Adrian Molina | |
|---|---|
 Molina at the 2017 Annecy International Animated Film Festival | |
| Born | August 23, 1985 Yuba City, California, U.S. |
| Alma mater | California Institute of the Arts |
| Occupations |
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| Years active | 2006–present |
| Employer | Pixar Animation Studios (2007–present) |
| Spouse | Ryan Dooley (m. 2011) |
Adrian Molina (born August 23, 1985) is an American animator, storyboard artist and screenwriter who works for Pixar. He co-wrote the screenplay and story of Coco (2017), which he also co-directed.
Molina was born in Yuba City, California to a Mexican family, and raised in Grass Valley. He graduated from Bear River High School in 2003, to subsequently attend and graduate from the California Institute of the Arts in 2007. [1]
Molina joined Pixar in 2007. He started as a 2D animator on Ratatouille . He later moved on to be a storyboard artist, working on Toy Story 3 and Monsters University . [1] Molina also illustrated the Little Golden Book for Toy Story 3. [2] After writing for The Good Dinosaur , Molina started his first assignment as a screenwriter, for Coco , and later went on to co-direct the film. He also wrote several lyrics for the film. [1] [3] [4]
Following the success of Coco and the D23 Expo announcement in September 2022, Molina was announced to direct the upcoming feature film Elio , set to release on June 13, 2025. [5] [6] [7] However in August 2024, it was announced that Molina had left he project to work on another original film with Domee Shi and Madeline Sharafian directing Elio instead. [8] Nevertheless, he is reportedly retaining his director credit because of the amount of work he directed that is being kept in the film. [9]
Molina is gay. He has been married to Ryan Dooley since 2011. [10]
| Year | Title | Director | Writer | Executive Producer | Story Artist | Other | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | Ratatouille | No | No | No | No | Yes | Animator: End Titles |
| 2010 | Toy Story 3 | No | No | No | Yes | No | |
| 2013 | Monsters University | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | Additional Screenplay Material Opening Title Designer and Director |
| 2015 | The Good Dinosaur | No | No | No | No | Yes | Additional Screenplay Material |
| 2017 | Coco | Co-Director | Yes | No | No | Yes | Additional Voices, Songwriter |
| 2019 | Toy Story 4 | No | No | No | No | Yes | Pixar Senior Creative Team |
| 2020 | Onward | No | No | No | No | Yes | |
| Soul | No | No | No | No | Yes | ||
| 2021 | Luca | No | No | No | No | Yes | Additional Story Contributor Pixar Senior Creative Team |
| 2022 | Turning Red | No | No | Associate | No | Yes | Pixar Senior Creative Team |
| Lightyear | No | No | No | No | Yes | ||
| 2023 | Elemental | No | No | No | No | Yes | |
| 2024 | Inside Out 2 | No | No | No | No | Yes | |
| 2025 | Elio | Yes | TBA | No | No | Yes |
| Award | Date of ceremony | Category | Film | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Academy Awards | March 4, 2018 | Best Animated Feature | Coco | Won | [11] |
| Annie Awards | February 3, 2018 | Directing in an Animated Feature Production | Coco | Won | [12] |
| Music in an Animated Feature Production | Coco | Won | |||
| Writing in an Animated Feature Production | Coco | Won | |||
| Humanitas Prize | February 16, 2018 | Feature – Family | Coco | Nominated | [13] |
| Imagen Awards | August 25, 2018 | Best Director | Coco | Won | [14] |
Pixar Animation Studios, known simply as Pixar, is an American animation studio based in Emeryville, California, known for its critically and commercially successful computer-animated feature films. Pixar is a subsidiary of Walt Disney Studios, a division of Disney Entertainment, a segment of The Walt Disney Company.
Peter Hans Docter is an American filmmaker and animator, who has served as chief creative officer (CCO) of Pixar since 2018. He has directed the company's animated films Monsters, Inc. (2001), Up (2009), Inside Out (2015), and Soul (2020). From his nine Academy Award nominations, he is a record-three time recipient of Best Animated Feature for Up, Inside Out and Soul. Docter has also won six Annie Awards from nine nominations, a BAFTA Children's Film Award and a Hochi Film Award. He describes himself as a "geeky kid from Minnesota who likes to draw cartoons".
Andrew Ayers Stanton 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 Monsters, Inc. (2001).
Ronaldo del Carmen is a Filipino writer, director, storyboard artist, illustrator, and voice actor. He co-directed and co-wrote the story for the Pixar film Inside Out (2015), for which he was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay, the first Filipino to do so.
Toy Story is an American media franchise created by Pixar Animation Studios and owned by The Walt Disney Company. It centers on toys that, unknown to humans, are secretly living, sentient creatures. It began in 1995 with the release of the animated feature film of the same name, which focuses on a diverse group of toys featuring a classic cowboy doll named Sheriff Woody and a modern spaceman action figure named Buzz Lightyear.
Inside Out is a 2015 American animated coming-of-age film produced by Pixar Animation Studios for Walt Disney Pictures. It was directed by Pete Docter from a screenplay he co-wrote with Meg LeFauve and Josh Cooley. The film stars the voices of Amy Poehler, Phyllis Smith, Richard Kind, Bill Hader, Lewis Black, Mindy Kaling, Kaitlyn Dias, Diane Lane, and Kyle MacLachlan. Inside Out follows the inner workings of the mind of Riley, a young girl who adapts to her family's relocation as five personified emotions administer her thoughts and actions.
