Andrew Stanton | |
|---|---|
 Stanton at the 2009Venice Film Festival | |
| Born | Andrew Ayers Stanton[1] (1965-12-03)December 3, 1965 (age 59) Rockport, Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Alma mater | California Institute of the Arts(BFA) |
| Occupations |
|
| Years active | 1981–present |
| Employer | Pixar Animation Studios (1990–present) |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 2 |
| Awards | |
Andrew Ayers Stanton (born December 3, 1965) is an American filmmaker. He is best known as the director and co-writer of thePixar animated filmsFinding Nemo (2003),WALL-E (2008),Finding Dory (2016), and the upcomingToy Story 5 (2026). He also directed and co-wrote the live-action filmJohn Carter (2012) forWalt Disney Pictures and directed the upcoming live-action filmIn the Blink of an Eye forSearchlight Pictures. For Pixar, Stanton was additionally the co-director and co-writer ofA Bug's Life (1998), the co-writer of each of theToy Story films (1995-present) andMonsters, Inc. (2001), and occasional voice actor for various films.
Finding Nemo andWALL-E earned Stanton twoAcademy Awards for Best Animated Feature. He was also nominated for threeAcademy Awards for Best Original Screenplay, forFinding Nemo,WALL-E, andToy Story (1995), and for anAcademy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay forToy Story 3 (2010).WALL-E has also been inducted into theNational Film Registry. Stanton has also directed episodes of various television series since 2017, including episodes of3 Body Problem,Better Call Saul,Legion andStranger Things.
Stanton was born inRockport, Massachusetts. His father, Ron Stanton, was the founder of a company that worked on radars for theUnited States Department of Defense. His mother, Gloria Stanton, pursued an acting career before becoming a homemaker. Both of Stanton's parents were natives of nearbyWellesley.[2]
Stanton acted in high school and directed sketch comedy shot onSuper 8 film.[2] He portrayed Barnaby Tucker in a 1980 high school production ofHello, Dolly!, which later became a source of inspiration forWALL-E.[3] Stanton studied for a year at theUniversity of Hartford before transferring to the character animation program at theCalifornia Institute of the Arts.[2] He received hisBachelor of Fine Arts from CalArts in 1987.[4]
In 1989, Stanton married his high school sweetheart Julie, two weeks after she graduated fromGeorgetown University.[2] The couple subsequently settled inLos Angeles, where they raised two children, Ben and Audrey.[2][3] Stanton is a Christian.[5]
Stanton revealed in 2012 that he was diagnosed withattention deficit hyperactivity disorder when he was in the middle of writingJohn Carter.[6]
Stanton is anArsenal F.C. fan, and included a scene mimicking their famousoffside trap among other Arsenal references inJohn Carter.[7]
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Stanton began his career in animation in the late 1980s. He worked as an animator forKroyer Films,[8] and one of his early gigs involved animating sperm for a sex-ed film withMartin Short calledThe Making of Me, originally produced for Disney'sWonders of Life pavilion.[2] Stanton was one of several CalArts graduates hired byJohn Kricfalusi to work onMighty Mouse: The New Adventures atRalph Bakshi's studio.[9]
After being rejected byDisney three times, Stanton was hired byPixar's animation group in 1990 as its second animator (John Lasseter being the first) and ninth employee.[10][2] Back then Pixar was not yet an animation studio, and their animation group was dedicated to making television commercials as a step towards their goal of making the first computer-animated feature.[11]
Stanton, Lasseter andPete Docter drafted the original treatment forToy Story, which bore little resemblance with the eventually finished film.[12] After production of the film was shut down in late November 1993 following a disastrous test screening,[13] Stanton retreated into a windowless office and extensively reworked the script with help fromJoss Whedon.[14] The resulting screenplay was nominated at the Academy Awards forBest Original Screenplay, the first nomination in that category for an animated film.[15] Following his work onToy Story, Stanton would go on to directFinding Nemo,WALL-E, andFinding Dory for Pixar.[16]
In an interview withWorld Magazine'sMegan Basham, Stanton explained his singular vision forWALL-E:
