Ralph Eggleston, a veteran Pixar animator who won an Oscar for directing the 2000 short movie For the Birds and contributed to the visual effects of Toy Story, Finding Nemo, and The Incredibles, has passed away.

As per Variety, Eggleston passed away from colon cancer on Monday at the age of 56 in San Rafael, California.

Eggleston’s passing was announced by Pixar Animation Studios in a post posted on Twitter on Monday. “In honor of Ralph Eggleston, who was a beloved friend as well as an animator, director, art director, storyboard artist, writer, and production designer. The world and Pixar will always be thankful, “Tweets from the studio.

Alongside his peers, The Book of Life director Jorge R. Gutierrez paid respect to the filmmaker. “Ralph Eggleston, goodbye, maestro. A real giant in our field.

After Book of Life, he contacted me, and I will always treasure our chats. He was attempting to donate his amazing collection of art books to a Mexican animation school before many people realized he was sick. Ralph is that “Gutierrez composed.

Along with his Oscar, Eggleston won countless other honors throughout his career, notably four Annie Awards for outstanding animation. His contributions to Toy Story, Finding Nemo, and Inside Out were honored by the International Animated Film Association’s awards body, ASIFA-Hollywood.

Beginning in 1993, he remained with Pixar for three decades, per the Cartoon Brew blog. He is also recognized for contributing to the original story of the 2001 film Monsters, Inc.

Because of the industry’s shift to computer-generated imagery, or CGI, in 1995, Andrew Stanton battled to locate a production designer for Toy Story, so when Eggleston took his offer of employment, he expressed his pleasure to Cartoon Brew.

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Ralph Eggleston, who was hired as our production designer, was the only one of the persons Stanton contacted who immediately said “yes.” And thankfully for that, he actually did become a key component of the aesthetic of our movies.