Andrew Stanton
Andrew Stanton | |
|---|---|
 Stanton at the 2009 Venice Film Festival | |
| Born | Andrew Ayers Stanton[1] December 3, 1965 Rockport, Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Alma mater | California Institute of the Arts (BFA) |
| Occupations |
|
| Years active | 1981–present |
| Employer | Pixar Animation Studios (1990–present) |
| Spouse |
Julie Stanton (m. 1989) |
| Children | 2 |
| Awards | |
Andrew Ayers Stanton (born December 3, 1965) is an American filmmaker and voice actor based at Pixar, which he joined in 1990.[2] His film work includes co-writing and co-directing Pixar's A Bug's Life (1998), directing Finding Nemo (2003)[3] 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 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, Obi-Wan Kenobi and Stranger Things.
Early and personal life
[edit]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.[4]
Stanton acted in high school and directed sketch comedy shot on Super 8 film.[4] He portrayed Barnaby Tucker in a 1980 high school production of Hello, Dolly!, which later became a source of inspiration for WALL-E.[5] Stanton studied for a year at the University of Hartford before transferring to the character animation program at the California Institute of the Arts.[4] He received his Bachelor of Fine Arts from CalArts in 1987.[6]
In 1989, Stanton married his high school sweetheart Julie, two weeks after she graduated from Georgetown University.[4] The couple subsequently settled in Los Angeles, where they raised two children, Ben and Audrey.[4][5] Stanton is a Christian.[7]
Stanton revealed in 2012 that he was diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder when he was in the middle of writing John Carter.[8]
Stanton is an Arsenal F.C. fan, and included a scene mimicking their famous offside trap among other Arsenal references in John Carter.[9]
Career
[edit] | This section of a biography of a living person needs additional citations for verification. (December 2020) |
Stanton began his career in animation in the late 1980s. He worked as an animator for Kroyer Films,[10] and one of his early gigs involved animating sperm for a sex-ed film with Martin Short.[4] Stanton was one of several CalArts graduates hired by John Kricfalusi to work on Mighty Mouse: The New Adventures at Ralph Bakshi's studio.[11]
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.[2][4] 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.[12]
Stanton, Lasseter and Pete Docter drafted the original treatment for Toy Story, which bore little resemblance with the eventually finished film.[13] After production of the film was shut down in late November 1993 following a disastrous test screening,[14] Stanton retreated into a windowless office and extensively reworked the script with help from Joss Whedon.[15] The resulting screenplay was nominated at the Academy Awards for Best Original Screenplay, the first nomination in that category for an animated film.[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 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.[18] 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 wasn't the ending of Woody's story but rather the ending of Woody's time with Andy.[19] Stanton reportedly started writing Toy 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 write Chairman Spaceman for Searchlight Pictures and Simon Kinberg's production label, Genre Films.[21] 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.[22][23] In 2022, it was announced that Stanton would direct In 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 of Toy Story series, Toy Story 5, which is scheduled for release on June 19, 2026.[25][26]
Filmography
[edit]Films
[edit]| 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[27] | No | No | No | Yes | ||
| Toy Story 5 | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | |||
| TBA | Incredibles 3[28] | No | No | No | Yes | ||
| In the Blink of an Eye | Yes | No | No | No | Post-production |
Short films
[edit]| Year | Title | Director | Writer | Executive Producer |
Voice |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1986 | Somewhere in the Arctic[29] | Yes | Yes | No | Bahr |
| 1987 | A Story[29] | 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
[edit]| 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 | [30][31] |
Video games
[edit]| 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[32] | 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
[edit]| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1989–2007 | The Making of Me | Animator[33] | |
| 1998–present | It's Tough to Be a Bug! | Hopper | Replacing Kevin Spacey |
| 2007–present | Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage | Crush, Seagulls |
Other credits
[edit]| 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[34] |
| 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[35] |
| Cars on the Road | Special Thanks; Pixar Senior Creative Team | |
| 2023 | Nimona | Special Thanks |
Collaborations (Acting)
[edit]Andrew Stanton has cast certain actors and crew members in more than one of the films he has directed.
Award and nominations
[edit]Academy Awards
[edit]| 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 | — |
| Best Original Screenplay | Nominated | Shared with Bob Peterson and David Reynolds | ||
| 2008 | Best Animated Feature | WALL-E | Won | — |
| 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
[edit]Two of Stanton's short films, A Story and Somewhere in the Arctic..., were preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2012.[36]
References
[edit]- ^ "JOHN CARTER director Andrew Stanton talks Pixar, Marketing & Critics". YouTube. March 12, 2012. Retrieved June 15, 2024.