What really interested me was the idea of the most human thing in the universe being a machine because it has more interest in finding out what the point of living is than actual people. The greatest commandmentChrist gives us is to love, but that's not always our priority. So I came up with this premise that could demonstrate what I was trying to say—that irrational love defeats the world's programming. You've got these two robots that are trying to go above their basest directives, literally their programming, to experience love.[17]
Stanton was credited as a narrative guru onRalph Breaks the Internet, helping director and former classmateRich Moore construct the story following Walt Disney Animation Studios and Pixar Animation Studios former chief creative officer Lasseter's step down.[18] He co-wroteToy Story 4, which was released on June 21, 2019. Initially, when he pitched the idea to directorJosh Cooley, Cooley was concerned feeling likeToy Story 3 was the perfect ending. Stanton reportedly told Cooley "Toy Story 3 was a good ending--but it's not the ending." He explained that it was not the ending of Woody's story but rather the ending of Woody's time with Andy.[19] Stanton reportedly started writingToy Story 4 in secret while the third film was still in production.[19]
He has expressed interest in directing more live action films, stating that he wants to return "[b]ecause it's quicker and it's a little bit more of the opposite... It's the antithesis of animation. Animation you get to control everything, and it's awesome in that sense. But there's no spontaneity, and it takes a long time! And so there's high risk for the complete opposite reasons of live-action."[20]
In 2020, it was announced that Stanton was in talks to direct and writeChairman Spaceman forSearchlight Pictures andSimon Kinberg's production label,Genre Films.[21] The film is based onThe New Yorker short story of the same name by Thomas Pierce. The film would mark Stanton's third venture into the science fiction genre, followingWALL-E andJohn Carter. Stanton has been quoted many times saying that science fiction is his favorite genre. Films likeStar Wars,Blade Runner,Aliens, as well as Edgar Rice Burroughs' novel,Princess of Mars, helped shape his interest in the genre. The same year, Stanton was attached to directRevolver, aromantic comedy starringMaya Hawke andEthan Hawke from a screenplay by Kate Trefry.[22][23] In 2022, it was announced that Stanton would directIn the Blink of an Eye for Searchlight Pictures from a screenplay by Colby Day.[24]
In 2024, Docter announced that Stanton would write and direct the fifth main installment ofToy Story series,Toy Story 5, which is scheduled for release on June 19, 2026.[25][26]
| Year | Title | Director | Writer | Executive Producer | Other | Voice Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | Toy Story | No | Yes | No | Yes | Commercial Chorus 2 | Story Artist, Character Designer |
| 1998 | A Bug's Life | Co-Director | Yes | No | Yes | Bug Zapper Bug 1 Singing Grasshopper 2 | Story Artist |
| 1999 | Toy Story 2 | No | Yes | No | Yes | Emperor Zurg | |
| 2000 | Buzz Lightyear of Star Command: The Adventure Begins | No | No | No | Yes | Hamm | Direct-to-video |
| 2001 | Monsters, Inc. | No | Screenplay | Yes | No | ||
| 2003 | Finding Nemo | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Crush/Lobster/Seagulls | |
| 2004 | The Incredibles | No | No | No | Yes | Additional Voices | |
| 2006 | Cars | No | No | No | Yes | Fred | Additional Screenplay Material |
| 2007 | Ratatouille | No | No | Yes | No | ||
| 2008 | WALL-E | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Axiom Passenger 2 | Pixar Senior Creative Team - uncredited onWALL-E |
| 2009 | Up | No | No | Yes | Yes | ||
| 2010 | Toy Story 3 | No | Story | No | Yes | ||
| 2011 | Cars 2 | No | No | No | Yes | ||
| 2012 | John Carter | Yes | Screenplay | No | No | ||
| Brave | No | No | Yes | Yes | Pixar Senior Creative Team | ||
| 2013 | Monsters University | No | No | Yes | Yes | ||
| 2015 | Inside Out | No | No | Yes | Yes | ||
| The Good Dinosaur | No | No | Yes | Yes | |||
| 2016 | Finding Dory | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Crush/Clam/Seagulls | |
| 2017 | Cars 3 | No | No | No | Yes | ||
| Coco | No | No | No | Yes | |||
| 2018 | Incredibles 2 | No | No | No | Yes | ||
| Ralph Breaks the Internet | No | No | No | Yes | Narrative Guru | ||
| 2019 | Toy Story 4 | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Pixar Senior Creative Team | |
| 2020 | Onward | No | No | No | Yes | ||
| Soul | No | No | No | Yes | |||
| 2021 | Luca | No | No | No | Yes | ||
| 2022 | Turning Red | No | No | No | Yes | ||
| Lightyear | No | No | Yes | Yes | Additional Screenplay Material Pixar Senior Creative Team | ||
| 2023 | Elemental | No | No | No | Yes | Pixar Senior Creative Team | |
