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Andrew Stanton
Andrew Stanton cropped 2009.jpg
Stanton at the 2009 Venice Film Festival
Born
Andrew Ayers Stanton

(1965-12-03) December 3, 1965 (age 59)
Alma mater California Institute of the Arts (BFA)
Occupation
  • Film director
  • screenwriter
  • producer
  • animator
  • storyboard artist
  • voice actor
Years active 1981–present
Employer Pixar Animation Studios (1990–present)
Spouse(s)
Julie Stanton
(m. 1989)
Children 2
Awards

Andrew Ayers Stanton (born December 3, 1965) is a famous American filmmaker and voice actor. He is best known for his amazing work at Pixar, which he joined way back in 1990.

He helped create and direct many popular Pixar movies. These include A Bug's Life (1998), Finding Nemo (2003), and its sequel Finding Dory (2016). He also directed the beloved robot movie WALL-E (2008).

Andrew Stanton has won two Academy Awards for Best Animated Feature. He won for Finding Nemo and WALL-E. He was also nominated for other awards for writing Finding Nemo, WALL-E, and Toy Story (1995). His movie WALL-E is even kept in the National Film Registry because it's so important.

Besides movies, Stanton has directed episodes for TV shows. Some of these include Stranger Things, Better Call Saul, and Obi-Wan Kenobi.

Early Life and Family

Andrew Stanton was born on December 3, 1965, in Rockport, Massachusetts. His dad, Ron Stanton, started a company that worked on radar systems. His mom, Gloria Stanton, was an actress before she became a homemaker.

When he was in high school, Andrew loved acting and directing. He even made short comedy films using a special camera called Super 8. A play he acted in, Hello, Dolly!, later gave him ideas for his movie WALL-E.

He studied at the California Institute of the Arts, a famous school for artists. He earned his degree in 1987. In 1989, Andrew married his high school sweetheart, Julie. They settled in Los Angeles and have two children, Ben and Audrey.

His Career in Animation

Andrew Stanton started his animation career in the late 1980s. He worked as an animator for different studios. He even worked on a cartoon called Mighty Mouse: The New Adventures.

After trying three times, Stanton was finally hired by Pixar in 1990. He was only the second animator to join the company! At first, Pixar wasn't making feature films. Their animation team created TV commercials. This was a step towards their goal of making the first computer-animated movie.

Stanton, along with John Lasseter and Pete Docter, came up with the first ideas for Toy Story. The movie's story changed a lot over time. After a difficult test screening, Stanton worked hard to rewrite the script. The final screenplay was nominated for an Academy Award. This was the first time an animated film was nominated for Best Original Screenplay.

Stanton had a special idea for WALL-E. He wanted to show how a machine could be the most "human" thing in the universe. He explained that the movie shows how "irrational love defeats the world's programming." It's about two robots trying to go beyond their basic instructions to experience love.

He also helped create the story for Ralph Breaks the Internet. He co-wrote Toy Story 4, which came out in 2019. He started writing ideas for Toy Story 4 secretly while Toy Story 3 was still being made. He felt that Toy Story 3 was a good ending for Woody's time with Andy, but not for Woody's whole story.

Andrew Stanton is interested in directing more live-action movies. He says it's quicker than animation and offers more spontaneity. He loves science fiction movies like Star Wars and Blade Runner. He is set to direct Toy Story 5, which is planned for release in 2026.

Filmography

Films

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 on WALL-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 Incredibles 3 No No No Yes
In the Blink of an Eye Yes No No No Post-production

Short films

Year Title Director Writer Executive
Producer
Voice
1986 Somewhere in the Arctic Yes Yes No Bahr
1987 A Story 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

TV episodes and specials

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 2 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"
2021–22 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 Directed episode: "Destroyer of Worlds"
2025 Win or Lose No No Yes No

Video games

Year Title Role Notes
1998 A Bug's Life Hopper Replacing Kevin 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 Seagulls Nintendo DS and Nintendo 3DS only
2007 Cars Mater-National Championship Fred
2009 Cars Race-O-Rama Fred / Tater Jr. PS3/Xbox 360/Wii version only
2010 Toy Story 3: The Video Game Emperor Zurg Uncredited
PS3 version only
2011 Kinect Disneyland Adventures Crush / Emperor Zurg
2015 Disney Infinity 3.0 Crush
2018 Lego The Incredibles Seagulls

Theme parks

Year Title Role Notes
1989–2007 The Making of Me Animator
1998–present It's Tough to Be a Bug! Hopper Replacing Kevin Spacey
2007–present Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage Crush, Seagulls

Other credits

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
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
Cars on the Road Special Thanks; Pixar Senior Creative Team
2023 Nimona Special Thanks

Actors He Works With Often

Andrew Stanton often casts the same actors in his movies. Here are some of the actors he has worked with more than once:

Finding Nemo WALL-E John Carter Finding Dory In the Blink of an Eye
Albert Brooks
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Ellen DeGeneres
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Alexander Gould
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Willem Dafoe
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Brad Garrett
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Allison Janney
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Austin Pendleton
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Stephen Root
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Vicki Lewis
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Himself
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Bob Peterson
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John Ratzenberger
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Bob Bergen
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Paul Eiding
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Jess Harnell
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Sherry Lynn
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Mickie McGowan
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Laraine Newman
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Jeff Pidgeon
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Jan Rabson
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Jim Ward
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Sigourney Weaver
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Angus MacLane
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Dominic West
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Kate McKinnon
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Awards and Nominations

Academy Awards

Year Category Film Result Shared With
1995 Best Original Screenplay Toy Story Nominated Shared With Joss Whedon, Joel Cohen, Alec Sokolow, John Lasseter, Pete Docter, and Joe Ranft
2003 Best Animated Feature Finding Nemo Won N/A
Best Original Screenplay Nominated Shared with Bob Peterson and David Reynolds
2008 Best Animated Feature WALL-E Won N/A
Best Original Screenplay Nominated Shared With Jim Reardon and Pete Docter
2010 Best Adapted Screenplay Toy Story 3 Nominated Shared With Michael Arndt, John Lasseter, and Lee Unkrich

Preservation

Two of Stanton's early short films, A Story and Somewhere in the Arctic..., were saved by the Academy Film Archive in 2012. This means they are kept safe for future generations to watch.

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Andrew Stanton para niños

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