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, WALL-E (2008), Finding Dory (2016), and Toy Story 5 (2026). He also directed the live-action films John Carter (2012) and In the Blink of an Eye (2026). For Pixar, Stanton was additionally co-writer on the first five Toy Story films (1995–2026), A Bug's Life (1998), Monsters, Inc. (2001), and has had some degree of involvement in every Pixar feature film.

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 directed episodes of various television series since 2017, including episodes of 3 Body Problem, Better Call Saul, Legion and Stranger Things.

On December 31, 2007, Andrew Stanton, along with Brad Bird joined Bird Squad as creators

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.

Stanton acted in high school and directed sketch comedy shot on Super 8 film. Stanton studied for a year at the University of Hartford before transferring to the character animation program at the California Institute of the Arts.

In 1989, Stanton married his high school sweetheart Julie, two weeks after she graduated from Georgetown University.

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

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

Career

Stanton began his career in animation in the late 1980s. He worked as an animator for Kroyer Films, 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.

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.

Stanton, Lasseter and Pete Docter drafted the original treatment for Toy Story, which bore little resemblance with the eventually finished film. After production of the film was shut down in late November 1993 following a disastrous test screening, Stanton retreated into a windowless office and extensively reworked the script with help from Joss Whedon. The resulting screenplay was nominated at the Academy Awards for Best Original Screenplay, the first nomination in that category for an animated film. Following his work on Toy Story, Stanton would go on to direct Finding Nemo (2003), WALL-E (2008), and Finding Dory (2016) for Pixar.

In an interview with World Magazines Megan Basham, Stanton explained his singular vision for WALL-E:

Stanton made his live-action directorial debut with the Edgar Rice Burroughs adaptation John Carter (2012). The film was a commercial failure.

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. Stanton reportedly started writing Toy Story 4 in secret while the third film was still in production. 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. 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 A 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. In 2022, it was announced that Stanton would direct the science fiction film In the Blink of an Eye for Searchlight Pictures from a screenplay by Colby Day. It was released on Hulu in February 2026.

In 2024, Docter announced that Stanton would write and direct the fifth main installment of the Toy Story series, Toy Story 5, which was released on June 19, 2026.

Filmography

Films

Short films

Video games

Theme parks Year Title Role Notes 1989–2007The Making of Me Animator 1998–2025 It's Tough to Be a Bug! Hopper Reprising his voice doubling for Kevin Spacey 2007–present The Seas with Nemo & Friends Crush, Seagulls 2007–present Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage

Other credits Year Title Role 1997 Geri's Game Very special thanks 2000 For the Birds Thanks 2006 Lifted

Fog City Mavericks The Pixar Story Himself; very special thanks 2010 Finding Nico

Lava Toy Story That Time Forgot Extra special thanks 2015 Sanjay's Super Team Special thanks 2016 Zootopia Creative consultant

Purl Kristen Lester's story trust Frozen II

Spies in Disguise 2021 Encanto

Beyond Infinity: Buzz and the Journey to 'Lightyear''' Himself Cars on the Road| Special thanks; Pixar senior creative team 2023 Nimona| Special thanks

Collaborations (acting) Andrew Stanton has cast certain actors in more than one of the films he has directed. +Finding NemoWALL-EJohn CarterFinding DoryIn the Blink of an EyeToy Story 5Albert BrooksEllen DeGeneresAlexander GouldWillem DafoeBrad GarrettAllison JanneyAustin PendletonStephen RootVicki LewisHimselfBob PetersonJohn RatzenbergerBob BergenPaul EidingJess HarnellSherry LynnMickie McGowanLaraine NewmanJeff PidgeonJan RabsonJim WardSigourney WeaverAngus MacLaneDominic WestKate McKinnon

Award and nominations

Academy Awards YearCategoryFilmResultShared with 1995 Best Original Screenplay Toy Story Joss Whedon, Joel Cohen, Alec Sokolow, John Lasseter, Pete Docter, and Joe Ranft 2003 Best Animated Feature Finding Nemo Best Original Screenplay Bob Peterson and David Reynolds 2008 Best Animated Feature WALL-E Best Original Screenplay Jim Reardon and Pete Docter 2010 Best Adapted Screenplay Toy Story 3 Michael Arndt, John Lasseter, and Lee Unkrich

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