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, and 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 has joined at Pixar since 2007, where 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 Elio to work on another original film with Domee Shi and Madeline Sharafian directing 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).
Joseph Henry Ranft was an American animator, screenwriter, and voice actor. He worked for Pixar Animation Studios and Disney at Walt Disney Animation Studios and Disney Television Animation. His younger brother Jerome Ranft is a sculptor who also worked on several Pixar films.
Lee Edward Unkrich is an American film director, editor and writer. He is best known for his work with animation studio Pixar, which he joined in 1994 as an editor before being credited as a co-director on Toy Story 2 (1999).
Daniel Scanlon is an American filmmaker, storyboard artist, and animator. He is best known for directing the Pixar animated films Monsters University (2013) and Onward (2020), with the latter nominating him for the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature.
Coco is a 2017 American animated fantasy comedy-drama film produced by Pixar Animation Studios and released by 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.
Daniel Chong is an American animator, storyboard artist, writer, director, and producer. He is best known as the creator of Cartoon Network's We Bare Bears (2015–2019). He also directed, wrote and executive produced We Bare Bears: The Movie (2020). He is also directing the upcoming Pixar film Hoppers (2026).
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.
The Incredibles is an American media franchise created by Pixar Animation Studios. Brad Bird wrote and directed both films, and Craig T. Nelson, Holly Hunter, Sarah Vowell, and Samuel L. Jackson are part of the franchise's main cast. The first film, The Incredibles, was released on November 5, 2004 and received acclaim from critics, winning the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. The second film, Incredibles 2, was released on June 15, 2018, received mostly positive reviews and set the record for best opening weekend for an animated film with $183 million. The series has grossed a combined $1.8 billion worldwide.
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 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.
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).
Elio is an upcoming American animated science fiction adventure film produced by Pixar Animation Studios for Walt Disney Pictures. It is being directed by Domee Shi and Madeline Sharafian with additional direction by Adrian Molina, and produced by Mary Alice Drumm. The film stars the voices of Yonas Kibreab, Jameela Jamil, Brad Garrett, and Zoe Saldaña. 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. Elio must form new bonds with eccentric alien lifeforms and survive a series of formidable trials.
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