Peter Sohn

Last updated

Peter Sohn
Peter Sohn.jpg
Born (1977-10-18) October 18, 1977 (age 46) [1]
The Bronx, New York City, U.S.
Alma mater California Institute of the Arts
Occupations
  • Filmmaker
  • animator
  • storyboard artist
  • voice actor
Years active1995–present
Employer Pixar Animation Studios (2000–present)
SpouseAnna Chambers
Children2

Peter Sohn (born October 18, 1977) is an American filmmaker, animator, storyboard artist, and voice actor. He is best known for directing the Pixar animated films The Good Dinosaur (2015) and Elemental (2023), the latter of which was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. Sohn also voiced Emile in Ratatouille (2007), Squishy in Monsters University (2013), Ciccio in Luca (2021), and Sox in Lightyear (2022).

Contents

Early life

Sohn was born in The Bronx, New York City, the son of Korean immigrants Yung Tahk Sohn and Hea Ja Sohn. He has a younger brother. He was raised in New York. [2]

While studying at CalArts, he landed a summer job working on Brad Bird's animated feature film, The Iron Giant (1999).

Career

After graduating from school, he worked at The Walt Disney Company and Warner Bros. before coming to Pixar in the art and story departments for Finding Nemo (2003). [3] He also worked on The Incredibles (2004), Ratatouille (2007) and WALL-E (2008). Sohn performed the voice of Emile in Ratatouille. He made his directorial debut with the short film Partly Cloudy in 2009 which he also wrote. Partly Cloudy was included in the Animation Show of Shows in 2009. Sohn co-directed the English-language version of Ponyo in 2009 with fellow Pixar employees John Lasseter and Brad Lewis. [4] Russell, from Up (2009), was based on Sohn's appearance. [5] He voiced Russell in the corresponding short, George & A.J. (2009), and Squishy in the feature Monsters University (2013).

Sohn directed the feature film The Good Dinosaur , which was released in November 2015. He voiced its Styracosaurus character Forrest Woodbush. [6] The film was Pixar's first box office failure. [7]

Sohn was set to voice the Marvel Comics character Ganke Lee in the 2018 Sony Pictures Animation feature film Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse , but his lines were ultimately deleted from the final film. [8] However, he voiced Ganke in the 2023 sequel, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse . Additionally, Sohn provided the voices of Ciccio and Sox in the Pixar films Luca (2021) and Lightyear (2022), respectively. [9] [10]

The second feature film that Sohn directed at Pixar, Elemental , is based on his experience growing up in New York. The film debuted out of competition at the 76th Cannes Film Festival. [11] [12] It was released on June 16, 2023. [13] [14] Though it underperformed on its opening weekend, [15] [16] the film's performance improved in the following weeks and received positive word-of-mouth that led it to become a sleeper hit. [17] [18] [19] [20] The film was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature.

Personal life

Sohn is married to artist Anna Chambers, whom he met at CalArts. [21] During the production of The Good Dinosaur, they had two children. [22]

Filmography

Feature films

YearTitle Director Story Executive
Producer
Story
Artist
Production
Artist
Animator Story
Consultant
Other Voice Role Notes
1999 The Iron Giant NoNoNoNoNoAdditionalNoYesRough In-between-er
2001 Osmosis Jones NoNoNoNoNoYesNoNo
2003 Finding Nemo NoNoNoYesYesNoNoNo
2004 The Incredibles NoNoNoYesYesYesNoYesMugger [23]
2007 Ratatouille NoNoNoYesNoYesNoYesEmile
2008 WALL-E NoNoNoYesNoNoNoNo
2009 Up NoNoNoYesNoNoNoNo
Ponyo NoNoNoNoNoNoNoYesDirector: English Dub; US Version
2010 Toy Story 3 NoNoNoNoAdditionalNoNoNo
2012 Brave NoNoNoAdditionalNoNoNoNo
2013 Monsters University NoNoNoNoNoNoNoYesSquishy
2015 Inside Out NoNoNoNoNoNoNoYesPixar Senior Creative Team
The Good Dinosaur YesYesNoNoNoNoNoYesForrest Woodbush
2016 Finding Dory NoNoNoNoNoNoNoYes
2017 Cars 3 NoNoNoNoNoNoNoYesAdditional Voices
Coco NoNoNoNoNoNoNoYes
2018 Incredibles 2 NoNoNoNoNoNoYesYes
2019 Toy Story 4 NoNoNoNoNoNoNoYes
2020 Onward NoNoNoNoNoNoNoYes
Soul NoNoNoNoNoNoNoYes
2021 Luca NoNoYesNoNoNoNoYesCiccio
2022 Turning Red NoNoNoNoNoNoNoYes
Lightyear NoNoNoNoNoNoNoYesSox
2023 Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse NoNoNoNoNoNoNoYesGanke Lee
Elemental YesYesNoNoNoNoNoYesPixar Senior Creative Team
2024 Inside Out 2 NoNoNoNoNoNoNoYes
2025 Elio NoNoNoNoNoNoNoYes