- ^ a b "Pixar's Andrew Stanton, Animating From Life". NPR. July 10, 2008. Retrieved December 31, 2020.
- ^ 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.
- ^ a b c d e f g Friend, Tad (October 10, 2011). "Second-Act Twist". The New Yorker. Retrieved December 31, 2020.
- ^ a b "Best Animated Feature Film Acceptance Speech". Oscar.com. Archived from the original on February 26, 2009. Retrieved January 17, 2018.
- ^ "Alumni - CalArts School of Film/Video". California Institute of the Arts. Retrieved December 31, 2020.
- ^ Moring, Mark (June 24, 2008). "The Little Robot That Could". Christianity Today. Retrieved May 5, 2017.
- ^ Keegan, Rebecca (September 8, 2012). "Director Andrew Stanton looks back on 'John Carter's' rocky path". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved March 13, 2022.
- ^ Dörflinger, M., Taschenbuch Fußball: 333x Fußball – Superlative & Kuriositäten. Spannende Fakten und Kurioses über Fußball – Geramond Verlag (2019). ISBN 978-3964530530.
- ^ "Writers on Writing with Andrew Stanton". Writers Guild Foundation. July 30, 2019. Retrieved December 31, 2020.
- ^ Thill, Scott (January 5, 2010). "Q&A: Toon Titan John Kricfalusi Hails Mighty Mouse Rebirth". Wired. Retrieved June 16, 2022.
- ^ Paik, Karen (3 November 2015). To Infinity and Beyond!: The Story of Pixar Animation Studios. Chronicle Books. ISBN 9781452147659 – via Google Books.
- ^ Price 2008, p. 121.
- ^ Price 2008, p. 130.
- ^ Price 2008, p. 131.
- ^ "Toy Story (1995)". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times. 2011. Archived from the original on May 11, 2011. Retrieved March 12, 2009.
- ^ Megan Basham (2006-06-28). "WALL-E world". World Magazine. Archived from the original on July 3, 2008. Retrieved 2008-07-02.
- ^ "Ralph Breaks the Internet - Press Kit" (PDF). Walt Disney Studios Media File. Retrieved November 18, 2018.
- ^ a b Perry, Spencer (June 18, 2019). "Toy Story 4 Was Secretly Being Written Before Toy Story 3 Released". Comingsoon.net. Retrieved December 7, 2019.
- ^ "Finding Dory Director Wants to Focus on Live-Action Movies Next". Screen Rant. 11 June 2016.
- ^ 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.
- ^ 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.
- ^ 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.
- ^ 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.
- ^ Hermanns, Grant (June 8, 2024). "Toy Story 5 Director Seemingly Revealed By Pixar Exec". Screen Rant. Retrieved June 8, 2024.
- ^ McPherson, Chris (June 9, 2024). "Pixar Legend Tapped to Direct 'Toy Story 5'". Collider. Retrieved June 14, 2024.
- ^ D'Alessandro, Anthony (2024-08-09). "Pixar Unveils New Film At D23: 'Hoppers' With Jon Hamm & Bobby Moynihan". Deadline. Retrieved 2024-09-24.
- ^ D'Alessandro, Anthony (2024-08-09). "'Incredibles 3' Announced At D23, With Brad Bird Returning To Direct". Deadline. Retrieved 2024-09-24.
- ^ a b Simon, Ben (December 27, 2012). "Pixar Short Films Collection: Volume 2". Animated Views. Retrieved February 26, 2017.
- ^ 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.
- ^ 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.
- ^ Watts, Martin (April 15, 2013). "Finding Nemo: Escape to the Big Blue Review (3DS)". Nintendo Life. Retrieved March 26, 2021.
- ^ "Second-Act Twist". The New Yorker. 10 October 2011.
- ^ Strike, Joe (March 4, 2016). "'Zootopia:' Disney's Latest and Greatest Animal Kingdom". Animated World Network. Retrieved September 13, 2020.
- ^ T.J. Wolsos (June 10, 2022). "Buzz Lightyear Documentary 'Beyond Infinity' Now on Disney+". Pixar Post. Retrieved July 2, 2022.
- ^ "Preserved Projects". Academy Film Archive.
Bibliography
[edit]- Price, David (2008). The Pixar Touch: The Making of a Company. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. ISBN 978-0-307-26575-3.
External links
[edit]
- 1965 births
- 20th-century American male actors
- 21st-century American male actors
- American animated film directors
- American Christians
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