Andrew Stanton

Andrew Ayers Stanton (born December 3, 1965) is an American filmmaker, animator, and voice actor. He is best known as the director and co-writer of the Pixar animated films Finding Nemo (2003), WALL-E (2008), and Finding Dory (2016). He also directed and co-wrote the live-action film John Carter (2012) for Walt Disney Pictures and directed the live-action film In the Blink of an Eye (2026) for Searchlight Pictures. For Pixar, Stanton was additionally the co-director and co-writer of A Bug's Life (1998), the co-writer of each of the Toy Story films (1995-present) and Monsters, Inc. (2001), and occasional voice actor for various films, most notably Crush the Turtle from Finding Nemo.

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.^[2]

Stanton acted in high school and directed sketch comedy shot on Super 8 film.^[2] He portrayed Barnaby Tucker in a 1980 high school production of Hello, Dolly!, which later became a source of inspiration for WALL-E.^[3] Stanton studied for a year at the University of Hartford before transferring to the character animation program at the California Institute of the Arts.^[2] He received his Bachelor of Fine Arts from CalArts in 1987.^[4]

In 1989, Stanton married his high school sweetheart Julie, two weeks after she graduated from Georgetown University.^[2] The couple subsequently settled in Los Angeles, where they raised two children, Ben and Audrey.^[2][3] Stanton is a Christian.^[5]

Stanton revealed in 2012 that he was diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder when he was in the middle of writing John Carter.^[6]

Stanton is an Arsenal F.C. fan, and included a scene mimicking their famous offside trap among other Arsenal references in John Carter.^[7]

Career

Stanton began his career in animation in the late 1980s. He worked as an animator for Kroyer Films,^[8] 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.^[2] Stanton was one of several CalArts graduates hired by John Kricfalusi to work on Mighty Mouse: The New Adventures at Ralph Bakshi's studio.^[9]

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.^[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 and Pete Docter drafted the original treatment for Toy 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 from Joss Whedon.^[14] The resulting screenplay was nominated at the Academy Awards for Best Original Screenplay, the first nomination in that category for an animated film.^[15] Following his work on Toy Story, Stanton would go on to direct Finding Nemo, WALL-E, and Finding Dory for Pixar.^[16]

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.^[17]

Stanton 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.^[18] Stanton reportedly started writing Toy Story 4 in secret while the third film was still in production.^[18]

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."^[19]

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.^[20] 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.^[21][22] In 2022, it was announced that Stanton would direct In the Blink of an Eye (2026) for Searchlight Pictures from a screenplay by Colby Day.^[23]

In 2024, Docter announced that Stanton would write and direct the fifth main installment of the Toy Story series, Toy Story 5, which is scheduled for release on June 19, 2026.^[24][25]

Filmography

Films

Short films

TV episodes and specials

Video games

Theme parks

Other credits

Collaborations (Acting)

Andrew Stanton has cast certain actors and crew members in more than one of the films he has directed.

Award and nominations

Academy Awards

Preservation

Two of Stanton's short films, A Story and Somewhere in the Arctic..., were preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2012.^[34]

