# Andrew Stanton

Andrew Ayers Stanton (born December 3, 1965) is an American filmmaker and voice actor based at Pixar, which he joined in 1990. His film work includes co-writing and co-directing Pixar's A Bug's Life (1998), directing Finding Nemo (2003) and its sequel Finding Dory (2016), WALL-E (2008), and the live-action film, Disney's John Carter (2012), and co-writing all five and directing the upcoming latter in Toy Story films (1995–2026) and co-writing Monsters, Inc. (2001).
Finding Nemo and WALL-E earned Stanton two Academy Awards for Best Animated Feature. He was also nominated for three Academy Awards for Best Original Screenplay, for Finding Nemo, WALL-E, and Toy Story (1995), and for an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay for Toy Story 3 (2010). WALL-E has also been inducted into the National Film Registry. Stanton has also directed episodes of various television series since 2017, including episodes of 3 Body Problem, Better Call Saul, Legion and Stranger Things.

## Early and personal life

Stanton was born in Rockport, Massachusetts. His father, Ron Stanton, was the founder of a company that worked on radars for the United States Department of Defense. His mother, Gloria Stanton, pursued an acting career before becoming a homemaker. Both of Stanton's parents were natives of nearby Wellesley.
Stanton acted in high school and directed sketch comedy shot on Super 8 film. He portrayed Barnaby Tucker in a 1980 high school production of Hello, Dolly!, which later became a source of inspiration for WALL-E. Stanton studied for a year at the University of Hartford before transferring to the character animation program at the California Institute of the Arts. He received his Bachelor of Fine Arts from CalArts in 1987.
In 1989, Stanton married his high school sweetheart Julie, two weeks after she graduated from Georgetown University. The couple subsequently settled in Los Angeles, where they raised two children, Ben and Audrey. Stanton is a Christian.
Stanton revealed in 2012 that he was diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder when he was in the middle of writing John Carter.
Stanton is an Arsenal F.C. fan, and included a scene mimicking their famous offside trap among other Arsenal references in John Carter.

