made it in to a necklace and wear it every day....
After A Bugs Life was done, Joe went around with a poster that advertised the movie and had all the stars sign it, and he signed it as well....Su wanted my wife and I to 'babysit' it, so it's up on our wall in our tv room.
Sorry for blabbing so much...it's just nice to be able to talk about Joe now and then....
Best to you,
Take care

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

Boggleboy [2008-10-04 03:13:07 +0000 UTC]

I do not like clowns...at all... Killer Clowns From Outer Space is more my idea of how clowns are, but this is a wonderful piece and it is a truly touching story. And if you'll forgive my pun- this is a clown after all- you must really know a lot of movers and...shakers.

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

RandyHand In reply to Boggleboy [2008-10-04 14:38:25 +0000 UTC]

I'm the same as you about clowns.
I love Killer Clowns from Outer Space as well.
It was a labor of love to do this piece...
Great pun...Lol...
We've been fortunate to have some very cool people cross our paths at the shows and on our travels.
You just never know where this crazy art business can take you...
Thanks again,
Take care

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

Boggleboy In reply to RandyHand [2008-10-04 20:34:51 +0000 UTC]

You are indeed quite lucky! Would that I too could make such connections, but those sorts of folk don't bother with places like Ohio...perhaps once our daughter goes to college I might be able to travel a bit to places a bit more...diverse than the mid-west.

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

RandyHand In reply to Boggleboy [2008-10-04 23:40:09 +0000 UTC]

Yeah, you gotta get out and put yourself out there...
Take care

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

hannelin [2007-12-02 11:04:34 +0000 UTC]

Hm. After I read the story, he doesn't seem so scary anymore. The concept is great, with the pamphlet and all. Still love the sculpture, and I'm looking forward to seeing it in bronze with color

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

RandyHand In reply to hannelin [2007-12-02 17:31:51 +0000 UTC]

Thanks! Yeah, clowns have never been high on my list of favorite things, but this one was a little more special to me.
I'm going to try to cast a resin version myself before I send the mold to the foundry. I'll color it so I'll have a good idea of what I want to do on the bronze. Thanks again!
Take care

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

Balanos [2007-12-01 16:19:04 +0000 UTC]

I can tell you spent more time on this one. This one is very amazingly formed and detailed at the same time. I bet you made some of your other sculpture buddy's jealous with this one

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

RandyHand In reply to Balanos [2007-12-01 16:37:47 +0000 UTC]

Thanks so much! Yeah, I was really happy with how it has an action to it even though it's so bulky...Thanks again my friend...Take care

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

cgad [2007-11-20 16:16:18 +0000 UTC]

This is an awesome sculpt in both concept and technical ability. Great job, man. The face is ace.

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

RandyHand In reply to cgad [2007-11-20 16:20:20 +0000 UTC]

Thank you so much...I spent the most time on getting the face to the point where I was happy with it. When I emailed it to Su, Joe's widow, I got on the phone with her before she opened it up and when she did, she gasped and said how eerie it was and that I nailed it...
I got pretty emotional when she said that...
Thanks again!
Take care

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

Ballistyc [2007-11-20 13:37:26 +0000 UTC]

I would've never been able to do something like this. The pressure a stress must of been excruciating. I know all too well about Mr. Ranft's death being a Pixar fan myself......I thought making this for John Lasseter would've been stressful enough, but to have the sculpture be in the likeness of his dear friend is even more pressure if you ask me. I have no idea how you managed so well. I hope John likes it....

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RandyHand In reply to Ballistyc [2007-11-20 14:53:28 +0000 UTC]

Thanks! Yeah, I worked on it for 3 weeks putting quite a few hours in to it. I was lucky to have good reference photos etc. It was nerve racking at first but then it became really fun...It helped to have his widow Su to email pix to and get feedback on my progress.
Also, Mark Newman (check out his work on DA) is a good friend who lives out there and he gives me good feedback as well. Jerome, Joe's younger brother, sculpts for Pixar and he is a good friend of mine as well, but this piece was a little hard for him to look at because of how close he was with Joe.
I'm looking forward to seeing how the bronze comes out...Thanks again...take care

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

laluCoo [2007-11-20 10:27:58 +0000 UTC]

that's such a sad story... Joe sounds like a really great guy, it's unfortunate what happened to him. Your sculpture, after reading it's history, captures a lot of irony but I'm very happy that it instills such emotion ^__^ great work from a great artist.
Does John know anything about the commission, or will it be a surprise? If surprise, I think it'll really catch him off guard in a good way ^__^ a pieces he'll never forget, or part with! (I loved Heimlich ; . ; <3)

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

RandyHand In reply to laluCoo [2007-11-20 14:48:04 +0000 UTC]

Thanks so much for your comments....Yeah, it is really sad but his memory has really lived on...
Su told John about it so it won't be a super big surprise...
Heimlich was one of my favorite characters as well.
One really strange thing was when I did the Tree of Life for their house...I asked if they wanted to hide anything in the tree that would be unique to them...Su suggested theirs and their kids initials JR and SR but Joe suggested that I hide a skull somewhere in it, since you should have the opposite of life so the skull could represent death....Later that summer he was killed.

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