Coco is a 2017 American animated fantasy comedy-drama film produced by Pixar Animation Studios for Walt Disney Pictures. It was directed by Lee Unkrich, co-directed by Adrian Molina, and produced by Darla K. Anderson, from a screenplay written by Molina and Matthew Aldrich, and a story by Unkrich, Molina, Aldrich, and Jason Katz, based on an original idea conceived by Unkrich. The film stars the voices of Anthony Gonzalez, Gael García Bernal, Benjamin Bratt, Alanna Ubach, Renée Victor, Ana Ofelia Murguía, and Edward James Olmos. The story follows a 12-year-old boy named Miguel (Gonzalez) who is accidentally transported to the Land of the Dead, where he seeks the help of his deceased musician great-great-grandfather to return him to his family and reverse their ban on music.
Joshua Cooley is an American filmmaker and storyboard artist. He is best known for directing the animated films Toy Story 4 (2019) and Transformers One (2024), with the former winning the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. He also co-wrote the screenplay for the film Inside Out (2015), which was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay.
Coco (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) is the soundtrack album to the Disney/Pixar's 2017 film of the same name. Released by Walt Disney Records on November 19, 2017, the album features eight original songs written by Germaine Franco, Adrian Molina, Robert Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez, four alternate versions and 26 score pieces composed by Michael Giacchino.
Toy Story 4 is a 2019 American animated comedy-drama film produced by Pixar Animation Studios for Walt Disney Pictures. It is the fourth installment in Pixar's Toy Story series and the sequel to Toy Story 3 (2010). It was directed by Josh Cooley from a screenplay by Andrew Stanton and Stephany Folsom; the three also conceived the story alongside John Lasseter, Rashida Jones, Will McCormack, Valerie LaPointe, and Martin Hynes. Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Annie Potts, Don Rickles, Wallace Shawn, John Ratzenberger, Jeff Pidgeon, Laurie Metcalf, John Morris, Joan Cusack, and Estelle Harris are among the actors who reprise their character roles from the first three films, and are joined by Tony Hale, Keegan-Michael Key, Jordan Peele, Christina Hendricks, Keanu Reeves, and Ally Maki, who voice new characters. Set after the third film, Toy Story 4 follows Woody (Hanks) and Buzz Lightyear (Allen) as the pair and the other toys go on a road trip with Bonnie (McGraw), who creates Forky (Hale), a spork made with recycled materials from her school. Meanwhile, Woody is reunited with Bo Peep (Potts), and must decide where his loyalties lie.
Domee Shi is a Canadian animator, film director and screenwriter. She has directed the short film Bao (2018) and the feature films Turning Red (2022) and the upcoming Elio (2025), becoming the first woman to direct a short film and then the first woman with sole director's credit on a feature film for Pixar.
Win or Lose is an upcoming American animated television series produced by Pixar Animation Studios for the streaming service Disney+. It was created, written, and directed by Carrie Hobson and Michael Yates, who also served as executive producers with David Lally, Pete Docter, Andrew Stanton, and Lindsey Collins. The series revolves around a co-ed softball team at middle school named the Pickles in the week leading up to their big championship game, with each episode showing the perspective of each member in the same events, each reflected in a unique visual style.
Madeline Sharafian is an American film director, screenwriter, and storyboard artist. She is best known for her work at Pixar, including directing the short film Burrow (2020) and the upcoming feature film Elio (2025).
Toy Story 5 is an upcoming American animated comedy film produced by Pixar Animation Studios. The fifth main installment and the seventh overall in the Toy Story film series, it is written and directed by Andrew Stanton. Tom Hanks and Tim Allen are set to reprise their respective roles of Sheriff Woody and Buzz Lightyear from the first four films.
Elio is an upcoming American animated science fiction adventure film produced by Pixar Animation Studios. It is being directed by Domee Shi and Madeline Sharafian with initial direction by Adrian Molina. The film stars the voices of Yonas Kibreab, Jameela Jamil, Brad Garrett, Zoe Saldaña, Remy Edgerly, and Shirley Henderson. It follows an eleven-year-old boy named Elio Solis (Kibreab) who accidentally becomes the intergalactic Ambassador of planet Earth after being beamed up to the Communiverse by aliens for making contact. He must form new bonds with eccentric alien lifeforms and navigate a crisis of intergalactic proportions.
Inside Out is an American media franchise created by Pete Docter and Ronnie del Carmen. It takes place inside the mind of a girl named Riley Andersen, where multiple personified emotions administer her thoughts and actions. The franchise is produced by Pixar Animation Studios and distributed by its parent company Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. It began with the 2015 film of the same name, and was followed by Inside Out 2 (2024). The franchise also includes a short film, an animated series, several video games, and two theme park attractions.
Docter said that Molina is still at Pixar and, what's more, he 'was taken on to a priority project that we're not ready to talk about yet, but it's very exciting and he's excited about it as well,' even though he's no longer involved with 'Elio.'.
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