## Career

Stanton began his career in animation in the late 1980s. He worked as an animator for Kroyer Films, and one of his early gigs involved animating sperm for a sex-ed film with Martin Short called The Making of Me, originally produced for Disney's Wonders of Life pavilion. Stanton was one of several CalArts graduates hired by John Kricfalusi to work on Mighty Mouse: The New Adventures at Ralph Bakshi's studio.
After being rejected by Disney three times, Stanton was hired by Pixar's animation group in 1990 as its second animator (John Lasseter being the first) and ninth employee. 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.
Stanton, Lasseter and Pete Docter drafted the original treatment for Toy Story, which bore little resemblance with the eventually finished film. After production of the film was shut down in late November 1993 following a disastrous test screening, Stanton retreated into a windowless office and extensively reworked the script with help from Joss Whedon. The resulting screenplay was nominated at the Academy Awards for Best Original Screenplay, the first nomination in that category for an animated film.
In an interview with World Magazine's Megan Basham, Stanton explained his singular vision for WALL-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 commandment Christ 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.
Stanton was credited as a narrative guru on Ralph Breaks the Internet, helping director and former classmate Rich Moore construct the story following Walt Disney Animation Studios and Pixar Animation Studios former chief creative officer Lasseter's step down. He co-wrote Toy Story 4, which was released on June 21, 2019. Initially, when he pitched the idea to director Josh Cooley, Cooley was concerned feeling like Toy 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. Stanton reportedly started writing Toy Story 4 in secret while the third film was still in production.
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."
In 2020, it was announced that Stanton was in talks to direct and write Chairman Spaceman for Searchlight Pictures and Simon Kinberg's production label, Genre Films. The film is based on The New Yorker short story of the same name by Thomas Pierce. The film would mark Stanton's third venture into the science fiction genre, following WALL-E and John Carter. Stanton has been quoted many times saying that science fiction is his favorite genre. Films like Star 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 direct Revolver, a romantic comedy starring Maya Hawke and Ethan Hawke from a screenplay by Kate Trefry. In 2022, it was announced that Stanton would direct In the Blink of an Eye for Searchlight Pictures from a screenplay by Colby Day.
In 2024, Docter announced that Stanton would write and direct the fifth main installment of Toy Story series, Toy Story 5, which is scheduled for release on June 19, 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 | | Pixar Senior Creative Team - uncredited on WALL-E |
| 2010 | Toy Story 3 | No | Story | No | Yes | | Pixar Senior Creative Team - uncredited on WALL-E |
| 2011 | Cars 2 | No | No | No | Yes | | Pixar Senior Creative Team - uncredited on WALL-E |
| 2012 | John Carter | Yes | Screenplay | No | No | | |
| 2012 | Brave | No | No | Yes | Yes | | Pixar Senior Creative Team |
| 2013 | Monsters University | No | No | Yes | Yes | | Pixar Senior Creative Team |
| 2015 | Inside Out | No | No | Yes | Yes | | Pixar Senior Creative Team |
| 2015 | The Good Dinosaur | No | No | Yes | Yes | | Pixar Senior Creative Team |
| 2016 | Finding Dory | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Crush/Clam/Seagulls | Pixar Senior Creative Team |
| 2017 | Cars 3 | No | No | No | Yes | | Pixar Senior Creative Team |
| 2017 | Coco | No | No | No | Yes | | Pixar Senior Creative Team |
| 2018 | Incredibles 2 | No | No | No | Yes | | Pixar Senior Creative Team |
| 2018 | 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 | | Pixar Senior Creative Team |
| 2020 | Soul | No | No | No | Yes | | Pixar Senior Creative Team |
| 2021 | Luca | No | No | No | Yes | | Pixar Senior Creative Team |
| 2022 | Turning Red | No | No | No | Yes | | Pixar Senior Creative Team |
| 2022 | 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 | | Pixar Senior Creative Team |
| 2025 | Elio | No | No | No | Yes | | Pixar Senior Creative Team |
| 2026 | Hoppers | No | No | No | Yes | | Pixar Senior Creative Team |
| 2026 | Toy Story 5 | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | | Pixar Senior Creative Team |
| TBA | Incredibles 3 | No | No | No | Yes | | Pixar Senior Creative Team |
| TBA | 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 | |
| 2008 | BURN-E | No | Story | Yes | |
| 2009 | Partly Cloudy | No | No | Yes | |
| 2016 | Piper | No | No | Yes | |
| 2016 | 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 | |
| 2003 | 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 | Reprising his voice doubling for Kevin Spacey |
| 2007–present | The Seas with Nemo & Friends | Crush, Seagulls | |
| 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 | Special Thanks |
| 2007 | The Pixar Story | Himself; Very Special Thanks |
| 2010 | Finding Nico | Special Thanks |
| 2014 | Lava | Special Thanks |
| 2014 | 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 |
| 2019 | Frozen II | Special Thanks |
| 2019 | Spies in Disguise | Special Thanks |
| 2021 | Encanto | Special Thanks |
| 2022 | Beyond Infinity: Buzz and the Journey to 'Lightyear' | Himself |
| 2022 | Cars on the Road | Special Thanks; Pixar Senior Creative Team |
| 2023 | Nimona | Special Thanks |

## Collaborations (Acting)

Andrew Stanton has cast certain actors and crew members in more than one of the films he has directed.
| | Finding Nemo | WALL-E | John Carter | Finding Dory | In the Blink of an Eye |
| Albert Brooks | N | | | N | |
| Ellen DeGeneres | N | | | N | |
| Alexander Gould | N | | | N | |
| Willem Dafoe | N | | N | N | |
| Brad Garrett | N | | | N | |
| Allison Janney | N | | | N | |
| Austin Pendleton | N | | | N | |
| Stephen Root | N | | | N | |
| Vicki Lewis | N | | | N | |
| Himself | N | N | | N | |
| Bob Peterson | N | | | N | |
| John Ratzenberger | N | N | | N | |
| Bob Bergen | N | N | | | |
| Paul Eiding | N | N | | | |
| Jess Harnell | N | N | | | |
| Sherry Lynn | N | N | | | |
| Mickie McGowan | N | N | | | |
| Laraine Newman | N | N | | | |
| Jeff Pidgeon | N | N | | | |
| Jan Rabson | N | N | | | |
| Jim Ward | N | N | | | |
| Sigourney Weaver | | N | | N | |
| Angus MacLane | | N | | N | |
| Dominic West | | | N | N | |
| Kate McKinnon | | | | N | N |

## Award 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 | — |
| 2003 | Best Original Screenplay | Finding Nemo | Nominated | Shared with Bob Peterson and David Reynolds |
| 2008 | Best Animated Feature | WALL-E | Won | — |
| 2008 | Best Original Screenplay | WALL-E | 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 short films, A Story and Somewhere in the Arctic..., were preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2012.