Andrew Ayers Stanton (born December 3, 1965) is an American filmmaker and animator. He is best known as the director and co-writer of the Pixar animated films Finding Nemo (2003), 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 four Toy Story films (1995–2019), A Bug's Life (1998), Monsters, Inc. (2001), and has had a degree of involvement in each of the company's feature films. His films have grossed more than $4 billion making him the tenth highest-grossing film director of all-time, not adjusted for inflation.
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.
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. He portrayed Barnaby Tucker in a 1980 high school production of Hello, Dolly!, which later became a source of inspiration for WALL-E. Stanton studied for a year at the University of Hartford before transferring to the character animation program at the California Institute of the Arts. He received his Bachelor of Fine Arts from CalArts in 1987.
In 1989, Stanton married his high school sweetheart Julie, two weeks after she graduated from Georgetown University. The couple subsequently settled in Los Angeles, where they raised two children, Ben and Audrey. Stanton is a Christian.
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.Dörflinger, M., Taschenbuch Fußball: 333x Fußball – Superlative & Kuriositäten. Spannende Fakten und Kurioses über Fußball – Geramond Verlag (2019). .
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. Stanton was one of several CalArts graduates hired by John Kricfalusi to work on Mighty Mouse: The New Adventures at Ralph Bakshi's studio.
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. Back then Pixar was not yet an animation studio, and their animation group was dedicated to making television commercials as a step towards their goal of making the first computer-animated feature.
Stanton, Lasseter and Pete Docter drafted the original treatment for Toy Story, which little resembled 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.
Stanton has expressed interest in directing more live action films, stating that he wants to return "[b]ecause it's quicker and it's a little bit more of the opposite... It's the antithesis of animation. Animation you get to control everything, and it's awesome in that sense. But there's no spontaneity, and it takes a long time! And so there's high risk for the complete opposite reasons of live-action." 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 YearTitleDirectorWriterExecutiveProducerOtherVoice RoleNotes1995Toy StoryMr. Shark/Commercial Chorus 2Story Artist, Character Designer1998A Bug's LifeBug Zapper Bug 1/Singing Grasshopper 2Story Artist1999Toy Story 2Emperor Zurg2000Buzz Lightyear of Star Command:The Adventure BeginsHammDirect-to-video2001Monsters, Inc.2003Finding NemoCrush/Lobster/Seagulls2004The IncrediblesAdditional Voices2006CarsFredAdditional Screenplay Material2007Ratatouille2008WALL-EAxiom Passenger 2Pixar Senior Creative Team - uncredited on WALL-E2009Up2010Toy Story 32011Cars 22012John CarterBravePixar Senior Creative Team2013Monsters University2015Inside OutThe Good Dinosaur2016Finding DoryCrush/Clam/Seagulls2017Cars 3Coco2018Incredibles 2Ralph Breaks the InternetNarrative Guru2019Toy Story 4Pixar Senior Creative Team2020OnwardSoul2021Luca2022Turning RedLightyearAdditional Screenplay Material,Pixar Senior Creative Team2023ElementalPixar Senior Creative Team2024Inside Out 22025Elio2026In the Blink of an EyeHoppersPixar Senior Creative TeamToy Story 5Captain Suds/Jimmy Dean/Emperor Zurg
Short films YearTitleDirectorWriterExecutiveProducerVoice1986Somewhere in the ArcticBahr1987A StoryRandy, Goon Squad1991Light & Heavy2003Exploring the Reef with Jean-Michel Cousteau 2008PrestoBURN-E2009Partly Cloudy2016PiperMarine Life Interviews
TV episodes and specials YearTitleDirectorWriterExecutiveProducerStoryArtistVoiceNotes1987Mighty Mouse: The New Adventures13 episodes19942 Stupid DogsEpisode: "Cookies, Ookies, Blookies"1995The Lion King's Timon & PumbaaEpisode: "Good Mousekeeping"2010Fetch! with Ruff RuffmanCrushEpisode: "The Ol' Shell Game"2013Toy Story of Terror!TV special2017Stranger ThingsEpisodes: "Chapter Five: Dig Dug" and "Chapter Six: The Spy"2018Better Call SaulEpisode: "Piñata"2019LegionEpisode: "Chapter 20"2020Tales from the LoopEpisode: "Echo Sphere"2021–2022For All MankindDirected four episodes2022Obi-Wan KenobiEpisodes: "Part V" and "Part VI"20243 Body ProblemDirector: "Destroyer of Worlds"2025Win or Lose
Video games Year Title Role Notes 1998 A Bug's Life Hopper Replacing Kevin Spacey 1999 Toy Story 2: Buzz Lightyear to the Rescue Emperor Zurg2003 Finding Nemo Crush Disney's Extreme Skate Adventure Emperor Zurg 2006 Finding Nemo: Escape to the Big Blue Seagulls Nintendo DS and Nintendo 3DS only 2007 Cars Mater-National Championship Fred 2009 Cars Race-O-Rama Fred / Tater Jr. PS3/Xbox 360/Wii version only 2011 Kinect Disneyland Adventures Crush 2015 Disney Infinity 3.0 2018 Lego The Incredibles Seagulls
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 {| class="wikitable" |- ! Year ! Title ! Role |- | 1997 | Geri's Game | Very special thanks |- | 2000 | For the Birds | Thanks |- | 2006 | Lifted | rowspan="2"| Special thanks |- | rowspan="2"| 2007 | Fog City Mavericks |- | The Pixar Story | Himself; very special thanks |- | 2010 | Finding Nico | rowspan="2"| Special thanks |- | rowspan="2"| 2014 | Lava |- | Toy Story That Time Forgot | Extra special thanks |- | 2015 | Sanjay's Super Team | Special thanks |- | 2016 | Zootopia | Creative consultant |- | rowspan="3"| 2019 | Purl | Kristen Lester's story trust |- | Frozen II | rowspan="3"| Special thanks |- | Spies in Disguise |- | 2021 | Encanto |- | rowspan="2"| 2022 | 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.
References
Bibliography
External links
A Day in the Life of Andrew Stanton – The New York Times''
"The clues to a great story" (TED2012)