| 2024 | Inside Out 2 | No | No | No | Yes | ||
| 2025 | Elio | No | No | No | Yes | ||
| 2026 | Hoppers | No | No | No | Yes | ||
| Toy Story 5 | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | |||
| TBA | In the Blink of an Eye | Yes | No | No | No | Completed[27] |
| Year | Title | Director | Writer | Executive Producer | Voice |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1986 | Somewhere in the Arctic[28] | Yes | Yes | No | Bahr |
| 1987 | A Story[28] | Yes | Yes | Producer | Randy / Goon Squad |
| 1991 | Light & Heavy | Yes | No | No | |
| 2003 | Exploring the Reef with Jean-Michel Cousteau | No | No | Yes | |
| 2008 | Presto | No | No | Yes | |
| BURN-E | No | Story | Yes | ||
| 2009 | Partly Cloudy | No | No | Yes | |
| 2016 | Piper | No | No | Yes | |
| Marine Life Interviews | No | Yes | No |
| Year | Title | Director | Writer | Executive Producer | Story Artist | Voice | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1987 | Mighty Mouse: The New Adventures | No | Yes | No | No | 13 episodes | |
| 1994 | 2 Stupid Dogs | No | No | No | Yes | Episode: "Cookies, Ookies, Blookies" | |
| 1995 | The Lion King's Timon & Pumbaa | No | No | No | Yes | Episode: "Good Mousekeeping" | |
| 2010 | Fetch! with Ruff Ruffman | No | No | No | No | Crush | Episode: "The Ol' Shell Game" |
| 2013 | Toy Story of Terror! | No | No | Yes | No | TV special | |
| 2017 | Stranger Things | Yes | No | No | No | Episodes: "Chapter Five: Dig Dug" and "Chapter Six: The Spy" | |
| 2018 | Better Call Saul | Yes | No | No | No | Episode: "Piñata" | |
| 2019 | Legion | Yes | No | No | No | Episode: "Chapter 20" | |
| 2020 | Tales from the Loop | Yes | No | No | No | Episode: "Echo Sphere" | |
| 2021–2022 | For All Mankind | Yes | No | No | No | Directed four episodes | |
| 2022 | Obi-Wan Kenobi | No | Yes | No | No | Episodes: "Part V" and "Part VI" | |
| 2024 | 3 Body Problem | Yes | No | Co-Executive | No | Director: "Destroyer of Worlds" | |
| 2025 | Win or Lose | No | No | Yes | No | [29][30] |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | A Bug's Life | Hopper | ReplacingKevin Spacey |
| 1999 | Toy Story 2: Buzz Lightyear to the Rescue | Emperor Zurg | |
| 2003 | Finding Nemo | Crush | |
| Disney's Extreme Skate Adventure | Emperor Zurg | ||
| 2006 | Finding Nemo: Escape to the Big Blue[31] | Seagulls | Nintendo DS andNintendo 3DS only |
| 2007 | Cars Mater-National Championship | Fred | |
| 2009 | Cars Race-O-Rama | Fred / Tater Jr. | PS3/Xbox 360/Wii version only |
| 2011 | Kinect Disneyland Adventures | Crush | |
| 2015 | Disney Infinity 3.0 | Crush | |
| 2018 | Lego The Incredibles | Seagulls |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1989–2007 | The Making of Me | Animator[32] | |
| 1998–2025 | It's Tough to Be a Bug! | Hopper | Reprising his voice doubling forKevin Spacey |
| 2007–present | The Seas with Nemo & Friends | Crush, Seagulls | |
| 2007–present | Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage | Crush, Seagulls |
| Year | Title | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 1997 | Geri's Game | Very Special Thanks |
| 2000 | For the Birds | Thanks |
| 2006 | Lifted | Special Thanks |
| 2007 | Fog City Mavericks | |
| The Pixar Story | Himself; Very Special Thanks | |
| 2010 | Finding Nico | Special Thanks |
| 2014 | Lava | |
| Toy Story That Time Forgot | Extra Special Thanks | |
| 2015 | Sanjay's Super Team | Special Thanks |
| 2016 | Zootopia | Creative Consultant[33] |
| 2019 | Purl | Kristen Lester's Story Trust |
| Frozen II | Special Thanks | |
| Spies in Disguise | ||
| 2021 | Encanto | |
| 2022 | Beyond Infinity: Buzz and the Journey to 'Lightyear' | Himself[34] |
| Cars on the Road | Special Thanks; Pixar Senior Creative Team | |
| 2023 | Nimona | Special Thanks |
Andrew Stanton has cast certain actors and crew members in more than one of the films he has directed.
| Year | Category | Film | Result | Shared With |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | Best Original Screenplay | Toy Story | Nominated | Shared WithJoss Whedon,Joel Cohen,Alec Sokolow,John Lasseter,Pete Docter, andJoe Ranft |
| 2003 | Best Animated Feature | Finding Nemo | Won | — |
| Best Original Screenplay | Nominated | Shared withBob Peterson andDavid Reynolds | ||
| 2008 | Best Animated Feature | WALL-E | Won | — |
| Best Original Screenplay | Nominated | Shared WithJim Reardon andPete Docter | ||
| 2010 | Best Adapted Screenplay | Toy Story 3 | Nominated | Shared WithMichael Arndt,John Lasseter, andLee Unkrich |
Two of Stanton's short films,A Story andSomewhere in the Arctic..., were preserved by theAcademy Film Archive in 2012.[35]
