Ralph Eggleston (October 18, 1965 – August 28, 2022)^[1] was an American animator, art director, storyboard artist, and production designer atPixar Animation Studios.^[2][3] He won theAcademy Award for Best Animated Short Film forFor the Birds.^[4]

Born inLake Charles, Louisiana, Eggleston graduated from theCalifornia Institute of the Arts before beginning his career as an animator in 1983.^[5] His first significant contribution was as the chief animator for the 1987 episodeFamily Dog forSteven Spielberg's anthology seriesAmazing Stories.^[5] Following this project he worked as an animator forKroyer Films on numerous projects for television and film in the late 1980s and early 1990s, including serving as art director for the 1992 filmFernGully: The Last Rainforest.^[5] He also worked as an animator on several projects withWalt Disney Animation Studios, including the filmsAladdin (1992),The Lion King (1994), andPocahontas (1995).^[1]

Eggleston began his career atPixar in 1992, hired during the development ofToy Story, his work on which won him theAnnie Award for Best Art Direction. He wrote and directed theOscar-winning Pixar short filmFor the Birds.^[6] He worked as Production Designer on the filmInside Out for six years;^[7] this film received theAnnie Award for Best Production Design.^[8]

After a prolonged illness, Eggleston died on August 28, 2022, from acolorectal infection caused by apancreatic tumor. He was 56 years old.^[9][1]Elemental was dedicated to his memory, along with Thomas Gonzales, Amber Martorelli, and J. Garrett Sheldrew.^[10] As a tribute to Eggleston, a sign reading "Eat at Ralph's - Two cents" can be seen in Element City.^[11] Another tribute to Eggleston can be seen inInside Out 2 as one of the artists for Anxiety, number 87, was designed to be a caricature of him.^[12]

• FernGully: The Last Rainforest (1992) (art director, animator)
• Aladdin (1992) (animator)
• The Lion King (1994) (animator)
• Pocahontas (1995) (animator)
• Toy Story (1995) (art director)
• A Bug's Life (1998) (art director)
• Toy Story 2 (1999) (art director)
• Fantasia 2000 (1999) (production designer)
• For the Birds (2000) (writer, director)
• Monsters, Inc. (2001) (storywriter/visual development)
• Finding Nemo (2003) (production designer)
• The Incredibles (2004) (art director)
• Cars (2006) (art director)
• Ratatouille (2007) (character designer)
• WALL-E (2008) (production designer)
• Up (2009) (character art director)
• The Princess and the Frog (2009) (additional story material)
• Cars 2 (2011) (development artist)
• Inside Out (2015) (production designer)
• Riley's First Date? (2015) (production designer)
• Finding Dory (2016) (special thanks)
• Incredibles 2 (2018) (production designer)
• Soul (2020) (development artist)
• Elemental (2023) (dedication)
• Inside Out 2 (2024) (visual development artist; posthumous release)

• Ralph Eggleston atIMDb
• Audio interview with Eggleston (04/06)
• Teen's interview Ralph Eggleston
• "Ken Breuce and Ralph Eggleston notes from CalArts Character Animation lecture"Archived April 10, 2008, at theWayback Machine
• Feb-3-2006:Pixar visit #3 Ralph Eggelston and Ken Bruce
• From script to DVD interview
• Design with a Purpose, Interview with Ralph Eggleston AD of Wall-E.Archived March 20, 2018, at theWayback Machine

• 1965 births
• 2022 deaths
• American art directors
• American production designers
• American storyboard artists
• Animators from Louisiana
• Annie Award winners
• Artists from Baton Rouge, Louisiana
• California Institute of the Arts alumni
• Deaths from pancreatic cancer in California
• Directors of Best Animated Short Academy Award winners
• People from Lake Charles, Louisiana
• Pixar people
• Walt Disney Animation Studios people

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• All Wikipedia articles written in American English
• Use mdy dates from September 2022
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