Lee Unkrich

Early life and career Unkrich was raised in Chagrin Falls, Ohio, the only child of Emilie Unkrich and Robert Unkrich. His father was a World War II veteran and artist. Unkrich was raised in the Jewish faith. He spent his youth acting at The Cleveland Play House. Unkrich graduated from the University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts in 1990.

Unkrich was Vice-President of Editorial and Layout at Pixar. Before joining the studio, Unkrich worked for several years in television as an editor and director. In 1994 he was hired by Pixar as a short-term employee for a period of four weeks, but ended up staying for 25 years. He is the 2011 recipient of the University of Southern California's Mary Pickford Distinguished Alumni Award recognizing alumni contributions to the cinematic arts.

On January 18, 2019, Unkrich announced he was leaving Pixar to spend time with his family and pursue interests that have "long been back-burnered." In 2023, Unkrich was revealed to have occasionally consulted at Pixar since leaving in 2019.

In late 2022 he announced he had completed editing a book about The Shining, written by J. W. Rinzler. In 2023, Taschen released Unkrich's book Stanley Kubrick's The Shining in a limited collector's edition. A hardcover version of the book was released in 2024. The book was edited by Unkrich, and written by J. W. Rinzler and Unkrich.

In March 2025, during the Disney Shareholder Meeting, CEO Bob Iger announced that the sequel to Coco was in early development, with Unkrich returning to co-direct the film with Adrian Molina.

Personal life Unkrich is married to Laura Century and they have three children. Unkrich came out as bisexual to his family and friends in 2021 and came out publicly in 2022.

Filmography Films Year TitleDirector(Original)Story byFilmEditorExecutiveProducerOtherVoice Role Notes 1995 Toy Story 1998 A Bug's Life Additional Voices 1999 Toy Story 2 Red Rocker Additional Story Material 2001 Monsters, Inc. Additional Voices 2003 Finding Nemo Additional Voices 2004 The Incredibles Brain Trust - uncredited 2006 Cars 2007 Ratatouille 2008 WALL-E Pixar Senior Creative Team 2009 Up 2010 Toy Story 3 Jack-In-The-Box / Scotch-Taped Monkey Additional Screenplay MaterialPixar Senior Creative Team 2011 Cars 2 Pixar Senior Creative Team 2012 Brave 2013 Monsters University 2015 Inside Out The Good Dinosaur 2016 Finding Dory 2017 Cars 3 Coco Elote Skeleton 2018 Incredibles 2 2019 Toy Story 4 2020 Onward Soul Special Thanks 2021 Luca Pixar Senior Creative Team 2022 Turning Red Lightyear 2023 Elemental 2029 Coco 2

Television Prison Stories: Women on the Inside (1991) (TV) (production assistant) Silk Stalkings (1991) (TV Series) (assistant editor, editor, director) Renegade (1993) (TV series) (assistant editor) Betrayed by Love (1994) (TV) (assistant editor) Separated by Murder (1995) (TV) (editor)

Documentaries Year Title Role 2007 The Pixar Story Himself 2022 Beyond Infinity: Buzz and the Journey to 'Lightyear'

Shorts and TV specials Year Title Role 2000 For the Birds Thanks 2002 Mike's New Car Special Thanks 2008 Presto 2011 Toy Story Toons: Hawaiian Vacation 2013 The Blue Umbrella Toy Story of Terror! Extra Special Thanks 2014 Toy Story That Time Forgot Lava Special Thanks 2015 Sanjay's Super Team 2016 Piper 2018 La Noria 2019 Float 2020 Loop Story Trust 2021 Pixar Popcorn: A Day in the Life of the Dead Special Thanks 2022 Cars on the Road Pixar Senior Creative Team 2025 Win or Lose