Short films and TV specials

YearTitle Director Writer Production
Artist
Cinematographer Animator Other Voice Role Notes
2005 One Man Band NoNoYesNoNoNo
2007VioletNoNoNoYesNoNo
Your Friend the Rat YesYesNoNoNoYesEmileSong Performer: "Plan B"
2008 Cars Toons: Mater's Tall Tales NoNoNoNoNoYesAdditional VoicesEpisodes 1-4
2009TriflesNoNoNoYesNoNo
LeonardoNoNoNoNoYesNo
Partly Cloudy YesYesNoNoNoNo
George & A.J. NoNoNoNoNoYesRussell
2011 Toy Story Toons: Small Fry NoNoNoNoNoYesRecycle BenSpecial Thanks
2013 Toy Story of Terror! NoNoNoNoNoYesTransitronTV special
A Monsters University Short: Party Central NoNoNoNoNoYesSquishy

Video games

YearTitle Voice Role
2007 Ratatouille Emile
2012 Kinect Rush: A Disney-Pixar Adventure
2013 Disney Infinity Squishy

Other credits

YearTitleRole
2009TracyBlog Creator
2015 Borrowed Time Thanks
2018 Bao Special Thanks
2019 Purl
Smash and Grab Brian Larsen's Story Brain Trust
Kitbull Rosana Sullivan's Story Trust
Wind Story Trust
2020 Out

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References

  1. Truitt, Brian (September 14, 2015). "TIFF: 'Good Dinosaur' stars friends, frontier". USA Today. Retrieved September 15, 2015. ...says Sohn, 38.
  2. Greiving, Tim (June 15, 2023). "Meet Mr. Pixar". The Ringer . Retrieved September 11, 2023.
  3. Corrado, E. (November 4, 2009). "Q & A with Pixar's Ronnie del Carmen and Pete Sohn - Part 1". One Movie, Five Views Archive. Retrieved July 2, 2012.
  4. Murray, Rebecca. "'Ponyo' Movie Credits". About.com. Retrieved July 2, 2012.
  5. Lee, Patrick (March 2, 2009). "Up director Pete Docter on talking dogs, youth scouts and adventure". Blastr.com. Retrieved July 2, 2012.
  6. Keegan, Rebecca (September 18, 2013). "'The Good Dinosaur' moved to 2015, leaving Pixar with no 2014 film". The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved September 18, 2013.
  7. "How The Good Dinosaur Became Pixar's First Bona Fide Box Office Flop". SlashFilm. Retrieved June 22, 2022.
  8. Sciretta, Peter (February 26, 2019). "Pixar Director Pete Sohn Originally Voiced Ganke in 'Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse'". /Film . Retrieved July 25, 2019.
  9. Bastos, Margarida (February 8, 2022). "'Lightyear' Full Voice Cast Includes Taika Waititi, Keke Palmer, James Brolin, and More". Collider. Archived from the original on March 3, 2022. Retrieved March 8, 2022.
  10. Romano, Nick (June 17, 2022). "Meet Sox, the surprise superstar of Pixar's Lightyear". Entertainment Weekly . Retrieved March 29, 2024.
  11. "Elemental, the 27th Film by Pixar Animation Studios, to be the "Last Screening" at the 76th Festival de Cannes". April 19, 2023.
  12. Azad, Navid Nikkhah. "Elemental, the 27th Film by Pixar Animation Studios, to be the "Last Screening" at the 76th Festival de Cannes - Deed News". www.deed.news. Retrieved April 19, 2023.
  13. Moreau, Jordan (May 16, 2022). "Pixar Announces Next Movie, 'Elemental,' From 'Good Dinosaur' Director Peter Sohn". Variety. Retrieved May 16, 2022.
  14. Pixar (May 16, 2022). "In a city where fire, water, land, and air residents live together, a fiery young woman and a go-with-the-flow guy are about to discover something elemental: How much they actually have in common. Directed by Peter Sohn and produced by Denise Ream, Disney and Pixar's Elemental releases June 16, 2023". Instagram. Retrieved May 16, 2022.
  15. "'Elemental' Box Office Debacle: Pixar Movie Opens to Record-Worst $29.6M". The Hollywood Reporter . June 19, 2023. Retrieved June 22, 2023.
  16. "Pixar's 'Elemental' bombs at box office". NPR. Retrieved June 22, 2023.
  17. Fuster, Jeremy (August 8, 2023). "'Elemental' and Pixar Have Quietly Made a Box Office Comeback". The Wrap. Retrieved August 8, 2023.
  18. Lowry, Brian (July 31, 2023). "'Elemental' was written off as a box-office flop. Then it sprouted legs". CNN. Retrieved August 8, 2023.
  19. Reyes, Mike (August 3, 2023). "Pixar's Elemental Has Crossed Another Box Office Milestone, So Can We Stop Calling It A Bomb Now?". Cinema Blend. Retrieved August 8, 2023.
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  21. Robertson, Barbara (April 9, 2009). "Peter Sohn". CGSociety. p. 2. Archived from the original on February 21, 2014. Retrieved February 9, 2014. Sohn's wife Anna Chambers, who he met at CalArts, is also an artist, and both create artwork at home.
  22. de Souza, Alison (June 14, 2023). "Korean-American director Peter Sohn tells his personal stories through Pixar film Elemental". The Straits Times. Retrieved June 19, 2023.
  23. "Peter Sohn on bringing the cat SOX to life in Lightyear". YouTube . June 23, 2022. Retrieved July 2, 2022.