References

1. ^ "JOHN CARTER director Andrew Stanton talks Pixar, Marketing & Critics". YouTube. March 12, 2012. Retrieved June 15, 2024.
2. ^ Friend, Tad (October 10, 2011). "Second-Act Twist". The New Yorker. Retrieved December 31, 2020.
3. ^ "Best Animated Feature Film Acceptance Speech". Oscar.com. Archived February 26, 2009 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved January 17, 2018.
4. ^ "Alumni - CalArts School of Film/Video". California Institute of the Arts. Retrieved December 31, 2020.
5. ^ Moring, Mark (June 24, 2008). "The Little Robot That Could". Christianity Today. Retrieved May 5, 2017.
6. ^ Keegan, Rebecca (September 8, 2012). "Director Andrew Stanton looks back on 'John Carter's' rocky path". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved March 13, 2022.
7. ^ Dörflinger, M., Taschenbuch Fußball: 333x Fußball – Superlative & Kuriositäten. Spannende Fakten und Kurioses über Fußball – Geramond Verlag (2019). ISBN 978-3964530530.
8. ^ "Writers on Writing with Andrew Stanton". Writers Guild Foundation. July 30, 2019. Retrieved December 31, 2020.
9. ^ Thill, Scott (January 5, 2010). "Q&A: Toon Titan John Kricfalusi Hails Mighty Mouse Rebirth". Wired. Retrieved June 16, 2022.
10. ^ "Pixar's Andrew Stanton, Animating From Life". NPR. July 10, 2008. Retrieved December 31, 2020.
11. ^ Paik, Karen (3 November 2015). To Infinity and Beyond!: The Story of Pixar Animation Studios. Chronicle Books. ISBN 9781452147659. – via Google Books.
12. ^ Price 2008, p. 121.
13. ^ Price 2008, p. 130.
14. ^ Price 2008, p. 131.
15. ^ "Toy Story (1995)". The New York Times. 2011. Archived from the original on May 11, 2011. Retrieved March 12, 2009.
16. ^ Shamsian, Jacob. "The director of 'Finding Nemo' says he made the movie because he was bothered by a scene in 'The Lion King'". Insider. Retrieved 2020-12-13.
17. ^ Megan Basham (2006-06-28). "WALL-E world". World Magazine. Archived July 3, 2008 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2008-07-02.
18. ^ Perry, Spencer (June 18, 2019). "Toy Story 4 Was Secretly Being Written Before Toy Story 3 Released". Comingsoon.net. Retrieved December 7, 2019.
19. ^ "Finding Dory Director Wants to Focus on Live-Action Movies Next". Screen Rant. 11 June 2016.
20. ^ D'Alessandro, Anthony (May 19, 2020). "Andrew Stanton In Early Talks To Direct 'Chairman Spaceman' For Searchlight & Simon Kinberg's Genre Films". Deadline Hollywood. Penske Media Corporation. Retrieved September 12, 2020.
21. ^ Hipes, Patrick (October 30, 2020). "Maya And Ethan Hawke To Star As Father And Daughter In 'Revolver'; Andrew Stanton Directing – AFM". Deadline Hollywood. Penske Media Corporation. Retrieved February 5, 2023.
22. ^ Kay, Jeremy (October 30, 2020). "Andrew Stanton to direct Maya and Ethan Hawke in AFM sales title 'Revolver'". Screen Daily. Media Business Insight. Retrieved February 5, 2023.
23. ^ Kit, Borys (October 7, 2022). "Andrew Stanton to Direct Epic Sci-Fi Drama 'In the Blink of an Eye' for Searchlight (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Penske Media Corporation. Retrieved February 5, 2023.
24. ^ Hermanns, Grant (June 8, 2024). "Toy Story 5 Director Seemingly Revealed By Pixar Exec". Screen Rant. Retrieved June 8, 2024.
25. ^ McPherson, Chris (June 9, 2024). "Pixar Legend Tapped to Direct 'Toy Story 5'". Collider. Retrieved June 14, 2024.
26. ^ Gardner, Chris (10 December 2025). "Sundance Sets 2026 Lineup With Charli XCX, Olivia Wilde, Salman Rushdie and Courtney Love Films". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 10 December 2025.
27. ^ Simon, Ben (December 27, 2012). "Pixar Short Films Collection: Volume 2". Animated Views. Retrieved February 26, 2017.
28. ^ Gaur, Ryan (2023-07-06). "Conversation with Team Behind New Pixar Series 'Win or Lose' | Carrie Hobson, Michael Yates, David Lally". Skwigly Animation Magazine. Retrieved 2023-07-07.
29. ^ Shanfeld, Ethan (September 24, 2024). "'Inside Out' Spinoff Series 'Dream Productions' and Pixar's 'Win or Lose' Set Disney+ Release Dates and Unveil New Footage". variety.com. Retrieved September 24, 2024.
30. ^ Watts, Martin (April 15, 2013). "Finding Nemo: Escape to the Big Blue Review (3DS)". Nintendo Life. Retrieved March 26, 2021.
31. ^ "Second-Act Twist". The New Yorker. 10 October 2011.
32. ^ Strike, Joe (March 4, 2016). "'Zootopia:' Disney's Latest and Greatest Animal Kingdom". Animated World Network. Retrieved September 13, 2020.
33. ^ T.J. Wolsos (June 10, 2022). "Buzz Lightyear Documentary 'Beyond Infinity' Now on Disney+". Pixar Post. Retrieved July 2, 2022.
34. ^ "Preserved Projects". Academy Film Archive

Bibliography

• Price, David (2008). The Pixar Touch: The Making of a Company. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. ISBN 978-0-307-26575-3.

External links

• Andrew Stanton at IMDb
• A Day in the Life of Andrew Stanton – The New York Times
• • "The clues to a great story" (TED2012)